Budget reply: Shorten unveils $71b savings

Bill Shorten will unveil a $6 billion, ten year spending cut - Labor's single biggest to date - in the form of an $8000 per year cap on loans for students to study at private colleges.

Turnbull gives Labor a second free kick

Michael Gordon   Malcolm Turnbull's standing as the Coalition's great communicator has taken a second hit in two days.

'The game is up on this'

Matt Wade   Scott Morrison has begun his budget sales tour warning big companies that Australia will lead the way on multinational tax avoidance.

Risks of a 'jobs destruction scheme'

Anna Patty   A new internship program introduced to combat youth unemployment is at risk of becoming a "jobs destruction program" unless safeguards are introduced, workplace experts have warned.

BUDGET 2016

Retirement transition scheme hobbled

Mark Bouris   Financial expert Mark Bouris gives his verdict on whether the transition-to-retirement (TTR) scheme is still worthwhile.

Labor's attack muted by super changes

Malcolm Maiden   Scott Morrison didn't balance the budget, but he outlined a path to it that is marketable.

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Retirees slam attack on big super balances

Sally Rose   Advocates for wealthy savers and self-funded retirees have condemned new limits on how much people can save in the tax-advantaged settings of superannuation.

Buried in budget - a $1.6b election war chest

Michael Koziol   Buried deep in Treasurer Scott Morrison's first budget are the keys to eight weeks of so-called election announceables.

RBA rains on Scott Morrison's parade

Alex Malley   The Reserve Bank's decision to cut interest rates to a record low yesterday undermined the Treasurer's narrative for his budget.

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Budget 2016: Live Q&A; with Ross Gittins

Ross Gittins   Fairfax Media's Economics Editor, Ross Gittins, answers your questions on Treasurer Scott Morrison's first budget.

The more I look. the more I like it

Peter Martin   This type of federal budget is rare. The Turnbull government sought and adopted best practice. You can’t argue with that.

Skip airport queues - if you are willing to pay

Nicole Hasham   A plan to allow wealthy airline passengers to avoid long airport queues will bring more visitors to Australia, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says.

$2 cigarettes 'force smokers into black market'

Heath Aston   Cigarette makers and retailers claim the $40 packet of cigarettes is going to force more smokers into the growing black market for illegally imported tobacco.

Malcolm Turnbull defends 'dull' budget

Matthew Knott   Malcolm Turnbull has brushed off claims he delivered a "dull" first budget as prime minister and defended the fairness of only handing income tax cuts to those earning over $80,000 a year.

Greens reveal their bargaining chip

Peter Hannam   The Greens have ambitious plans around energy storage and will use budget negotiations to advance the latest breakthroughs in renewables.

What Australia said about the budget

Lucy Cormack   In the 12 hours after Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison delivered his first "quintessentially political" budget, there was one group of Australians dominating conversation online.

Winners and losers from budget 2016

Fergus Hunter   Will you be better or worse off after Treasurer Scott Morrison's first budget?

Tourism industry blasts retention of 'backpacker tax'

Jamie Freed   The tourism industry is bitterly disappointed that the government failed to make changes to the "backpacker tax" introduced in last year's budget.

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Super in the spotlight in cautious budget

Mark Kenny and James Massola   Bold superannuation changes that hit high income earners but leave 96 per cent of Australians untouched are at the centre of Treasurer Scott Morrison's first, low-spending election-eve budget.

Crackdown could add fuel to housing fire

Sally Rose   A crackdown on superannuation tax concessions for the rich, coupled with a budget day cut to interest rates, could increase the flow of funds into negatively geared investment property.

Sales grills Morrison in post-budget interview

Kate Aubusson   Leigh Sales unleashed a blistering critique in Scott Morrison's first post-budget interview, suggesting the Treasurer's economic projections were too optimistic, with deficits "as far as the eye can see".

$A doesn't budge on budget after RBA action

Mark Mulligan   The $A barely reacted to the budget measures, after having lost nearly 2 per cent earlier in the day after the RBA slashed rates a quarter point.

'Modest' tax cuts for top earners only

Tom Allard   The federal government has skewed cuts in personal income tax rates to higher income earners.

Scott Morrison's budget speech in full

"This economic plan is the foundation on which we can build a brighter, more secure future, in a stronger, new economy with more jobs."

