This Month
- Opinion
- Inflation
‘The numbers are breathtaking’: Qld’s interest bill worth 11 new hospitals
The states’ debt-servicing costs will probably continue to skyrocket as investors demand compensation for their fiscally reckless ways.
- Christopher Joye
Debt explosion pushes Queensland to cusp of rating downgrade
Queensland is at risk of a credit rating downgrade as early as this year, after Treasurer David Janetzki released a dire fiscal update from the new LNP government.
- James Hall
US debt to reach 107pc of GDP by 2029: CBO estimates
“The fiscal situation is daunting, the debt trajectory is unsustainable,” Congressional Budget Office director Phillip Swagel said in a new 10-year outlook.
- Jarrell Dillard
- Opinion
- Federal budget
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
Wage rises to blow out ‘unrealistic’ state budgets: S&P
Psychiatrists in NSW and teachers, nurses and police in Queensland are the latest essential workers to demand significant wage rises from state governments.
- Michael Read and James Hall
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has lost control of the budget
The Albanese government’s decisions on net have added to the national debt as a share of GDP well over three times that of the former Coalition government over the same period.
- Steven Hamilton
December 2024
- Opinion
- Opinion
I’m the guy Barron’s called the Bond King. Here’s why US debt is a problem
There is the real possibility of a quasi-default by the Treasury and few are likely to be spared from the resulting upheaval.
- Jeffrey Gundlach
Coalition nuclear fund would deepen $90b off-budget blowout: Chalmers
A record $90 billion of spending over four years will be obscured in off-budget funds, but Treasurer Jim Chalmers says it would be worse under the Coalition.
- Updated
- Michael Read
After Pallas blowout, business wants Victoria back on track
Outgoing Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas says his greatest regret is that financial constraints meant his government could not afford to spend even more money.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing
China slowdown to rip $8.5b from federal budget: Chalmers
The treasurer’s downbeat assessment came despite Beijing last week announcing plans to stoke the country’s slowing economy next year with a “moderately loose” monetary policy.
- Ronald Mizen
- Opinion
- Leading Indicators
How Victoria became one of the rich world’s most indebted states
Victoria is the fourth-most indebted advanced economy state government outside the US. It may soon find there’s a fine line between nation-building and overbuilding.
- Michael Read
Victoria’s asset sale; MinRes’ gag request; Wesfarmers’ rates alert
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
- Exclusive
- Jacinta Allan
Victoria pays consultants $2m for possible asset sale list
The Allan government is paying speciality consultants Ad Astra more than $2 million, including for a scoping study to help turn the state’s dire finances around.
- Patrick Durkin and Anthony Macdonald
BCA scorecard ranks the best and worst states for business
The report names Victoria as the worst state or territory to run a business, with its onerous regulations acting against growth and investment on many measures
- Patrick Durkin and Gus McCubbing
Chalmers has spent $60b more than he has saved, damaging the budget
Veteran budget watcher Chris Richardson says Labor has announced $104 billion in new spending over four budget updates, but raised only $44 billion in extra revenue.
- Michael Read
November 2024
Victoria’s four biggest Big Build blowouts
The state’s finances have come under scrutiny this week, and a major chunk of its ballooning debt comes from the government’s expansive infrastructure program.
- Gus McCubbing and Patrick Durkin
How Daniel Andrews’ playbook turned sour for Jacinta Allan
The former premier’s strategy was based on massive public spending. But times have changed, Victoria’s finances are a basket case, and voters have noticed.
- Patrick Durkin
Victorian mortgage arrears top other states
Fresh data from ratings agency S&P shows Victoria has the highest rate of home-loan arrears of any Australian states, overtaking Western Australia.
- Gus McCubbing and Patrick Durkin
- Opinion
- Inflation
Why interest rates won’t come down
Forget the headline number. The latest inflation figures are not good news for a government trying to sell its economic credentials.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Victorian budget
Victoria is an economic powerhouse that leads the nation
Recent commentary in the media is cherry-picking narratives that downplay the state’s economic resilience.
- Tim Pallas