The Australian government is, by any measure, significantly under-leveraged. The Commonwealth government’s lazy balance sheet and its underspending on productivity-boosting services such as preventive health, childcare and environmental protection will harm Australia’s prosperity for decades to come.

BHP has been in debt for 100 years and has no plans to repay it for the simple reason that its leadership is paid to discover projects with a higher rate of return than the record low interest rate. Any chief executive who promised to "pay down debt" to zero rather than invest in profitable new assets would be sacked on the spot. Finding those opportunities is their job.