Federal budget
End the creep: Former RBA expert backs annual tax relief for millions
Luci Ellis, Westpac’s chief economist, says there’s a big case for increasing tax thresholds each year. Without end, taxes will keep rising forever.
- by Shane Wright
Latest
Opinion
ALP
Morrison currently holds the golden chicken trophy. Could Chalmers be next?
The prize for counting budget chickens will always be a tight contest when politicians spend so much of their time listening to themselves and each other.
- by David Crowe
The little luxuries households are skipping as they plan to bank their tax cuts
The Reserve Bank is relieved that many households have increased their savings as interest rates rose, but hospitality is feeling the brunt.
- by Rachel Clun
Premiers urge Shorten to put the brakes on NDIS changes
State and territory leaders have banded together to warn that Australians with a disability will be worse off unless the NDIS minister slows his plans to clamp down on the $44 billion program.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Exclusive
Political leadership
What Australians plan to do with their $300 energy bill subsidy
Most Australians say they will use it to increase savings or pay down loans, countering fears of a spending splurge that would fuel inflation.
- by David Crowe
Opinion
Opinion
Page 97 of the budget kept me awake at night, and is a stain on Morrison’s legacy
A $6.5 billion funding allocation is an indictment against the Coalition’s treatment of veterans, and the backstory to it enough to make your blood boil.
- by Shane Wright
Analysis
Political leadership
Why Labor’s budget is not enough to reverse its two-year slump
It is not unusual for governments to suffer a slump after two years in power – it happened to John Howard in 1998 and he recovered. But there are danger signs for Labor.
- by David Crowe
Opinion
Jim Chalmers
Money can’t buy everything, but Chalmers can buy an inflation reduction
The treasurer’s use of new policy tools to solve new kinds of inflation has enraged many commentators, but the anger of those stuck in the past doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be looking to the future.
- by Richard Denniss
Opinion
For subscribers
How the budget was hijacked by a $300 cherry on the top
The energy rebate is a perfectly sensible device to hasten progress in getting inflation down to the target zone.
- by Ross Gittins
Opinion
Political leadership
Dutton’s grim picture is close to reality, but his migration schtick isn’t the solution
In treating migration as his golden leadership goose, Peter Dutton is making a classic political mistake, which is to identify your strength and then over-emphasise it.
- by Sean Kelly
Exclusive
Political leadership
Voters favour deeper cuts to migration as Labor misses budget boost
As a bruising political fight over housing and congestion continues, polling shows half of all voters want more done to curb immigration.
- by David Crowe