Budget 2016: What the papers say

Scott Morrison’s maiden budget has drawn diverse responses from the nation’s newspapers | GALLERY

The newspapers were largely impressed by treasurer Scott Morrison’s first budget, a pre-election manifesto with few surprises.

As Morrison hits the airwaves today to sell his plan just days out from the Prime Minister calling a July 2 election, here’s the at-a-glance response:

THE AUSTRALIAN

‘Scomo’s super tax trick’, says The Australian. “After thought bubbles and missteps such as the GST idea, the Prime Minister promised “substantial” taxation reform in the budget and his Treasurer has delivered more than many expected,” the paper’s editorial says.

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AFR

‘Morrison carves up super to fund business tax cuts’, says the The Australian Financial Review, which said wealthy Australians will be “hit hard” by a “sweep of shock measures”. Morrison’s initiative failed to divert from the underlying economic problems, the AFR said.

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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

The Daily Telegraph depicts Morrison as Superman and the ‘Hero of the hard worker’ under the headline: ‘Earn, earn and away’. The paper has portrayed ‘Sco-Mo’ as more of a latter day muscle-bound Henry Cavill version of the man from Krypton rather than the slightly insipid

Brandon Routh iteration in the disappointing 2006 reboot: Superman Returns.

“Just don’t drink, smoke or be rich”, the Telegraph laments in response to tax hikes on alcohol, cigarettes and a super tax on the wealthy.

“Australia’s prosperity has been placed in the hands of the nation’s tradies and middle ­income earners with $9 billion in tax cuts aimed at getting them to work more, earn more and spend more,” says the Telegraph.

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THE COURIER-MAIL

The Courier-Mail takes its cue from Channel Seven’s reality series hit My Kitchen Rules, with Morrison and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull above the headline: ‘My Budget Rules’. In the background, their predecessors Joe Hockey and Tony Abbott appear as haphazard chefs, burning the souffle.

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THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

The West Australian says the government has delivered a low-risk election budget, representing Morrison and Turnbull as Olympians at the Rio 2016 Olympics under the headline: ‘Let the games begin’. It describes income tax cuts as “modest; superannuation changes as a “hit” on the wealthy, and praises the new “Google tax” to stop multinational tax avoidance measures.

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TOWNSVILLE BULLETIN

The Townsville Bulletin recalls 1991 Hollywood comedy City Slickers, a comedy about a trio of middle-aged, middle-class city guys on a cattle-drive holiday away from their wives. Morrison and Turnbull are the slickers who learn what a man’s gotta do under the headline: ‘City Slackers’. The paper is exercised that “city-dwelling” Morrison has ignored Townville’s hopes the budget would “kickstart” the city’s economy.

Like the Townsville Bulletin, The NT News is unimpressed the north has missed out. ‘Hey Scotty, we’re here!’, the paper’s headline reminds Morrison. The newspaper is outraged at a lack of investment for the Northern Territory, calling the plan a “federal budget for southerners”.

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THE CANBERRA TIMES

The Canberra Times marked its last budget as a broadsheet before switching to a tabloid format later this year by calling the budget a rescue plan. A cartoon illustrates Morrison and Turnbull in an ambulance beneath the headline: ‘Little joy for ACT in bland plan’.

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

The Sydney Morning Herald represents Morrison as a “Steady Hand” at the tiller. “Not just another budget, but ‘an economic plan’,” the paper says, directly lifting Morrison’s rhetoric.

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HERALD SUN

A 20-page special edition in the Herald Sun shows Turnbull as an election cannonball being fired by Morrison as the Treasurer lights the fuse on a “no-frills” plan. “Popgun budget’, the headline says.

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THE AGE

There are “few treats” for voters, according to The Age, which shows Morrison as a gardening handyman picking up a solitary leaf under the headline: ‘Slim pickings’.

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FULL BUDGET 2016 COVERAGE here