Editorial: Sco-Mo’s bid to appease polls ignores Aussies at debt’s door

EDITORIAL: The 2017-18 Budget is not an election budget, at least not in chronological terms. But in the current fractious era of Australian politics, where elected prime ministers are more in danger from their own parties than their opposition, every budget is an election budget.

Treasurer Scott Morrison. Picture: Kym Smith

• Budget 2017: A realistic spend to finally end Abbott era
• Quirky stuff we learnt from the 2017 Federal Budget

The 2017-18 Budget is not an election budget, at least not in chronological terms. But in the current fractious era of Australian politics, where elected prime ministers are more in danger from their own parties than their opposition, every budget is an election budget.

Any budget that misinterprets the public mood risks destabilising a government and rousing backbencher concerns about re-election. Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey’s first post-election budget was judged to have missed general public sentiment, and so they were removed by their Liberal colleagues.

Joe Hockey.

Tony Abbott. Picture: Kym Smith

The government frontbench applaud Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison. Picture: AAP

Yesterday’s Budget was the first from an elected Malcolm Turnbull government. Typically, first budgets offer some room for exploration and for testing limits. Several years ­remain until the next election, after all.

But there no longer exists much room at all in Australian politics, which is reflected in a budget that is, in Treasurer Scott Morrison’s words, pragmatic rather than ideological.

That pragmatism is evident in several areas. First, in tone and content this budget could easily be taken for a Labor document. There are no swipes at Labor for generating Australia’s debt and deficit problems, which is fair enough, given that the Coalition has not moved aggressively or effectively to counter them.

Treasurer Scott Morrison arrives with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for his second Budget speech. Picture: Gary Ramage

A small but significant rider must always apply to discussion of the Abbott government’s battle to achieve budget cuts. The Abbott government was forced to negotiate with one of the least ­rational and most obstructionist federal senates in recent decades.

Federal Budget 2017: Winners and losers

That senate would have been evenly split had it been asked to legalise babies.

So now Morrison takes a more pragmatic attitude, made easier still by the fact he’s dealing with a less mulish mob of senators. In last night’s Budget speech, Morrison explained the Coalition’s metamorphosis from debt busters to debt tolerators: “Having exhausted every ­opportunity to secure savings from our 2014-15 and 2015-16 Budgets, we have decided to reset the Budget by reversing these measures at a cost of $13 billion.”

This means the national debt will continuing climbing towards $500 billion, a figure made only slightly less alarming by anticipated increased government revenue.

Expected increased revenue, although it may buy the government a little breathing space, could fall short of meeting Morrison’s hoped-for outcome: “I can confirm tonight that the Budget is projected to return to balance in 2020-21 and remain in surplus over the medium term.”

Good luck with that, Mr Treasurer. Remember, we are talking about a looming half-trillion debt here — a sum that commits every living Australian and an unknown number of future Australians to a $20,000 debt share each.

Eventually, a truly pragmatic budget will involve taking serious action to address debt. This year’s Budget makes evermore pressing the need for future budgets to turn things around.

Originally published as Editorial: Sco-Mo’s bid to appease polls ignores Aussies at debt’s door