Federal Budget
Better budget bottom line, higher inflation on the way
17 December
Treasury has updated its economic and fiscal forecasts for the next four years in its mid-year budget update. BUDGET DEFICITS (PREVIOUS IN BRACKETS): * 2025/26 – $36.8 billion ($42.2b) * 2026/27 – $34.3b ($35.4b) * 2027/28 – $36.2b ($27.1b) *...[Read More]
Budget $5.4b better off as Chalmers tightens the belt
17 December
Treasurer Jim Chalmers will unveil a $5.4 billion improvement in the federal budget this financial year, even as the deficit sinks to its worst level in five years. With judicious use of words such as “sensible” and “restraint”, Dr Chalmers...[Read More]
Chalmers spins battery blowout into budget savings
17 December
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has used a $4.9 billion blowout in home battery subsidies to claim the government saved taxpayers $6.7 billion in the mid-year budget update. The battery subsidy program was initially set to cost taxpayers $2.3 billion but the...[Read More]
Budget takes $8.2b hit thanks to black market tobacco
17 December
Australia’s roaring tobacco black market has blown more holes in the federal budget but Treasurer Jim Chalmers continues to stare down calls to tackle the excise driving the trade. In Dr Chalmers’ mid-year budget update released on Wednesday,...[Read More]
Budget focuses on power bills, tax cuts and healthcare
26 March
FEDERAL BUDGET AT A GLANCE * Budget deficit of $27.6 billion this financial year * Commonwealth gross debt to rise to $940 billion (33.7 per cent of GDP) in 2024/25 before cracking $1 trillion the year after * Net debt to rise to $556 billion in...[Read More]
Budget fundamentals smashed as storms cloud outlook
26 March
Australia is on track for structural deficits as far as the government can see, clouding the economy’s final approach to a soft landing. Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ federal budget unveiled on Tuesday night locks in underlying deficits until 2035/36...[Read More]