Today
- Opinion
- Federal budget
There is method in the energy rebate economists will hate
This is a budget that acknowledges the government is facing a mountain of problems that cannot be solved any time soon.
- 1 hr ago
- Laura Tingle
The 14 measures you might have missed
From fast-tracked passports to sweet potato levies, there are many more things in the 1000 pages of federal budget documents than you might imagine. Here are some of them.
- 1 hr ago
- Tom Burton
Made in Australia unleashes a lobbyist nirvana
As the treasurer hands down his third budget, hasn’t he aroused a stupendous chorus of critics.
- Updated
- Myriam Robin and Mark Di Stefano
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Chalmers’ Made in Australia is just a drop in the bucket
The new strategy is just a drop in the bucket compared with the US, and taxpayers can be relieved that the treasurer has been remarkably frugal in its funding.
- Karen Maley
- Opinion
- Federal budget
The costs of the future still start adding up today
Jim Chalmers is betting he can get the balance right between curbing inflation in the short term while promoting growth in the longer term.
- Jennifer Hewett
Labor pumps $630m into green jobs
Labor will spend more than $630 million to help secure workers for its signature Made in Australia agenda.
- Tom McIlroy
Treasury expects unemployment to climb to 4.5pc by this time next year
Sluggish hiring could lead cautious households already grappling with higher interest rates to save rather than spend the windfall from tax cuts.
- Michael Read
$24b in front-loaded spending risks fuelling inflation
Spending and taxing decisions in this budget will tip an extra $24 billion into the economy, jarring with the government’s claims that it is putting downward pressure on inflation.
- John Kehoe
Spending addiction fuels a new decade of deficits
This pre-election budget includes $300 in power bill discounts for every household, $1.9 billion in rent assistance and $14 billion in tax credits for critical mineral miners and green hydrogen producers.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Federal budget
There’s an $80b spending bomb buried in the budget
The people who should be most worried about this profligate pre-election budget are Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock and home borrowers.
- John Kehoe
From babies to Boomers: what’s in the budget for you
The 2024 federal budget includes power bill relief, more training places and additional rent assistance.
- Joanna Mather and Lucy Dean
Prescription drug price freeze until 2026
Moves to limit price increases for prescription holders will come into force from January 1 next year.
- Tom McIlroy
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Why Andrew Forrest is a big budget winner
Jim Chalmers’ $23 billion bet on turning Australia into a green industry superpower ignores many of the issues on the top of the business sector’s wishlist.
- James Thomson
Pessimistic iron ore, coal forecasts give Chalmers room to wriggle
Treasury assumes that iron ore and coal prices will fall from their present elevated level back to their long-run levels by the end of the March quarter in 2025.
- Karen Maley
Solomons, PNG win in $1b-plus Pacific play to ward off China
The government will provide funds for telecommunication cables in the Solomon Islands, help Papua New Guinea with a $600 million bailout and upgrade embassies.
- Andrew Tillett
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Chalmers’ latest effort basks in a green glow
Sit back and behold Jim Chalmers’ big green Australian budget. But making forecasts is easy, and will voters buy the story?
- Andrew Clark
Deeming rate freeze extension keeps pensioners $3300 in the green
The figure used to estimate how much retirees’ investments are earning will remain well below where it would otherwise be, easing fears of an “income cliff”.
- Lucy Dean
BHP’s $64b game; Chalmers slams ‘trick’ claim; Meme stock stupidity
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Chalmers rejects ‘political trick’ inflation reduction claim
Former RBA board member Warwick McKibbin levelled the claim ahead of Tuesday’s budget, while economists warned bill relief would only stoke consumer demand.
- Ronald Mizen and Michael Read
Here’s what we know is in Tuesday’s federal budget
Treasurer Jim Chalmers will hand down the Labor government’s third federal budget this week. Here’s everything we know ahead of the announcement.
- Updated
- Tom McIlroy
