Australian budget

Over the pandemic we witnessed the universities put dollars ahead of lives by lobbying to open Australia’s borders Then we witnessed their relentless whining over the the loss of international students where they claimed they would lose billions of dollars and demanded federal governments support (which they received).

NBN Co’s pricing proposal lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) claimed that “accelerating” competition from mobile broadband is threatening the market share and viability of the National Broadband Network (NBN).

By Stephen Halmarick, Chief Economist at CBA: Key Points: Australia’s underlying budget deficit up to January 2023 was $A28.4bn, a $A13.6bn better outcome than expected as at the October 2022 Budget.

Since the founding of MB, the Australian political economy has reverted to form.

Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) has become a national embarrassment at this point.

Former top NSW rail executive, Dr Dick Day, warns that Sydney’s multibillion-dollar metro rail projects risk delivering limited benefits to commuters despite their enormous price tags.

“Significant concerns” have been identified in the Inland Rail Project, which will establish a 1700-kilometre rail link between Melbourne and Brisbane.

NBNCo’s annual reports show that its executives have received bonuses totalling $5.7 million since 2020, including about $1.5 million in 2021-22.

Rising interest rates are likely to result in more investors using negative gearing and capital tax deductions, which are both “bad policies”, according to mortgage broker Mark Bouris.

Marion Terrill from the Grattan Institute contends that overhauling the fuel tax credit scheme would reduce the budget deficit and help Australia to achieve the net zero target of 2050.

It is amusing watching the sick AFR try to make a positive out of a negative: The first shipment of Australian coal to China since Beijing imposed an unofficial ban on the export commodity two-and-a-half years ago is expected to arrive in the country next week, according to Chinese reports.

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) annual review of Australia has proposed an overhaul of the nation’s tax system in order to make it fairer.

In mid 2021, the Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers committed to a minimum global corporate tax rate of at least 15%, which was expected to result in hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into government coffers.

By Stephen Saunders: The October Budget offers us a sparkly new “wellbeing” framework.

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO has forecast that the average personal income tax rate will rise to 26.4% in 2032-33, compared with 23.7% in 2021-22.

Shortly after the federal election, new Communications Minister Michelle Rowland confirmed that Labor had abandoned plans to privatise the national broadband network (NBN).

Earlier this week, The Age published an article featuring a range of infrastructure experts deriding the Andrews Government’s billion Suburban Rail Loop (SRL): The Loop’s costings have already blown out from the initial $50 billion to $125 billion, a figure the government disputes.

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has published an interesting report examining trends in personal income taxes.

For years I derided Australia’s public service for receiving far bigger pay rises than the private sector. This saw average full-time earnings in the public service ($100,708) increase significantly faster than the private sector ($89,742).

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) Sandra Parker recently stated that wage underpayment has become a systemic issue in Australia’s tertiary education sector.