Editorial: Big-spending politicians have forgotten what their job actually is

Australians once again find themselves watching a political contest in which the contenders are racing to outspend each other on literally buying vote, writes the editor.

Peter Dutton (front) debates Anthony Albanese last week. Picture: Jason Edwards/NCA NewsWire.

Respected independent economist Chris Richardson did not miss yesterday when he posted on social network X: “The campaigns of both major parties are a dumpster fire of dumb stuff. The world is on fire, and we here in Australia need smart policies way more than we need smart politics.”

Well said. Australians once again find themselves watching a political contest in which the contenders are racing to outspend each other on literally buying votes – the very opposite of what we should expect of whomever is our prime minister: courageous, smart leadership.

As we lamented in this column a week ago, every “cost-of-living relief” promise comes with a price that must be picked up by taxpayers, either by the deferral now of other initiatives more important than a vote-buying handout (health or roads perhaps), or through another few billion dollars being added to the nation’s ballooning debt.

Since the first Covid-19 response, when the government essentially underwrote the entire economy for several months, politicians have apparently forgotten that their job in power should be to get the balance of spending and taxing right. But then, that hope overlooks the fact that the dirty little secret of politics is that all our politicians actually really care about is winning power – and then doing whatever is necessary to keep a hold of it when they finally get it.

As The Australian’s contributing economics editor Judith Sloan recently observed: “There’s politics. And then there’s economics.”

She went on to argue that it is during times of global economic uncertainty – such as right now – that government ministers (and, we would add, those seeking to make up their ranks post-election) should be doing everything in their power to strengthen the nation’s fiscal position, so that it is ready (as, fortunately, the federal budget was prior to the pandemic) to act if and when that is necessary.

But thanks to politicians having forgotten what their job actually is, spending as a proportion of GDP is now two percentage points higher than pre-Covid-19 levels – and that is even before the promises made during this latest big-spending election campaign are baked in.

Australia’s gross government debt will soon reach $1 trillion – that is, one thousand billion dollars (or $37,509 for every single Australian). Yep, the government could have bought us – every single one of us, including each of our kids – a brand-new car with the money it has overspent in the past five years.

Sloan’s excellent observations were made a week before President Donald Trump on April 2 signed his executive order imposing minimum tariffs of 10 per cent on all imports to the US (tariffs that he has since postponed after that “Liberation Day” edict of his sparked violent global sharemarket losses). Things are far less certain now than when she penned her warning.

This should be the time for our political leaders to be showing some restraint – to focus on policies that will actually improve productivity and properly restructure the economy, rather than this magic pudding approach of vainly hoping that inserting more and more borrowed money back into the economy will make it better.

If they really, really need to do handouts then perhaps they could at the very least just return to the Hawke-Keating model of such welfare being seriously targeted – to make it again just the safety net it should be in the Australian context.

But no, these days everyone wins a prize as our politicians line up to blatantly ignore the realities of economics and burden future generations with debt just so that they might have a chance to park their bums on ministerial leather for the next three years. It’s pretty sad, really – as much as in the moment it is nice to have your electricity paid for, your petrol cheaper, and your first home easier to buy.

FINALLY, THE ATHLETES

Ipswich-raised Gout Gout became the second fastest under-20 runner over 200m ever – that is, under all conditions – in the men’s final last night at the National Athletics Championships. But it was just the latest reminder of the excitement ahead of us at the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Now that there is a committed-to plan for venues we can hopefully all put the boring political argy-bargy aside and turn our attention to what we will actually remember the Games for: the remarkable performances of our athletes at a home Olympics and Paralympics.

Just as 1956 in Melbourne is now remembered for Betty and Dawn and Murray, and Sydney in 2000 was all about Thorpey and Susie and Cathy – so too will Brisbane’s Games be famous for names like Gout, who will be 24 at the Games.

The results across the weekend suggest that it will not just be our traditional dominance in the pool that will deliver us performances to remember in 2032. This generation of track and field athletes looks like a golden one. And you can include in that Queenslander Matt Denny, who last week threw a discus just 10cm short of the world record – the second-longest throw ever, on top of a record average round.

Things are getting very exciting. We can hardly wait seven years.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here

Originally published as Editorial: Big-spending politicians have forgotten what their job actually is