Australian budget

By Leith van Onselen ABC’s The Business last night aired a segment on the Defence discussion paper, released earlier this week, which questioned whether Australia should build defence hardware locally or instead purchase it off-the-shelf at lower cost offshore.

By Leith van Onselen I noted previously how the Coalition had flagged spending tens-of-billions of taxpayer dollars to local defence manufacturing, comprising locally built armoured vehicles, submarines and warships.

By Leith van Onselen The head of the doctor’s union, Australian Medical Association (AMA) president, Brian Owler, yesterday gave an address to the National Press Club, in which he raised concern that Australia is heading down the path of a US-style health system.

By Leith van Onselen A new biography of Treasurer Joe Hockey has dropped a bomb on Tony Abbott’s contentious Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme, revealing that Abbott gave Rupert Murdoch a “full rundown” of the proposed scheme before announcing the policy in 2010 and without consulting his shadow cabinet or MPs.

By Leith van Onselen The left faction of the branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) calling for a national debate on the size of government, arguing that taxes should be raised rather than cutting expenditure.

Joe Hockey has released an authorised biography, presumably to further his own leadership ambitions and it’s got some interesting stuff in it.

The Conversation has undertaken a detailed stocktake of the major budget savings measures that have been either opposed, at risk, or yet to be legislated.

By Leith van Onselen When we look back in 30 years, we are likely to view the current political term as one of the most divisive eras in Australia’s political history.

By Leith van Onselen Treasurer Joe Hockey has threatened to bypass the Senate and cut government programs if the Senate continues to blocks the Government’s key Budget savings measures.

Cross-posted from The Conversation: It’s unlikely “The Political Sayings of Malcolm Fraser” is a well-thumbed volume in Tony Abbott’s library.

By Leith van Onselen Clive Palmer’s Palmer United Party (PUP) is proving to be a major thorn in the side of the Abbott Government.

By Leith van Onselen When in opposition, the Coalition often lambasted the former Labor Government for wasting taxpayer’s dollars on a battalion of communications workers and spin doctors.

Cross-posted from The Conversation: Every now and again in public policy debates a consensus emerges on some particular point among policymakers, stakeholders and commentators.

By Leith van Onselen The Abbott Government will move to close loopholes that allow multinational corporations to shift profits and losses across international jurisdiction to minimise their tax bills.

By Leith van Onselen The Greens’ hypocritical backflip over the Budget’s re-indexation of fuel excise, which saw the party shift its official position from supporting the measure to opposing it unless the funds were spent on public transport, has come back to bite, with Greens members reportedly in revolt.

By Leith van Onselen Australian Treasury Secretary, Dr Martin Parkinson, delivered a speech yesterday claiming that Australia’s tax system is unsustainable and arguing for comprehensive tax reform.