Sometimes you have to wonder if Joe Hockey, the putative federal treasurer if the Gillard mob loses power, really has a handle on what’s going on.
Government spending
What has the war on terror cost taxpayers, and did they get value for money?
Spending on the war on terror is higher now than at the height of 9/11 hysteria. Budget papers show the Howard, Rudd and Gillard governments have spent more than $15 billion on the war since 2001.
Come in Spinner: Good policy from a government in trouble
Most governments in political trouble immediately reach for a pot of populism and the pumps that spread the money around, writes Noel Turnbull, adjunct professor, media and communications, RMIT University.
Megalogenis: Anything you can spend, I can spend better
This mini-spendathon by both the PM and the Opposition leader is cause for concern, says George Megalogenis. Announcing new expensive policies every week is about playing politics, not good financial management.
It’s not about how much they spend, it’s what they spend it on
It’s typical Labor government stuff at the moment: Labor had a big cash splash to avert the GFC and now the Coalition are blasting their ‘spiralling debt’. But how should the government balance spending with saving? asks Brian Toohey.
Mungo: What a difference a month makes
The smugness of the Howard years came at a price, writes Mungo MacCallum.
Horror budgets: a dummy’s guide
Properly managed, a horror Budget can both burnish a new Government’s economic credentials and boost its public standing, writes Bernard Keane.
Crikey Says: Crikey Says
The more readily Murdoched portions of the daily press are gunning hard for the Rudd Government over leaks that put sensitive examples of Howard Government largesse under stern razor gang scrutiny. Take money away from pensioners? Shameful. From carers? Disgusting. Or mealy mouthed as Malcolm Turnbull puts it. The Government should just pledge to renew the late term gifts of […]
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Comments, corrections, clarifications, and c*ckups
John Howard in Washington … Afghan poppy crop … Labor’s razor gang … Gunns and funding … Females and public policy … JFK …
This razor gang might just be a cut above the rest
The warning that carers’ bonuses may be scrapped in the Budget is only the first of what are likely to be a number of razor slash stories between now and Budget night, writes Bernard Keane.