This budget calls for an act of faith

Peter Martin   In the words of pop music legend George Michael: "You've got to have faith."

Tax relief for small business

Heath Aston   Modest immediate tax cuts for small business will be used to encourage jobs growth, with Treasurer Scott Morrison promising a long-term phase down in the company tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent.

Victoria short-changed again on infrastructure

Josh Gordon   Victoria continues to be severely short-changed on infrastructure, with the Turnbull government pinning its Victorian electoral hopes on an Abbott-era promise.

Analysis

A pass mark but the hard work's left for later

Stephen Bartos   Governments rarely have the courage to find savings to pay for new programs.

Rich hit with $1.6 million super cap

Sally Rose   In a crackdown on superannuation tax perks, rich retirees will no longer be able to draw tax-free earnings from balances higher than $1.6 million.

Treasury upbeat despite past mistakes

Nassim Khadem   The 2016 federal budget papers reveal once again the Treasury's previous forecasts have been far too upbeat.

Door left open to flexible uni fees

Matthew Knott   The Turnbull government has dumped one of the most controversial measures in the Coalition's politically toxic 2014 budget – the full deregulation of university fees – but opened the door to other major changes such as a new two-tiered fee system.

Tax cuts for small businesses, sole traders

Nassim Khadem   About 870,000 small businesses will have their tax rate reduced from July 1.

New $840m package for young jobseekers

Chris Johnson   Work for the Dole will be massively reformed and employer subsidies reduced to help pay for an ambitious new program aimed at getting the young unemployed into jobs.

TV networks get $160m boost

Mathew Dunckley   After years of furious lobbying, the free-to-air television networks have been given a prize.

Schools and hospitals win $4b in extra funding

Jane Lee and Adam Gartrell   The Turnbull government will invest an extra $4 billion in schools and hospitals in an attempt to neutralise Labor's key strength ahead of the election.

Turnbull's clever but lacklustre budget

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison have fashioned a budget for everyone, and a budget for no one in particular.

Intern scheme worthy but open to exploitation

Matt Wade   On the face of it, the government's internship program to assist young people on the path to work is likely to be popular with voters. But there are risks as well.

How to claim new tax benefits

Bhakthi Puvanenthiran   Scott Morrison's focus on small business means a lower tax rate for even more businesses.

The unsung heroes of the budget lock-up

Michael Koziol   It's the one day of the year - the day when boffins emerge from their back rooms to bask in the limelight.

Average families ignored

Clare Sibthorpe   Canberra father supports boosting innovation, helping small businesses and targeting financial crime.

$171m for the Great Barrier Reef

Nicole Hasham   Budget confirms the independent Climate Change Authority established by Labor is not funded to operate beyond 2017.

Badgerys Creek project gains extra $115m

Jacob Saulwick   The Badgerys Creek airport is the sole Sydney transport or land use project to receive increased funding in Tuesday's budget

Opinion

RBA's big budget day hint

Michael Pascoe   Reading between the lines, the RBA is saying the outlook has deteriorated on the Coalition's watch and there's no sign of the government making a difference with fiscal policy.

RBA cuts cash rate to fight deflation

Mark Mulligan   The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday cut the cash rate to a record low of 1.75 per cent in a bid to head off falling prices and an economic downturn.

EXCLUSIVE

'Black hole' claim doesn't stand up to scrutiny

Heath Aston   Modelling of the impact of higher tobacco taxes completed just five weeks ago has hung a question mark over the Turnbull Government's budget-eve claim of a "black hole" in Labor's policy costings.

Who is right about Labor's alleged blowout?

Daniella Miletic   Separate official costings calculate very different amounts of revenue will be generated by taxing smokers.

Ghost of Abbott adds billions 

Peter Martin   The first Turnbull budget will be propped up by around $13 billion of so-called "zombie measures", which are still on the books from the first and second Abbott budgets but not yet passed by the Senate.

It's all about fairness, nothing else matters

Mark Kenny   For all its enormous complexities and competing demands, Scott Morrison's first, and potentially only, federal budget will sink or swim on one question alone.

How to read the budget papers

Peter Martin   If you've got yourself the budget papers. Here's what to do next.

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Budget 2016: What we know so far

Peter Martin   The full details of the 2016 budget will be released by Scott Morrison on Tuesday night at 7.30pm, but there is plenty that we know already.