While the current British and French prime ministers bemoan the inadequacy of GDP to measuring their citizens’ wellbeing, for over a decade Australian bureaucrats have been getting on with building the means by which we could take a more sophisticated approach, writes Nicholas Gruen.
May, 2011
No chainsaw massacre, just modest cuts from Swan
For this year’s federal budget Wayne Swan once again promised The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and delivered Twilight, with a suite of modest spending cuts over the remainder of this financial year and then the four years over the forward estimates.
Gruen: welcome our new, riskier budget
Here’s one reason why the budget isn’t bouncing back into surplus as fast as it went into deficit…writes Nicholas Gruen.
At a glance: key numbers from the 2011-12 budget
Deficit: $22.6 billion, up from $12.3 billion in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) in November. This year’s deficit will increase to $49.4 billion from $41.5 billion in MYEFO. The famous “return to surplus” in 2012-13 remains intact — $3.5 billion, up a smidgeon from MYEFO. GDP: 4%, up from 3.75% in MYEFO. But growth this […]
The numbers: where all the money goes
The breakdown of revenue and expenses tucked away in Budget Paper No. 1 provides an interesting static overview of the major priority areas for the federal government.
Kohler: come back Lindsay, all is forgiven
Lindsay Tanner, come back! All is forgiven. The former finance minister would have been embarrassed by this budget.
Health: $1.5b for more targeted mental health services
Mental health advocates finally have the big-ticket funding package they’ve long campaigned for, with a co-ordinated $2.2 billion suite of initiatives to support patients and identify those most at risk.
Thomson: tackling skills, but no real business breaks
The Treasurer has managed to throw a few small bones to SMEs and one very big one, in the form of a $3 billion workforce package.
Public service: if this is a tough love, what does compassion look like?
If this was a tough budget, from the perspective of the federal public service, then you have to wonder what a soft budget would look like. The last tough budget the public service experienced was from Peter Costello in 1996. Since then, it has been pretty much continuous growth. This budget was the same. Employment in […]
Swan faces the pack: the gallery in song for budget grill
“By now you would be familiar with the budget papers,” Wayne Swan remarked breezily at the start of his 4.15pm press conference, but judging by the questions on offer most of the nation’s leading hacks were still struggling to find the silver bullet to destroy the Treasurer’s fiscal rectitude.
Employment: how will Gillard put Australia to work?
Julia Gillard wants Australians to go back to work, using the budget to tackle a worsening skills shortage through training and apprenticeships.
The process of dumbing down budget policy
As a temporary member of the press gallery I had my “gotcha” question ready for Wayne Swan, but alas didn’t join the shouting match to get my question in. But I can share it with you gentle reader — a little esprit de l’escalier a few hours later, writes Nicholas Gruen.
Behind the scenes: the lowdown from the lock-up
There’s no bigger shattering of journalistic hubris than the annual scrum outside the budget lock-up.
Re-watch Crikey‘s 2011 federal budget live blog
Join Crikey’s federal budget live blog featuring Bernard Keane, Nicholas Gruen post lock-up and the rest of the Crikey gang!
Hold the line, Microsoft to buy Skype
Microsoft is apparently in talks to buy Skype — the internet phone service company — for a reported US $8 billion, making it Microsoft’s most expensive buyout ever.
Abbottabad: the next big tourist hot spot?
Apparently Pakistan may demolish Osama bin Laden’s hideout to stop it becoming a tourist attraction. Apart from Osama, what else can you find in Abbottabad? Amber Jamieson went exploring.
Apple officially the world’s #1 brand
The annual BrandZ study of the world’s top brands has awarded the top gong to Apple, which is worth around US$153 billion. Google dropped to number two while IBM place at three and McDonalds at four, reports Goergina Prodgan.
Revised airline safety laws … funny if it wasn’t so serious
A long overdue set of revised safety laws for aviation in general in Australia, released for comment by the end of the month by CASA, have some comical provisions.
Why abolishing negative gearing makes complete sense
Negative gearing is a poorly thought out policy which benefits a wealthy minority and penalizes the majority of Australians, both young and old.
Radio ratings: ABC makes ground as Mitchell slumps
The ABC was the big winner in Sydney and Melbourne in the latest radio ratings, while the biggest loser was Fairfax radio.
‘No conflict’ over Defence Force social media probe
The Australian Defence Force has sidestepped conflict of interest concerns from a social media review awarded to George Patterson Y&R, the advertising behemoth that also handles the ADF’s coveted $40 million recruitment account.
Senior Age journos maintain their (r)age
Some of The Age’s most senior journalists have put their name to a statement that says that the outsourcing of subediting will be a “serious threat to the identity, integrity, quality and independence of The Age and The Sunday Age”.
Deep in the bowels of the budget lock up
The budget is Wayne Swan’s chance to shine. It’s a pity he’s a poor salesman.
Broke Greece a modern ruin … €110b bailout just not enough
There is now a very uncomfortable fact for the EU that a year after getting a €110 billion bailout, Greece is essentially broke and can’t meet its debts as and when they fall due.
My word! New Scrabble list is the real thang, innit?
Nearly three-thousand new words have been included in the latest edition of Collins Official Scrabble Words — the official list for tournament and home Scrabble play around the world — and slang terms like ‘thang’ have made the cut.
