Australian budget

By Leith van Onselen Little by little, the stupidity of the 12-kilometre ACT light rail project, connecting Gungahlin in the north and Civic, is coming to light.

By Leith van Onselen Treasurer Joe Hockey last night delivered a speech to the Sydney Institute, in which he vigorously defended last month’s Federal Budget and attacked opponents for engaging in 1970s-style “class warfare”.

By Leith van Onselen The New South Wales Government has announced a plan to sell-off half of its electricity distribution network for $20 billion to fund investment in a new rail crossing under the harbour.

By Leith van Onselen I argued a few weeks back why the Australian Government should ditch the search for the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370), which went missing around three months ago, taking with it 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers from 14 nations.

By Leith van Onselen Federal Treasurer, Joe Hockey, has pulled rank today, leaping to the defence of his leader, Tony Abbott’s, flawed paid parental leave (PPL) scheme.

By Leith van Onselen For months, Tony Abbott’s $5.5 billion a year Paid Parental Leave (PPL) Scheme has been condemned from every corner.

By Leith van Onselen Per Capita has released its 2014 Tax Survey, which revealed “a marked turnaround in Australians’ attitudes to public spending and tax over the last 18 months”.

By Leith van Onselen I noted on Tuesday how the Western Australian Government’s iron ore forecasts were far too optimistic, and risked blowing a big hole in the state Budget.

By Leith van Onselen Australian Treasury Secretary, Martin Parkinson, has once again outlined in no uncertain terms why fundamental budgetary reform is essential, and how Australians seem to be suffering a “reality gap” in failing to understand why current Budget settings are unsustainable.

By Leith van Onselen The Queensland Budget was released yesterday afternoon, the centre-piece of which is the plan to raise $33.6 billion through the sale, privatisation, and leasing of public assets in a bid to pay-down debt and invest in further infrastructure.

From the ABC comes news we can all look forward to: The Prime Minister Tony Abbott will head to Indonesia this morning to begin almost a fortnight overseas, leaving his senior colleagues with the unenviable task of trying to increase support for the budget.

After all of the whining about waste and debt and business cases for spending programs, I mean, seriously, is this for real?

By Leith van Onselen I usually treat anything that comes out of a politician’s mouth with great skepticism.

Tim Toohey at Goldman Sachs is one the few economists left that will be able to look back at this period of the Australian economy with pride.

By Leith van Onselen It has been nearly three months since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370), carrying 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers from 14 nations, went missing.

The AFR carries a story today about Suncorp cutting back high LVR loans: With regulators pressuring banks not to cut credit standards amid fierce competition for customers, new chief executive John Nesbitt said on Thursday the bank was trying to be a “wise, calm head in a pretty hot market”.

By Leith van Onselen The ACT Government’s $600 million-plus 12-kilometre light rail project connecting Gungahlin in the north and Civic, which is expected to commence construction in 2016, is fast becoming a farce.

By Leith van Onselen I have noted previously how the Coalition has ear-marked tens-of-billions of taxpayer dollars to local defence manufacturing, including a $10 billion to $15 billion-program for 1,000 locally produced armoured vehicles, and locally designed and built submarines for around $40 billion.

The Budget sell is proceeding today with three ministers on the hustings.