Crikey’s Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane and John Quiggin make some predictions before going into the Budget lockdown.
Budget Countdown
Budget to RBA: you complete me
Today’s Reserve Bank forecasts complete the likely picture that will emerge on Budget night next Tuesday.
Hunting the hunted in Finance
What happens when you graft an ever-increasing range of requirements onto the traditional Cabinet process?
Budget countdown: ASIO growth freeze imminent?
The 2009 Budget might finally spell the end of the remorseless growth of ASIO, the most successful government body of the Howard era.
Budget countdown: Tax revenue, recession, deficit, oops
There are worrying signs that the collapse in government revenue will reveal a budget in structural deficit.
Crossing the Floor with Bernard Keane: Budget countdown edition
Bernard Keane looks at the forthcoming Commonwealth Budget, with some unusual lighting FX courtesy of Canberra’s weather.
Budget countdown: will ABC and SBS survive our toughest budget in living memory?
Before considering giving more money to the ABC, there’s the small matter of what savings the broadcaster could make.
Budget countdown: Auslink infrastructure planning fail
Auslink: frequently no appraisal, no cooperation and no planning, and no one ever evaluated anything.
Budget countdown: no old fuels in Resources
The Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism is the Government’s delivery mechanism for its support for the coal industry, while Government investment in renewable energy lags far behind.
Budget countdown: innovation and protectionism
Industries are lining up for the same sort of generosity that Kim Carr likes to dole out to the car industry.
Budget countdown: It’s time to introduce tolls on our roads
There is a way to extend existing infrastructure funding further without slicing or delaying projects: it’s time to introduce tolls.
Budget countdown: health caught in a catch 22
The more successful our health system, the longer Australians live — and the longer they will need aged care services of all varieties.
Budget countdown: incomes between a tax cut and a hard place
Australia has an unfair, warped and immensely costly approach to incomes policy and the coming budget is the ideal time to start the long process of fixing it.
Budget countdown: $50b deficit is just the beginning
The hunt for savings within the Commonwealth budget is unlikely to make much of a dent in the looming shortfalls.
