In its second budget, the Rudd Government’s Closing the Gap became more firmly entrenched as the over-arching policy approach in Indigenous affairs, writes Jon Altman.
Budget 09
Students aren’t talking ’bout a revolution
The catchcry of an “Education Revolution” may be popular in the Rudd government, but many university students are failing to see any hint of change.
Future of clean energy jobs in Senate’s hands
It’s time politicians and big polluters stopped arguing or seeking excuses for inaction and got on with the job, writes John Connor.
It’s 2007 all over again at Adelaide Now
Adelaide Now has all the latest news from, err, Peter Costello’s budget…
Politicians say the darndest things: Budget 09 in sound bites
Politicians know the power of a snappy sound bite. From “green weeds” to “Groundhog Day”, Budget 09 has given politicians the chance to introduce their latest catch phrases.
Value for money in the budget? Solar vs. Coal
The energy revolution is happening, but Rudd and Swan are still hedging their bets, writes John Hepburn.
podcast Canberra Calling: The Crikey budget podcast
Jonathan Green, Bernard Keane and the segue chicken discuss all the important and exciting bits of the budget, with bonus ETS!
Health budget: clever, but way off
The health budget measures are a clever response to a difficult situation, writes Robert Wells.
Whatever happened to the Education Revolution?
The bottom line is that funding per student in higher education remains lower than before the mid-1990s, and considerably lower than in most OECD countries, writes Erica Cervini.
Rees on NBN: Gimme gimme gimme!
Rudd waves the billions, up go the hands. None more eagerly than NSW Premier Nathan Rees.
Infrastructure funding plight continues
What Australia got from the federal budget is a list of projects, not a solution to our infrastructure crisis, writes Phillip O’Neill.
Indigenous affairs money scattered but plentiful
In percentage terms, it’s still better than just about any other government has done before.
Budget 09: fossil fuels exit-strategy mark one
Australians would be alarmed to know that their taxes go to multinational oil, gas and coal corporations but the budget papers do not contain any details, or Ministerial Statements explaining these.
Talkback wrap: the nation digests Budget 09
Caller Michael says the word politics comes from two Greek words meaning “many parasites,” and Caller Nev says that he’ll put his faith in his “old Labrador bitches because they’re the only true believers left.”
Climate spending won’t restore Rudd’s climate credibility
The downside of the Clean Energy Initiative – and the Rudd Government’s climate policy more generally – is the weighting given to coal interests, writes Andrew Macintosh.
2009 budget is oversold and unfair
Yes, there were good bits, but as a social document based on fairness, the 2009 federal budget wasn’t crash hot.
ABC flush with cash, SBS spits the dummy
There were conflicting responses from the state-subsidised media outlets in the wake of the Federal Budget.
Swan confronts the enemy within, and without
The Government used the Budget to push through a significant increase in spending on counter-terrorism, national security and border protection.
Swan’s boom-era Budget should sail
The mixed message of handouts and infrastructure for everyone in a time of supposed austerity is still confusing but probably not enough to cause any difficulty for the Government.
Treasury’s positive outlook is a false vision
A downturn that the Budget papers describe ad nauseam as “the most severe since the Great Depression” is expected to be over faster than the recession. So which is it? asks Steve Keen.
Berg: Never mind the deficit, look at the spending
There’s a weird - almost creepy - sense of confidence surrounding Wayne Swan’s second budget, writes Chris Berg.
Good time for government-funded media companies
It’s not such a bad time to be a media company that gets most of its money from the government, writes Jock Given.
Press release of the Budget: Family First’s broken dreams
The best press release of the 2009 federal budget ….
Budget tries to sell unattainable growth rates. Why?
About the only certainty that I get from this Budget is that our economic circumstances will not unfold as forecast, writes John Hewson.
