We've forgotten why we spend public money
So much government aid goes to people who don't need it, and politicians seem helpless to stop it.
Federal Budget news
How the budget scare was $150 billion too big
Before the budget Treasurer promised 'good debt' and 'bad debt'. What we got was more sensible.
Meet the real high taxpayers. They're not high earners
The budget pushed low-income earners' marginal tax rate up towards 100 per cent.
Budget squeezes women without NDIS cover
The Turnbull government's budget measures may hit women earning below-average wages with an effective marginal tax rate of 100 per cent.
A long time ago, in a budget reality far away ...
The economic future that the Treasury has forecast for Australia is, sadly, a nonsense.
ScoMo's economic fairy tale doesn't add up
Scott Morrison's budget projections rely entirely on orthodox economic thinking about what drives wages. Unfortunately that orthodox thinking is demonstrably wrong.
Labor-lite budget ticks all the boxes for Turnbull
![Malcolm Turnbull: "If we don't sell [coal] to [India], someone else will.''](/web/20170527180434im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/3/b/p/l/image.related.landscape.120x80.gw99he.png/1495416047919.jpg)
For students of the politics of economics – my special subject – this clothes-pinching budget has been a feast. Oh no, it's "Labor-lite". Shocking! Actually, it's a budget that ticks all the boxes for Malcolm Turnbull and, by extension, his parliamentary followers – something their silent acquiescence suggests they realise.
ACT short-changed by federal budget, says Labor
The infrastructure budget doesn't even deliver the Coalition's pledged Barton Hwy upgrade, MP says.
'We should celebrate our victories': Albanese critiques Shorten's budget reply
Anthony Albanese says Labor should have claimed victory after Coalition's 'ideological surrender'.
The 2017 budget's inconvenient truth
Adjusted for tricks, there's no chance of a surplus for a long time.
The five pain points that wrote the budget
Repairing the damage of the Abbott Total Opposition years, will take time. But the budget is a big and quite calculated start.
Illusion of action in the absence of thoughtful policy
Scott Morrison's hit on banks shows his preference for stunts over meaningful policy development.
Liberals paying for Labor's bigger government, as usual
The Liberals have always been right to portray themselves as the party of smaller government.
Budget 2017: Insider trading fears grow over bank levy leak
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson has joined calls for an investigation into the leaking of plans for a levy on Australia's biggest banks, saying it is possible insider trading took place.
The shocking reason budgets are soft on drinkers
Tobacco hurts men, alcohol hurts women. Surely that can't be why we're soft on drinkers?
Labor would force ATO to give details of deals it cuts with big business
Labor would require ATO to reveal details of companies the Tax Office cuts deals with as part of plan to recoup $5.4 billion from multinationals.
Will Scomo's big budget give a big economic push?
Will Scott Morrison's big spending, big taxing, big borrowing budget impart a big fiscal stimulus to the economy in the coming financial year? Not so much.
A budget for voters, not the common good
Unless we act seriously to preserve our threatened planet, all the budget's nuances will be meaningless.
Going for gold in the backflip olympics
The budget seems to have elevated hypocrisy and backtracking to new heights of shamelessness.
Coalition gives up responsible budgets ... until crisis hits
Spending will stay at or near record highs while revenue rapidly climbs to match.
Lack of wages growth challenges budget surplus prediction
The wages growth needed to deliver the federal budget prediction of a return to surplus is unlikely to materialise, employment law experts and economists have warned.
'Based on love': PM defends welfare drug test
Malcolm Turnbull says his welfare drug tests are "based on love".
'Policy concocted on the run': CBA boss slams bank tax
CBA boss Ian Narev has slammed the government's budget bank levy as an "opportunistic tax grab" and "policy concocted on the run" and warned that the cost would have to be borne by either customers or shareholders.
Stand by for another Snowy rip-off
NSW and Victoria have effectively stolen money and power from the rest of Australia for 60 years.
Julie Bishop says aid will stay in freezer until budget surplus
Foreign aid reductions to see Australia tumble down OECD ranks of donor countries.
Can't hit budget? Move the goal posts
It's been a big week for budgets with endless analysis after the event and daily leaks during the run up.
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.
Slugging banks is the fairest way to raise billions
If you think the big new bank tax is outrageous and unfair, tell us what would be a better, fairer way to raise a quick $1.6 billion or so next year.
Banks warn on 'unintended consequences' of new tax hit
The country's biggest banks warn that a $6.2b tax could have "unintended consequences".
Live: Turnbull, Morrison continues his budget battle with banks
Federal budget 2017-18 live: Malcolm Turnbull continues to battle with banks
9 big ideas that should have been in the budget
The federal budget is a rare opportunity to introduce big, bold decisions. Here are 9 ideas the Turnbull government missed.
'It's pathetic': Labor to oppose Malcolm Turnbull's university changes, forcing Senate showdown
Labor will put higher education at the centre of its response to this year's budget by announcing it will oppose all the government's major university changes, including the proposed rise in fees and slashing of the HECS repayment threshold.
Budget 2017: Welfare waiting periods to increase for those with savings
Taking a redundancy could see workers forced to live on minimum wage for at least six months, with the government increasing the waiting period for welfare for people with savings.
Government to defuse Catholic 'scare tactics' by guaranteeing funding increases
The government will introduce its school funding changes into Parliament on Thursday.
Cost of keeping the bastards honest: new watchdog to cost $80m a year
Government appoints Leonie McGregor as interim CEO of entitlements authority.
No end to bracket creep makes average earning Australians worse off
Middle-income Australians to bear brunt of budget's failure on income tax rates and thresholds.
Premier says Queensland was robbed in 'Sydney-centric' budget
Queensland Labor MPs found plenty to criticise in federal Treasurer Scott Morrison's budget.
'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.
Morrison warns big banks to absorb new tax
The federal government and Australia's five largest banks are on a collision course.
Employers fear foreign worker tax pain
Businesses soon to be hit with new levies for employing foreign visa workers say the changes will be "another barrier" to growth.