Australian budget

Forget the big headlines, say Westpac: The 2019 Australian Federal Budget confirms that the underlying cash balance is set to return to surplus in 2019/20.

Here they are: OK, so the external prices are pretty good.

By Leith van Onselen Peeling away the spin, tonight’s Federal Budget delivered by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was a fairly dull affair.

By Leith van Onselen You would be hard pressed to find a bigger racket than Australian pharmacies.

By Leith van Onselen The Parliamentary Budget Office has released new analysis predicting that Australia’s ageing population will see government revenue fall by around $20 billion within the next 10 years.

By Leith van Onselen Tonight’s Federal Budget is expected to hose cash around a wide cross-section of the population.

Via the ABC: A multi-billion-dollar reconfiguration of the Coalition’s seven-year tax plan to favour low- and middle-income earners will be at the heart of Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s first Federal Budget.

By Leith van Onselen The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has released its taxation statistics for the 2016-17 financial year, which registered a small fall in the number of negatively geared property investors, with annual losses claimed also falling marginally.

By Leith van Onselen Scott Morrison seems to believe he can “bust” Melbourne’s congestion, and bribe his way into office, for the pissy sum of $2.1 billion.

By Leith van Onselen Health insurance premiums will increase by an industry-weighted average of 3.25% from today, while the base-insurance rebate will decline to 25.06%.

Via The Guardian: Bringing forward the Coalition’s income tax cuts would give high-income earners an extra $104 a week while low- to middle-income earners would gain just 50 cents to $4 a week, according to new modelling.

By Leith van Onselen Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says the revenue projections and economic forecasts to be outlined in the April 2019 Budget will be revised by Labor if it wins the federal election.

Nobody but MB readers seem to understand the level of insult for Australians Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is readying in the Budget: Josh Frydenberg says he will deliver a responsible budget on Tuesday, after announcing the government will deliver cheques to four million welfare recipients to help pay their energy bills.

Fake news alert.

Yes it will: OVERVIEW AND OUTLOOK The credit profile of Australia (Aaa stable) reflects its very high economic strength, buttressed by its robust growth potential and demonstrated flexibility in adjusting to a shifting economic environment.

By Leith van Onselen Shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, has announced that Labor’s signature negative gearing and capital gains tax (CGT) reforms will come into effect on 1 January 2020, roughly seven months after the federal election.

By Leith van Onselen In late 2017, the Victorian Labor Government completed a shady $6.7 billion deal with Transurban to build the West Gate Tunnel Project, which will see Transurban contribute $4.4 billion towards the cost in exchange motorists paying $15 billion in additional tolls on CityLink until 2045.

By Leith van Onselen The CBA estimates that the federal government could post a combined surplus of about $60 billion between 2019-20 and 2021-22.

Via Bill Evans at Westpac: In previous years the Reserve Bank has generally observed that fiscal policy has had only a very limited bearing on monetary policy decisions.

After Professor Peter McDonald hijacked last year’s COAG meeting with immigration propaganda, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk backed the ‘Big Australia’ mass immigration policy: Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was clear from Professor McDonald’s presentation that a cut in immigration numbers was not the answer.

By Leith van Onselen Last year I labelled the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) a “bureaucratic nightmare”, citing my family’s own personal experience with our 11-year old autistic son.

Via Domain: Australian officials are increasingly concerned that trade negotiations between China and the United States will lead to a special deal between the two countries that displaces Australia’s exports, including coal, to its biggest market.