Today
- Exclusive
- Andrew Leigh
Coalition MP’s food donation tax break could cost hundreds of millions
Treasury says the proposed deduction for charitable food donations could lead to companies pocketing millions for donations already being made.
- Michael Read
January
Tobacco taxes drop to nine-year low as black-market ciggies boom
A 282 per cent increase in the tobacco excise rate has turned smokers to the black market and put a big dent in the federal budget.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Federal election
Labor ready for a rate cut to break poll deadlock
A February rate cut could mean an April election. Otherwise, it’s the Hail Mary option of another budget and a May poll.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Queensland budget
Debt blowout shows budget honesty is ‘crooked’ in Queensland
The shocking budget blowout after the state’s election last year shows a massive institutional failure that has lessons for governments across the country.
- John Kehoe
- Exclusive
- Manufacturing
Husic bets big on making Australian manufacturing great
The Labor MP from Sydney’s inner-west thinks concern over climate change and the risk of global conflict will win out over traditional market fundamentals.
- Ronald Mizen
BCA calls for apprentices boost to future-proof workforce
Labor and the Coalition have traded blows over incentive payments for employers to take on trainee workers.
- Tom McIlroy
- Exclusive
- Jim Chalmers
Stalled EV tax threatens budget black hole
Officials designing a replacement tax to accommodate a rise in electric cars say the process has stalled. Dealers are also worried about new emissions rules.
- Ronald Mizen and Simon Evans
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- Tom McIlroy
- Exclusive
- Federal election
Labor, Coalition to splash $70m on grassroots vote buying
Politicians from across the political spectrum have posted dozens of social-media messages promoting community grants worth between $500 and $1 million.
- Ronald Mizen
- Opinion
- Opinion
It’s time for independent forecasts to end budget trickery
An Office of Budget Honesty is needed to create a fiscal watchdog with teeth.
- Steven Hamilton
Election spending already tops $10b
Economists warn that the commitments could give the Reserve Bank a reason not to cut interest rates in the near term.
- John Kehoe, Michael Read and Ronald Mizen
- Opinion
- Opinion
Nine red flags for budget watchers
Labor has a choice: deliver a pre-election budget that builds Australia’s future or keep sailing blindly towards another decade of debts and deficits.
- Spiro Premetis
More than tax reform, we need budget guardians
Readers’ letters on fiscal discipline, improving productivity, the Los Angeles fires, diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and democracy under threat.
- Exclusive
- Barnaby Joyce
Opposition savings from housing, green energy funds in doubt
Senator Jane Hume says the Coalition will interrogate Labor’s billions of dollars tied up in funds for housing, clean energy and manufacturing, but admits they may be difficult to unwind.
- John Kehoe and Michael Read
Coal price slumps to three-year low as super-cycle fades
The commodity is now selling for 23 per cent less than it was only five months ago as a surge in global supply meets a warmer-than-usual northern summer.
- Elouise Fowler and Peter Ker
Like Elon Musk, Jane Hume wants to make government more efficient
Hume says her approach as a finance minister would be more efficient government and restoring a deregulation agenda for business across a suite of policy areas.
- John Kehoe
- Exclusive
- Interest rates
Please explain: Treasury and Finance in hot seat over $7.4b black hole
The heads of Treasury and Finance are being urged to explain why no extra money was set aside to pay for public servant wage increases over the next three years.
- Updated
- Michael Read
- Exclusive
- Jim Chalmers
Tax surge puts shock third budget surplus within reach
Soaring tax revenue so far this financial year has shrunk the federal budget deficit to half the size it was expected to be.
- John Kehoe
- Analysis
- Analysis
With a $7.4b black hole, Gallagher tries to explain the unexplainable
Budgeting no money for public servant wage rises may have made sense under a stingy Coalition, but it makes no sense under a Labor government hiring like mad.
- Michael Read
$12b blowout in public servant wages since election
Labor is on track to spend at least $12 billion more on public servant wages than it forecast in its first budget, but says it has clawed back $4 billion by cutting down on outsourcing.
- Michael Read