It will take much more than surprise, surprise post-election announcements of the dire budget outlook to properly repair Australia’s tattered fiscal policy.
The new Labor government has said mostly the right things on Australia’s fiscal challenge. In post-election mode, new Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher have switched to warning about the more “dire” position of the federal budget and the “huge” spending pressures – such as on health care, aged care, disability services and defence – building up over the rest of the decade.
Labor’s line-item review by Treasury and the Department of Finance needs to be backed with robust cost-benefit analysis of new spending promises.special tax on the “excess” profits of oil and gas companies Amid these correct calls on tax, however, it will take much more than surprise, surprise post-election announcements of theto properly repair Australia’s tattered fiscal policy. The truth is that Labor must bear much of the responsibility for the quarter of a century of budget deficits that began under Treasurer Wayne Swan during the global financial crisis in 2008-09 and that are now projected to continue beyond 2032-33.
With no credibility on budget responsibility and having run a small-target election campaign, reverse-engineering a Labor mandate for fiscal repair will not be easy to reconcile with new promises of relief for cost-of-living pressures. This must begin by constructing a fiscal framework – akin to the Hawke-Keating “trilogy” – to re-anchor expectations after the previous fiscal rule of balancing the budget over the course of the economic cycle was trashed by the pandemic.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Greens have mandate to stop new oil and gas projects: Bandt tells Labor“They’re in government but the Greens and the independents, whose presence in parliament went up, were demanding more ambitious climate action and at some point Labor has to recognise that that’s what people want.' | latikambourke Auspol
Read more »
The Donald and the Kremlin Don: how Trump’s toxic legacy helps Putin | Simon TisdallFrom Afghanistan to North Korea, Joe Biden is running short of time to repair the damage done by his predecessor in the White House
Read more »
PEP, Carlyle weigh iNova sale, pitched with $150m-plus EBITDABankers are mandated to test appetite in iNova Pharmaceuticals, best known for distributing cold and flu treatments Difflam and Demazin.
Read more »
Will Wall Street contagion spread to Main Street?Rising interest rates, winding back central bank bond buying and reducing fiscal stimulus amounts to a triple tightening of financial conditions that threatens to weigh on the real economy.
Read more »
New ways to maximise your money under Labor governmentIt’s time to reposition your approach and reconsider some of your wealth-building strategies because of political and economic changes.
Read more »
What will the new Labor government do for rural and regional Australia?With the Nationals now out of power, we examine the Albanese government’s promises and priorities for the bush
Read more »