Your morning Briefing: Shorten’s magic pudding on tax and surplus

Your 2-minute digest of today’s top stories and must-reads.

Hello readers. Bill Shorten’s magic pudding on tax cuts and surplus, and Josh Frydenberg’s magic mullet.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten during Question Time in the House of Representatives Chamber, at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

Magic pudding

Bill Shorten will promise to extend personal tax cuts to three million more low-­income workers and pledge bigger surpluses. Keep up with all the latest from Canberra in our live blog, PoliticsNow.

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The new Gateway extension for northbound traffic has opened but has only moved the traffic jam up the road to the Deagon Deviation area, Brisbane Friday 22nd February 2019 Picture AAP/David Clark

Marginal gains

Australians in marginal electorates stand to benefit most from the “congestion busting’’ budget, with road upgrades, rail projects and commuter carparks sprinkled over battleground seats.

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison during Question Time in the House of Representatives, at Parliament House, in Canberra, Wednesday, 3 April 2019 (AAP Image/Sam Mooy) NO ARCHIVING

Who pays?

The economic choice in the imminent federal election will come down to how the same goals are funded and who pays the bill, writes Dennis Shanahan.

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Stills from video footage showing soldiers using a poster of Jeremy Corbyn for target practice

Target practice

British soldiers who shot at a poster of Jeremy Corbyn showed “a serious error of judgment”.

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Josh Frydenberg sporting a mullet hairstyle during his tennis playing days

Mullet – no Joshing

The last time we had a budget surplus under Labor, Josh Frydenberg says he had a mullet, writes Caroline Overington.

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Ash Barty - tennis.Tennis top 10 player Ash Barty pictured back on home soil at Snapper Rocks after her win in Miami. Ash attended the WSL Gold Coast Pro event that has been moved to Duranbah today.Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

Elite company

Ash Barty will continue tapping into a network of elite Australian athletes as she seeks to further her credentials as a grand slam contender in coming months. After claiming the biggest title of her career in Miami last weekend, the 22-year-old ventured to Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast yesterday to support a key member of that network, seven-time world surfing champion Steph Gilmore.

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Kudelka’s view

Jon Kudelka Letters cartoon for 05-04-2019. Version: Letters Cartoon (1280x720 - Aspect ratio preserved, Canvas added)COPYRIGHT: The Australian's artists each have different copyright agreements in place regarding re-use of their work in other publications.Please seek advice from the artists themselves or the Managing Editor of The Australian regarding re-use.