The first Swan budget isn’t the savage attack on spending promised by the Government, but it’s a solid start, writes Bernard Keane.
Budget 08
Doing the budget security crawl
Memo to Wayne Swan: open the doors at 12.30am next year and then distribute the budget papers at 1.30pm. Stephen Mayne reports from the scene.
Leader and the Swan: how they called the budget media tune
There’s something seriously askew when the media provides the only serious scrutiny of the Government in the lead-up to the budget years, writes Bernard Keane.
15 minutes, 13 questions: inside the Swan press conference
Who’s who asked what on inside the Budget lock-up. Stephen Mayne reports from the inside.
Mayne Diary: Who and what I saw in Canberra
It’s a who’s who of the Australian political and media scenes when Stephen Mayne and Bernard Keane go for a stroll in downtown Canberra.
The spin starts here: a “fixing the roof” budget
Treasurer Wayne Swan says that tonight’s budget will be “unashamedly” about the “long-term”. Politicians talk “long-term” when the “short-term” looks ugly, writes Trevor Cook.
The commentariat: early reactions to the Budget
An hour since the journalists were unleashed from the Budget Lockdown, and the early reactions are trickling in. Here’s an early roundup.
How wrong will Treasury be this year?
Treasury has an appalling overall record in predicting the budget surpluses. How will they do this time? asks Stephen Mayne.
Swan’s press conference hand-pass to Albanese
The press conference hand off to a colleague wasn’t a bad move from a time-poor Treasurer, says Stephen Mayne.
Costello on why he doesn’t give a toss
Today is Wayne’s day, and we wouldn’t want to take that away from him. But maybe, just maybe, we miss the smirk a little…
Private health insurers are such drama queens
If the private health insurance industry is totally relying on a penalty imposed by the government to get healthy members in, how sustainable is their business? wonders Michael Johnston, Senior Policy Officer at CHOICE.
Budget leaks aplenty as Swan opens floodgates
As if mortified by press complaints that there had been minimal leaking of Budget news, the Government let pretty much everyone have a scoop, writes Bernard Keane.
Mungo: Labor government supports Medicare. Shock.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd thought the changes to the Medicare levy were important enough to warrant a separate, pre-budget announcement. But his health minister, Nicola Roxon, has spent the time since playing them down, writes Mungo MacCallum.
Eslake: What we can expect from the Budget
The ANZ Bank’s team of economists take a look at tomorrow night’s budget.
Indigenous funding fares better under the Liberals
What concerns Indigenous affairs watchers most is that if recent history is anything to go by, blackfellas are in for a bit of hiding. In budgetary terms, Indigenous affairs funding fares much better under the Liberals, writes Chris Graham.
Budget finally starts to spring a leak
The Government is finally starting to let slip some Budget details, says Bernard Keane.
Budget loophole on company cars must be closed
In the upcoming budget, it is crucial the Government signals a restructure of the FBT rules for company cars, writes Charles Berger
Will Swan keeps his hands out of the Reserve Bank till?
We’re still yet to hear whether the global credit crunch means the Reserve Bank’s balance sheet will be strengthened next Tuesday, writes Stephen Mayne.
Labor’s SS Budget is almost water-tight
This year’s Budget has so far been noticeable for the lack of leaks or even plants by the Government, writes Bernard Keane.
‘The inflation crisis is a complete charade’
An inflation charade? Sure Dr Nelson.
Crikey Says
What is in Wayne Swan’s first (last?) budget?
Budget 08 antics take a bizarre turn
This Budget will be one of the more complex economic policy statements of recent times. But the pre-positioning antics of both the Government and Opposition has truly taken a turn for the bizarre, writes Bernard Keane.
Worshipping the cult of budget surpluses
Today’s battle of the Budget leaks shows the game of expectations management about the size of the budget surplus is well underway, writes Bernard Keane.
The next Budget leak should be good news for the aged
Aged-care funding needs a more realistic basis, argues Bernard Keane.
Wayne Swan’s $500m Origin bonanza
Wayne Swan should adjust his budget forecasts after British Gas’s Origin bid, writes Stephen Mayne.
