Today
Update shows Labor has done nothing to improve Victoria’s finances
Little in the budget update will reassure rating agencies the Allan government is prepared to do what needs to be done to alleviate Victoria’s financial woes.
Politicians must cut spending to avoid interest rate increases
The challenge for the monetary policy mandarins is that politicians are pumping the economy full of more and more unproductive cash, driving inflation higher.
It’s evident which way bitcoin is headed
Readers’ letters on the bitcoin craze, investor diligence, psychological injury claims, the Nats’ views on renewables ‘costs’, and solutions to the energy crisis.
This Month
There is no evidence NDIS therapies help kids thrive
Australia is pumping infinite money into supply-constrained markets such as disability and childcare, while the government also mandates and helps fund hefty wage increases in these sectors.
Labor’s budget ‘cuts’ bigger than just public service
Canberra’s search for savings has broadened to the Commonwealth’s $780 billion annual spending budget, such as defence, social welfare and other programs.
November
Gallagher’s public service savings plan won’t dent spending addiction
We shouldn’t interpret Gallagher’s language as a sign Labor is willing to make the deeper budget cuts necessary to bring public service spending to heel.
‘Never enough’: The issue voters care about most is not going away
Four years after it first emerged as an issue of major concern, cost of living continues to be the major focus of voter discontent.
Gallagher admits public service looking at ‘bottom 5pc’ of spending
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has confirmed that federal departments have been directed to identify potential budget savings.
Budget bungle blows UK chancellor’s big day
Rachel Reeves’ new plan is targeting workers and the wealthy. But a gaffe in which key measures were published prematurely stuffed up the sales pitch.
Labor is ‘budgeting for public service job losses’
The government will need to cut 7000 public service jobs every year in order for the budget’s wage forecasts to add up, economist Chris Richardson says.
Budget control key to winning back young voters, says Liberal Party
Bracket creep and spiralling debt are the key drivers of intergenerational inequity, shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien will argue.
Public service hit with sweeping austerity cuts
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher’s office has ordered federal agencies to outline spending reductions worth 5 per cent of their annual budgets to rein in costs.
Victorian government blows $50b hole in budget in six years
The Labor-led state reported a net operating loss of $2.6 billion in 2024-25, exceeding the figure forecast in last year’s accounts by $400 million.
Jacinta Allan reveals an unlikely source of inspiration
Victoria’s premier says she was struck by a high-profile conservative leader who displayed determination, compassion and attention to detail during their time in power.
Fix tax and cut spending, IMF tells Chalmers
Participants at the Treasurer’s economic roundtable have backed calls for cuts to taxes and spending to improve Australians’ living standards.
The IMF is flashing red lights on Australia’s spending spree
The longer Canberra and the states remain in fiscal paralysis, the narrower the nation’s options will be to chart a path to higher growth and living standards.
Like Keating, Chalmers should use economic reality as impetus for reform
The warning delivered by then secretary to the Treasury John Stone in 1984 is an eerie experience. Forty years on, we face so many of the same challenges.
Australia’s entitlement culture downstream of the Dismissal
We would be better off if Labor sought to emulate the Hawke-Keating economic model rather than the Whitlam government’s irresponsible spending.
Two big spenders, but one bold and the other timid
Gough Whitlam drove a huge expansion in government spending, just as Anthony Albanese has done today. But there is a key difference.
US Supreme Court appears sceptical of Trump’s global tariffs
The top court started hearing a closely watched case that could determine the future of the US president’s global trade agenda.