The disappointing 0.5 per cent expansion of Australia’s economy in December quarter of 2022 was a touch softer than expectations. But with annual GDP growth now dipping below 3 per cent, Wednesday’s national accounts are enough to raise serious questions about where the economy is heading and what growth plan the government has to get out of the approaching slowdown.

The household savings pile and the post-COVID surge of revenge spending could not last forever. Business investment remains weak, notwithstanding the boom prices for mining and energy exports. It is only net exports and rising terms of trade that are holding the growth story together now.