Today
Chalmers reveals another tax revenue upgrade
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has flagged the mid-year update will paint a healthier-than-expected picture of the budget due to a rise in the tax take.
- Michael Read
This Month
- Opinion
- Opinion
Lift the lid on the budget boondoggles
It’s up to the independent institutions to expose the extent of off-budget ‘investment’ ruses to hide the scale of government spending.
- Chris Richardson
Why do arts students pay more than medical students?
Australia’s university sector will mark an expensive milestone with the $50,000 arts degree, but the changes might not be helping students or the economy.
- Tom McIlroy
- Opinion
- Leading Indicators
Inside Canberra’s hidden $180b spending boom
Australia’s budget numbers are increasingly a mirage as billions in spending are labelled as ‘investments’ to improve the fiscal optics.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Federal election
PM’s plan to spend Labor’s way out of trouble
Over the weekend we saw the emergence of a plan, or at least the latest plan, to try to shift the government out of its torpor.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- University
Labor’s uni debt election bribe trashes fairness
The principle of ensuring fairness all-round will be trashed by handing out a 20 per cent debt cut regardless of income. It is middle-class welfare on steroids.
- The AFR View
Rio Tinto wants tax credits for aluminium smelters
The mining giant has urged the Albanese government to use taxpayers’ funds to help local aluminium smelters pivot to clean energy.
- Peter Ker
PM chases young voters with pledge to wipe $16b from student debt
Every student will have their debt cut by 20 per cent at a cost to the budget of $16 billion, as Labor escalates its pitch to young voters.
- Phillip Coorey
October
Bottom line stronger, but third budget surplus unlikely
A third successive budget surplus is a rank outsider, despite the bottom line already being $5.3 billion better off than forecast
- Phillip Coorey
Middle East conflict bad for petrol prices, good for Chalmers’ budget
Jim Chalmers has warned households a sustained rise in the oil price from conflict in the Middle East could push up inflation.
- John Kehoe and Michael Read
NDIS is sucking in workers from more efficient jobs
Flatlining growth in the care economy and surging spending on the National Disability Insurance Scheme is threatening to make households poorer.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Opinion
How faraway conflicts are turned into divisions at home
Peter Dutton has accused the Albanese government of appeasement on the Middle East. But its positions reflect the same limitations felt in Washington.
- Laura Tingle
Debt hits seven-year low before decade of deficits
Federal government net debt has fallen to its lowest level since 2017, but economists say the coming decade of deficits will send borrowing levels higher.
- Michael Read
September
- Opinion
- Opinion
Our fiscal strategy strikes the right balance
We are repairing the budget without hurting an already weak economy, putting people under more pressure or ignoring urgent and unavoidable spending.
- Jim Chalmers
- Opinion
- Opinion
Why budget surplus is up, up, up
Jim Chalmers is claiming credit for delivering two budget surpluses in a row. He’s less keen to explain how much the high level of income tax helped.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Jim Chalmers
Spending pressures make third surplus unlikely
The treasurer has delivered a solid second budget surplus of $15.8 billion on the back of booming income tax receipts, but future spending pressures are emerging.
- John Kehoe
Income tax hits 25-year high in Chalmers’ surplus
The treasurer’s second budget in the black has been underwritten by the highest share of wages taxation since before the GST was introduced in 2000.
- John Kehoe and Michael Read
China stimulus should stabilise iron ore price, says resources minister
Resources Minister Madeleine King says China’s latest stimulus package was unlikely to push prices higher, but it should help arrest the one-third fall seen since the start of 2024.
- Ronald Mizen
- Opinion
- Inflation
Government spending blowout is the size of the mining boom
Like the mining investment boom of the early 2000s, the economic shock from higher government spending will have implications for inflation, productivity and interest rates.
- John Kehoe
Drop in spending gives Labor cost-of-living flexibility
Ahead of an election campaign expected to start as early as March, departments have been told the mid-year budget will focus on consumer issues.
- Ronald Mizen