Australian budget

By Leith van Onselen Opposition Treasury spokesman, Chris Bowen, is set to propose a new plan that would remove responsibility over key economic forecasts in the Federal Budget from the Australian Treasury and instead grant these to the independent Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).

By Leith van Onselen Labor Leader, Bill Shorten, has doffed his hat to his union mates and vowed to cancel any deal struck by the Coalition to have 12 submarines built in Japan, thus ensuring the work is done locally.

By Leith van Onselen The Abbott Government will reportedly announce today that it will grant a Japanese company the contract to build 10 submarines, in the process shutting the door on South Australian builder ASC.

By Leith van Onselen I had the privilege of attending the 123rd Annual Henry George Commemorative Dinner, hosted by Prosper Australia, which was held on Wednesday 3rd September 2014.

By Leith van Onselen Former Howard Government minister, Peter Reith, over the weekend urged parliament to act decisively and early to wind-back generous tax concessions and benefits afforded to wealthier Australians, and not wait until the Budget and economy are in crisis.

By Leith van Onselen The Abbott Government has set to delay the planned increase in the superannuation guarantee – the amount that employers must contribute into employee’s super accounts – by three years in a bid to ease pressures on the Budget.

By Leith van Onselen Today, the price of a packet of cigarettes is scheduled to rise by between $1.12 and $2.81 due to the decisions of the former Rudd Government to raise the tobacco excise by 12.5%.

Cross-posted from The Conversation: The long-awaited cost-benefit analysis of the National Broadband Network suggests the days of politicians shooting from the hip with taxpayer dollars are numbered.

By Leith van Onselen Education Minister, Christopher Pyne, has called on Australia’s university students to “get some perspective” on the Coalition’s planned changes to university fees and funding, claiming that the Government is “not exactly asking for their left kidney”.

By Leith van Onselen The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has issued another warning that that government spending would balloon to nearly $700 billion over the coming decade without reform.

By Leith van Onselen Tony Abbott has spoken-out against Treasury Secretary, Martin Parkinson’s, claim last night that the Government had failed to sell the case for tax reform, noting instead the following: “I’ve been saying on many occasions that tax reform starts with scrapping the carbon tax and scrapping the mining tax.

By Leith van Onselen Finance Minister, Mathias Cormann, has given an interview on 2UE radio where the proposed $20 billion Medical Research Fund was discussed (my emphasis): STUART BOCKING: Joe Hockey keeps telling us it is about safeguarding Medicare.

By Leith van Onselen It’s good to see the nation’s parasite industries feasting at the trough of the Queensland Government’s planned $30 billion of asset privatisations: If it was not for Campbell Newman’s Queensland government, our investment banks, law firms and accountants wouldn’t know what to do with themselves.

By Leith van Onselen The lobby group representing older Australians, Council of the Ageing (COTA), will today launch a campaign against changes to indexing arrangements for the Aged Pension, which were announced in the May Budget.