Shorten shows he is every bit as pragmatic as Turnbull
Scott Morrison succumbed to hubris before Bill Shorten's budget reply, asserting that only two groups seemed to be unhappy with his audacious budget reset: the big banks and the Labor Party.
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Michael Gordon
Michael Gordon is the political editor of The Age.
'I'm not saying no to Gary': Treasurer reveals personal struggle behind NDIS decision
Scott Morrison has delivered one of the least conventional, and most effective, post budget sales pitches in memory.
Bananas in...Nike tracksuits?
A new video by the group opposing funding cuts to the ABC warns of product placement in children's programs and features the iconic figure of commercial children's television, Humphrey B. Bear.
Turnbull gives Labor a second free kick in as many days
Malcolm Turnbull's standing as the Coalition's great communicator has taken a second hit in two days, this time when he was pressed to on the cost of the centrepiece of his "jobs and growth" budget.
Budget delivered, now it's time for the great persuader to sell it
Scott Morrison says this is not your average budget and he's dead right. It has all the wow factor of a lukewarm bath - and that's its strength.
Shorten nominates the future, not fairness, as the next battleground
While Joe Hockey's budget is focused squarely on the here and now - giving voters to incentive to borrow, spend and employ today - Bill Shorten's horizon is the decade beginning in 2020 and the jobs of the future.
Houdini Hockey plots Abbott's great escape
This is Joe Hockey's Houdini budget, crafted to release the treasurer and Tony Abbott from the chains, handcuffs and straight jacket they painstakingly applied to each other in last year's effort before hurling themselves overboard in front of a hostile and disbelieving audience.
Forget whose budget it is. Worry about what's in it.
It isn't often that the Treasurer calls a media conference on budget eve, complete with props, to outline measures that will be included in the budget he will announce 24 hours later.
Federal budget 2014: Will the pain be worth it for Tony Abbott?
Joe Hockey gets a 10 for courage, an eight for fiscal responsibility and a three for keeping commitments in a high-risk budget that will test the discipline, cohesion and salesmanship of the entire Abbott government.