This is a far cry from the government’s howls of “debt and deficit disaster” in response to the then Labor government’s much smaller stimulus spending, following the 2008 global financial crisis.
It is also a departure from the Coalition’s usual commitment to neoliberal economics, although in a context in which neoliberal governments globally have changed their tune, at least temporarily.
Even the recent more moderate language of “budget repair” looks like it will be moved to the back burner.
The motivation for this temporary change in perspective will be, in part, the standard political calculation that this is likely to be the last budget before the next federal election. With the vaccine roll-out falling drastically short of target, the government can ill afford to lose more credibility with voters.
The deadly devastation of global warming
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April 2, 2021 12.02am
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Credit:Illustration: Cathy Wilcox
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THE ENVIRONMENT
The deadly devastation of global warming
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s global warning canary in the coal mine, and it is dying (The Age, 1/4). Action needed to be taken decades ago and the Coalition has resisted every step of the way. From destroying the Labor government’s attempts to introduce a carbon price, which will now be imposed on us by our trading nations, as Jessica Irvine says (Opinion, 1/4), to encouraging new coal mines and a gas-led recovery, the government has failed Australians. It trumpets the spending of billions of dollars on submarines and missiles “to keep Australians safe” but resists the action necessary to
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