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ECONOMY

  • Budget deficit of $35.1 billion for 2015/16
  • Unemployment rate of 6.5 per cent for 2015/16
  • Economic growth of 2.75 per cent for 2015/16
  • Iron ore price assumed to be US$48 a tonne for next two years

Pensions

  • $2.4 billion saved by increasing asset test threshold and taper rate for the pension.
  • Dumping 2014-15 proposal to index pensions to consumer price index
  • $128 million for not going ahead with last budget's measure that would freeze income eligibility thresholds for three years

Health

  • Almost $2 billion in savings
  • 400 million to be distributed from Medical Research Future Fund
  • $1.6 billion to list new drugs
  • More consumer choice in aged care

Tax Evasion

  • The target will be 30 companies that book sales overseas in low-tax or no-tax nations
  • The government will also give the Australian Tax Office an extra $11.3 million over four years to implement new transfer pricing documentation standards
  • The ATO will get new info on large companies that give details on their tax affairs including a country-by-country report
  • The government is also working with business to develop a new voluntary code that will give public disclosure of their tax affairs.

Families

  • An extra $3.5 billion over five year for childcare
  • Focus on lower and middle income families, as well as disadvantaged children
  • Two year trial for nannies, at a cost of $246 million

Welfare

  • Young unemployed no longer have to wait six months for dole
  • Unemployed up to the age of 25 wait four weeks
  • Changes to keep 22-25 year olds on lower Youth Allowance delayed

Small business

The tax measures for small business are the single biggest spending items in the budget.

  • Tax break for purchases up to $20,000
  • Tax cut of 1.5 per cent for small companies
  • Tax discount of 5 per cent for small unincorporated businesses
  • Removal of fringe benefits tax on mobile devices
Abbott and Hockey
Pensions
Health
Tax Evasion
Families
Welfare
Business
Economy
Pensions
Health
Tax Evasion
Families
Welfare
Small Business

Federal Budget 2015 news

The banana tax hidden in the budget

bananas

Dan Harrison   They are the new taxes you probably haven't heard of. but you'll be paying them when you go to the supermarket.

Coal projects could apply for govt loans

Coal projects could receive government assistance under the scheme.

Lisa Cox   Coal projects in the Galilee Basin and on the door step of the Great Barrier Reef could receive government financing under a $5 billion loan scheme in the federal budget.

Spill plotters praise Abbott's second budget

Tony Abbott

James Massola   Four Liberal MPs who publicly backed the February spill motion to replace Tony Abbott have hailed the Coalition's second budget, while dismissing the prospect of another challenge to the Prime Minister.

Academic media site hit by budget cut

Conversation cuts: Education Minister Christopher Pyne.

Matthew Knott   Academic website The Conversation will lose a quarter of its annual budget because of the federal government's decision to scrap its funding.

Greens blast northern Australia plan

Greens senator for Queensland Larissa Waters.

Cameron Atfield   The Greens have taken aim at the Commonwealth government's plan to develop Australia's north through concessional infrastructure loans, saying it could be used to subsidise billionaire miners in the region.

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Ebbs and flows of government staffing

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Markus Mannheim   Which parts of the federal bureaucracy are likely to start hiring?

Economy

Rosy assumptions could lead to blowout

Treasuer Joe Hockey.

Matthew Knott and Gareth Hutchens   The budget deficit will blow out by billions of dollars if the "rosy" predictions for economic growth in the budget papers are not realised, a leading economist warns.

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Art gallery jumps on $20,000 tax write-off

Treasuer Joe Hockey addressed the National Press Club at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday 13 May 2015. Photo: ...

James Massola, Nassim Khadem   Treasurer Joe Hockey has found an unusual ally in his plan to boost the economy, with an exclusive Sydney art gallery urging customers to spend up big on art work for their offices.

Welfare

Young unemployed will still go hungry

Labor's families spokeswoman Jenny Macklin has called for the policy on making young people wait four weeks for the dole ...

Judith Ireland   The community sector is far from sighing with relief over the Abbott government's plans to drop the waiting period for the dole from six months to one month.

'Have a go' becomes Abbott' new motto

Prime Minister Tony Abbott addresses the media during a press conference after meeting with families to discuss ...

Matthew Knott, Fergus Hunter   Forget debt and deficit disaster or "lifters not leaners. "Have a go" is where it's at for this year's budget.

Ross Gittins answers your questions

Ross Gittins

Ross Gittins   How will the budget affect you? What are the biggest hits and misses? The SMH's economics editor Ross Gittins will be answering reader questions on the federal budget 2015.

'Tony's tradies', but Abbott denies early poll 

Prime Minister Tony Abbott sells the budget outside Parliament House in Canberra.

Latika Bourke    Prime Minister Tony Abbott has coined the phrase "Tony's tradies" to describe the big winners out of his second budget.

Millions to transport nuclear waste

It remains unclear if any biological tests have ever been conducted

Lisa Cox   The Abbott government will spend nearly $27 million over four years to return radioactive waste that has been treated in the United Kingdom to Lucas Heights.

