OPINION: Don’t be boring with the Federal budget, be fair

TONIGHT, Treasurer Joe Hockey heads into his second budget with large chunks of the wreckage of his first one still log-jammed in the Senate.

TONIGHT, Treasurer Joe Hockey heads into his second budget with large chunks of the wreckage of his first one still log-jammed in the Senate.

Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing seems to be largely a function of who you ask.

Those who were set to give up the most in Mr Hockey's first budget, predictably, sit in the good camp while a chorus line of economists bemoan Australia's failure to accept the tough measures needed to haul the economy back on to an even keel.

Here's the thing, though, the Federal coalition was elected partially on the back of the so-called budget crisis.

From that perspective you could argue it's clear Australians do accept the need for changes in the way the economy is managed.

The issue isn't about whether something is done about the economy, it's about how it was proposed to be done. The issue is one of fairness.

What the last budget failed to do was spread the load of returning the budget to surplus across the nation, instead focusing it most strongly on those least able to bear the cost.

This included people like Wendy Briggs, who we wrote about after the last budget.

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Ms Briggs, a single mother with two children who have autism, was already scraping from week to week when the last budget came down, promising a substantial cut to her income and big increases in her costs.

"The kids already don't do after-school activities because of the cost of doing it now," Ms Briggs said at the time.

"What else can we pull back on? Their sporting activities at school? Going to birthday parties? Do I get rid of the internet? I have two kids in high school ... they are going to need the net for assignments and things like that."

It's generally accepted the government needs to reduce spending and lift its income to make up for falling company taxes and mining royalties.

However, it's hard to see how squashing people like Wendy Briggs while leaving the rich virtually untouched helps Australia.

A few weeks ago, Prime Minister Tony Abbott promised this would be a "boring" budget, but that doesn't really fit the bill either. There are clear issues within the national economy that need to be fixed.

We don't require a boring budget - just a fair one.