“… for sheer lunar madness, he was beaten to a standing start by Bill Heffernan …” Guy Rundle samples budget day.
Budget 09
Stilgherrian: The Budget? How quaint! They’re just made-up, you know
Need proof that the machinery of Australian government is as outdated as the steam locomotive and the electric telegraph? Look no further than that quaint ritual called the Federal Budget.
Budget 09 in 140 characters or less
The Budget was a common topic for tweets and views ranged from anger to indifference and excitement, writes Amber Jamieson.
Video of the Day: Guy Rundle does the Budget
Guy Rundle, Crikey commentator and Geelong light rail enthusiast, goes behind the scenes as one stooge after another reacts to the Budget to get their soundbite in today’s newspapers.
VIDEO: A post-Budget chat
An hour after Budget, Bernard Keane, John Quiggin and Guy Rundle discuss Budget 09 from Parliament House.
Ask the economists: Budget 09 verdict
Crikey’s crack team of economists ignored the Budget night theatrics and zeroed in on the meat and potatoes.
Michael Brissenden: You call that tough?
For all Swan’s tough talk, this budget was like being beaten with a limp lettuce leaf.
The budget at a glance
All the numbers you need.
$53b in the red and waiting on growth
The Rudd Government has made infrastructure, retirement incomes and clean energy the centre of the 2009-10 budget.
The press take it easy on Swan’s budget
If the Budget plays with voters the same way it played with the press, the Government will be over the moon.
Small business: a break topped off with a slug
At face value, the fact that this budget contains specific measures to assist small business is a positive step, writes James Thomson.
Welcome back old-time Keynesianism
For an economist, the most striking feature of the 2009-10 Budget is the reappearance of old-time Keynesianism.
Big ticket spending: all in for nation building
This is being pitched as a nation-building budget.
Extra staffers and a little for the public service
The Government has quietly awarded itself, the Opposition and minor parties an extra 44 staff.
2008 to 2009: A tale of two wordles
Nothing quite so illuminating as a word picture. Here’s the 2008 budget speech in living colour… and 2009.
Superannuation provides the biggest budget savings
The biggest savings in this year’s budget haven’t come from the sort of swingeing cuts of fiscal infamy but a few high-profile items.
Swan meets the challenges of a difficult Budget
Wayne Swan has met all of the challenges adequately, and probably no more than that, but that in itself is a fairly substantial task.
The 2009 Budget mirage
The centrepiece of the Budget is a debt-funded increase in the old age pension, writes Alan Kohler from Business Spectator.
The ABC gets lucky
The ABC has got lucky in the Budget, picking up an extra $150m over the next triennium, including funding for the promised children’s channel.
2009 Federal Budget: the key points
Economy, families, tax, retirement, defence, health and climate: a few important, easily digestible points
Overintonc: toast, tea and parental leave
Caroline Overington says Wayne Swan’s paid parental leave is not a budget announcement, it’s an election promise.
Wayne’s come a long way…
Remember when the newly minted Treasurer was teased mercilessly in Parliament for his performance? The time was February, 2008…
Before Wayne was King…
He was just a lowly, inexperienced Shadow Treasurer, who had to face constant humiliation at the hands of the very smug, very unbearable Longest Serving Treasurer Ever Peter Costello…
Play the budget game!
Can you do a better job than Wayne Swan at deciding the budget? Play the Instabudget game - choose your own deficit. Tax the rich as much as you want.
