Budget deficit improvement 'looks like a rounding error', says CBA economist
The chief economist of the nation's biggest retail bank is forecasting a $12 billion improvement in the budget deficit over the next three years.
Federal Budget news
Morrison flags further action if housing market fails to cool
The Turnbull government is prepared to further intervene in the housing market, Treasurer Scott Morrison says, if the federal budget's housing package fails to calm rising house prices.
Draw a line on the Coalition's economic performance
See how closely you've been paying attention with our Draw It Yourself tool.
Vice-chancellors hit out at fee hikes, funding cuts
University leaders have lashed out at the Turnbull government's proposed cuts to higher education funding.
Uni reforms show PM does not want a repeat of Tony Abbott's 2014 horror show
There is good and bad in the Turnbull government's measured university changes .
Eight per cent fee increase, earlier repayments, funding cuts
The package, designed to save the budget $2.8 billion, carries political risk for the Turnbull government.
Morrison says housing 'scalpel' already working
Treasurer Scott Morrison has seized on a new report that shows house prices in Sydney and Melbourne are slowing to claim regulatory measures to easy Australia's housing affordability crisis are working.
Calls for tax cuts, housing reform pre-budget
Australian company directors are more positive than they've been in six years, but remain worried about inaction on housing affordability and tax reform ahead of the May federal budget.
'Don't cry poor': Unis to have budgets cut, student fees to rise
Pain will be shared between universities and students under new reform package.
One-stop complaints scheme for banks and insurers tipped in federal budget
The budget will make it easier to complain about banks
Surplus, AAA rating at risk in homebuyer-friendly budget
The budget outlook will improve and then get worse, weighed down by spending says Deloitte Access Economcis
Pushing up prices may help home buyers
Every scheme being considered would push prices higher.
Budget reporting change sparks debt spree concerns
Leading economists have expressed unease about a budget reporting change.
Bowen says Labor looking at similar 'good debt' change
Labor leader Bill Shorten says the federal government is moving the budget goal posts because it has failed to get debt under control, lashing its plan to divide the federal budget into "good" and "bad" debt.
Finally, we could have a budget that will do something
Tuesday week, Morrison and Turnbull will no longer be as limited by concern about budget deficit.
New budget rules allow Treasurer to boost spending on big projects
Treasurer is preparing the ground for a big new spend on infrastructure in the May budget.
Work for the dole a 'demonstrable failure, demonises the unemployed'
Work for the dole has been an expensive "demonstrable failure" that does nothing to lessen the nation's unemployment burden, one of Australia's biggest charities has said.
Malcolm Turnbull dampens talk of affordable housing focus in budget
Prime Minister Turnbull has cooled expectations of an affordable housing "centrepiece" in the budget.
Labor hits foreigners, vacant properties and super funds
Foreign home buyers, vacant properties and self-managed super funds will be targeted in a pre-emptive strike.
The next boom is under way – before another bust
A Caterpillar and Komatsu cavalry is arriving just in time to save the next two federal budgets.
Economic rebound forecast in IMF's 'sneak budget preview'
The IMF changes tack as the budget approaches.
'This thing's gonna blow': Top economists' interest rate warning
An overcooked housing market and rising interest rates are poised to plunge thousands of Australian families into mortgage stress.
Home internet should be tax-exempt for employers that allow staff to work flexibly: Telstra
Home internet services should be exempt from fringe benefits tax to take account of the fact that more Australians are working from home, telecommunications giant Telstra says.
One in three new home loans at risk, warns RBA
One third of new mortgage owners have less than a month's buffer against financial instability, the Reserve Bank has warned.
Christopher Pyne lashes colleagues for public disunity ahead of budget
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne has chastised his Coalition colleagues for publicly debating whether the government should allow first-home buyers to raid their superannuation savings.
What happens if China stumbles? A $140b doomsday scenario
Australia is more exposed to the economy of a single nation - China - than at any time since the 1950s, when Britain was our major trading partner.
Budget razor gang to consider medicine scheme shake-up
The Turnbull government's powerful budget razor gang is set to consider a reform package for the $10 billion PBS.
Cut immigration to reduce housing pressures, says Tony Abbott
The former prime minister says there is nothing "sacrosanct" about Australia's immigration numbers.
Axe hovers over 'hopeless' work-for-the-dole program
Powerful expenditure review committee discusses axing one of Abbott's first major policy achievements.
Australia could be 'left behind': Rio calls for tax cut
Australia received the bulk of Rio Tinto's taxes over the past year, even as it remains locked in dispute with the tax office over tax shifting abroad.
Budget measures to encourage migrants out of capital cities
The Turnbull government is considering new measures to encourage more migrants to settle in regional or remote areas to relieve pressure on house prices and infrastructure in Sydney and Melbourne.
'Stronger for longer' resource prices to buoy government coffers, boost exports
Government coffers will benefit from the "stronger for longer" spike in commodity prices.
Federal budget to tackle Australia's $21b 'black economy'
Black economy is hard to tackle because Australians see cash-only payments as 'almost a national sport'.
How the Senate saved the government from itself
Why do companies invest here? We mightn't have needed to cut that company tax much anyway.
How Turnbull can kill stamp duty and produce a budget to remember
There's still time to craft a budget that actually does something.
Someone has to give if we're to fix the budget
The nation's budget problem still won't be solved when, one day in the distant future, we get the federal budget back into surplus. Only a change in strategy is likely to produce a sustained solution.
Abused public servants help bring Turnbull down
There's no clearer sign that the Turnbull government is in deep political trouble than the never-ending saga of the Centrelink robo-debt stuff-up.
Budget battle as Treasurer won't commit to saving mining windfall
Australia's top economic bureaucrat has begged the government not to spend the coming windfall from soaring coal and iron ore prices, saying if it did it would repeat the mistakes of prime minister John Howard and treasurer Peter Costello in the early 2000s.
Australian economy grows by 1.1 per cent, beating expectations
Australia has avoided a second consecutive quarter of negative economic growth, rising by 1.1 per cent in the December quarter and beating market expectations.
The simple fix to make high-earning investors pay $240m more tax
High earners are negatively gearing their way out of the Medicare levy.