How do I claim this $20,000 tax break?

Australian households are taking a diminishing share of the national economic pie, says progressive think tank Per Capita.

Nassim Khadem   Cars, vans, kitchens and machinery – any item used for running the business – have become tax breaks overnight.

Indonesia downplays aid cuts

Julie Bishop with Tony Abbott.

Jewel Topsfield   The Indonesian government has downplayed a 40 per cent cut in aid from Australia, insisting it had nothing to do with the Bali nine executions and the republic no longer needed development assistance.

States vow to fight federal government

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten

James Massola, Richard Willingham, Sean Nicholls   Opposition leader Bill Shorten has lashed the "disastrous" $80 billion in cuts to schools and hospitals over a decade that were locked in by the Abbott government's second federal budget.

Will Abbott get budget through the Senate?

Social Services Minister Scott Morrison is leading the government's budget sell.

Adam Gartrell   It's less ambitious and will no doubt prove more popular with voters. But will the Abbott government's second budget prove more successful in the Senate than the first one?

'Do you owe women an apology?'

The Nine Network this week announced it would stream all its programs online from next year, legally circumventing the ...

Judith Ireland   "As Minister Women, are you sorry?"

Pyne promised he'd fix it. Here's how he did it

Leader of the House and Education Minister Christopher Pyne during a joint press conference with Universitities ...

Matthew Knott   He promised he'd fix it. Now the surprise has been revealed.

Tech start-ups questions govt expertise

"The Australian government seems to misunderstand the distinction between small business and start-ups," Nitro chief ...

Rose Powell   Australian tech start-ups have welcomed a suite of employment and tax tweaks in the federal budget, but warned the Australian government is still failing to understand high-growth technology companies.

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Netflix tax not a magic elixir for local retailers

"No amount of tinkering with an outdated tax system will make struggling businesses more competitive.": William Buck tax ...

Jared Lynch   Slapping GST on Netflix and other multinational technology giants is unlikely to create a level playing field, taxation experts have warned.

Mark Latham unloads on live television

Mark Latham

Megan Levy   A rampaging Mark Latham has delivered a post-budget verbal assault on live breakfast television.

Young and childless: what's in it for you?

The blues: If you're young, urban, childless, bitter and alone, budgets aren't for you.

Michael Koziol   So you're young, childless, bitter and alone - what's in the budget for you?

Health groups kept in the dark on funding cuts

Spotlight: Many doctors are unsurprised by the scandals exposed to the public over the last few months.

Amy Corderoy   Health groups have been left scrambling after the federal budget revealed plans to cut nearly $2 billion from the health system, but gave little detail about which programs would be cut.

Credit rating

AAA rating safe, economists warn on growth 

Treasurer Joe Hockey delivering the Budget speech on Tuesday evening.

Rose Powell   Australia's AAA rating is safe for now after a budget aimed to boost consumer and business confidence but economist and analysts are warning there is still considerable policy change required for growth.

Overview

Hockey steadies ship and sets sail for growth

Treasurer Joe Hockey during a press conference in Parliament House in Canberra on Monday 11 May 2015. Photo: Andrew Meares

Mark Kenny   Nearly $10 billion for families and small businesses headlines Joe Hockey's "have-a-go budget".

At a glance

Budget 2015 winners and losers

"We are operating in a less risky world in terms of leverage in the banking system and, at the global level, with a far ...

 Are you one of the winners or losers from this year's budget?

Budget impact

How is your hip pocket nerve?

The childcare package is designed to boost the government's standing with voters.

Matt Wade    Hardly a wallet was left untouched by Treasurer Joe Hockey's first budget. But this time most hip pockets will be left relatively unscathed.

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Health

Nearly $2 billion in cuts to health system

Health Minister Sussan Ley said the location rules and other pharmacy regulation and remuneration arrangements would be ...

Amy Corderoy, Dan Harrison   The government will cut nearly $2 billion from the health system over the next four years.

Infrastructure

Northern Australia to get $5b in loans

One element of the Northern Australia White Paper is extra support for the cattle industry costing up to $100 million.

Jacob Saulwick   A $5 billion loan facility will be set up to promote infrastructure investment across northern Australia, one of the major new  initiatives unveiled on Tuesday night.

Security

Foreign spies get big boost but defence idles

Defence Minister Kevin Andrews.

David Wroe   Australia's foreign intelligence agency ASIS is set to get a massive funding boost of nearly $300 million.

Welfare

Dole wait backdown to cost $2 billion

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Social Services Minister Scott Morrison.

Heath Aston, Judith Ireland   The Abbott government has backed away from its punitive plan to make the young unemployed wait six months before accessing welfare.

Immigration

Detention centre to be wound back

The Ocean Shield will now patrol Australia's waters 300 days a year.

Sarah Whyte   The controversial detention centre on Christmas Island will wind back operations, as the Abbott government continues to tighten the net around Australia to stop asylum seeker boat arrivals.

Foreign

Foreign aid to Indonesia cut by nearly half

Aid established after the Boxing Day tsunami was due to expire.

Sarah Whyte   Aid to Indonesia has been cut by nearly half and assistance offered to Africa has plummeted by 70 per cent in historic cuts to foreign aid.

Victoria

Abbott demands $1.5b East West Link cash

Give it back: Premier Daniel Andrews.

Josh Gordon   Tony Abbott is demanding Victoria hand back $1.5 billion of East West Link cash as a major saving to pad out his second budget, paving the way for a bitter federal-state showdown over infrastructure funding.

ANALYSIS

Watch out: this is a booby-trapped budget

Abbott suggests taxes are not on his agenda, yet he promises a return to surplus. That can only mean one thing: more cuts, a lot more cuts.

Shorten should bite the infrastructure bullet

Bill Shorten attacked every aspect of Joe Hockey's first budget in his budget reply speech a year ago, but he can't do that when he stands up again on Thursday evening.

'Glacial' wage growth puts budget forecasts in doubt

One day on, the budget forecasts are looking frayed.

Ten reasons to 'have a go' that Joe Hockey hasn't thought of

It's not just good for the national budget, small business life brings so many personal and financial benefits that aren't in the brochure.

Joe Hockey, the happy budget butterfly

What an extraordinary transformation. Last year's miserable doom-and-gloom caterpillar Treasurer emerged from his budget cacoon last night as a beautiful butterfly.

Hockey gets it right after horror first budget

Joe Hockey had promised his second budget would be the right one for the times.

A budget that will restore political fortunes but do little for recovery

This is the budget of a badly rattled government that has put self-preservation ahead of economic responsibility.

Ambition sacrificed as Abbott's battlers take centre stage

The Prime Minister is proposing to spend an extra $10 billion on an act of political engineering: creating the Abbott battlers.

VIDEO

Budget 2015: What's in it for me?

Callum Denness takes a look at what's in the budget, where the money is being spent and where the cuts are coming from.

Hockey's budget rap

Need to wrap your head around the government's 2015 budget? We break it down for you in 45 seconds.

Hockey dismisses talk of early election

Treasurer Joe Hockey says he's got unfinished business for the nation, and doesn't want to give up government easily.

Budget 'remarkably good': Howard

Former Prime Minister John Howard tells a Brisbane budget breakfast that small business will see "increased expenditure" as a result of the budget.

Budget 2015: cuts to foreign aid 'tragic'

Foreign aid saves lives, argues Greens senator Scott Ludlam as he criticises Hockey's "directionless" budget.

Budget 2015: Business overview

Senior business writer Adele Ferguson outlines how the budget will affect business in Australia.

Budget like 'chalk and cheese' from last year

Senator Nick Xenophon says Treasurer Joe Hockey's second budget is like 'chalk and cheese' compared to last year's and could give wriggle room to call an early election.

Labor won't support family benefit cuts

What budget measures will Labor support? Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh joins Chris Hammer to discuss the government's second budget.

Budget 2015: Economic overview

SMH Economics writer Ross Gittins gives his verdict on the budget and he is not impressed.

Budget 2015: Hockey fronts the media

Treasurer Joe Hockey says he wants people to spend as he hands down a budget that has a "credible trajectory back to surplus".

Budget 2015: Hockey delivers second budget

Treasurer cracks down on multinational tax avoiders, revamps the pension scheme and announces nearly $10 billion for families and small businesses.

2015 Budget: Political overview

SMH Political editor Peter Hartcher outlines how the budget will shape the political landscape in the weeks and months ahead.

Schoolgirl grabs selfie with Hockey

Joe Hockey's grilling from the media is briefly interrupted by a selfie request from excited student Anika Buining outside Parliament House in Canberra on budget day.

Budget fairness balance

Labor MP Terri Butler and Nationals Senator John 'Wacka' Williams join Chris Hammer to discuss the government's second budget.

Budget 2015: What the crossbenchers are saying

Jacqui Lambie says Tony Abbott's heart is in the right place on childcare but wants more consultation, David Leyonhjelm likens the budget to a gorilla and Scott Ludlam rubbishes the so called Netflix tax.

Budget 2015: Understanding your super

Is superannuation now a lifter or a leaner? Quentin Dempster and Rocco Fazzari explore whether encouraging people to build their own nest eggs is good for the government's budget.

Negative gearing: from lifter to leaner

At his last budget Joe Hockey said that as a nation of lifters, everyone should contribute. But negative gearing has turned private property into leaners, explains Quentin Dempster.

Is the pension cat out of the budget bag?

The government is likely to abandon changes to pension indexation in the budget, says Liberal backbencher Andrew Laming.

Hockey's horror numbers

The budget deficit continues to deteriorate and parliament must rise to the challenge says Deloitte Access Economics' Chris Richardson.

Hockey's budget challenge

The government will attempt to be tough, fair and family friendly in this month's budget, but can Joe Hockey deliver? Analysis with Mark Kenny.

The retreating surplus

'We're wasting money', says Nationals Senator John 'Wacka' Williams; 'we have an incoherent approach to economic management', responds Labor's Andrew Giles.