A revolution in reverse 13 May 2021
On budget night, Australia witnessed another stunning performance of the Frydenberg tango: one step forward, two steps back.
After innumerable pre-budget “leaks”, the surprise up Josh Frydenberg’s sleeve was $29 billion in tax cuts for low and middle-income earners – doubtless a win for those who’d like to keep more of their money, but hardly the sweeping reforms required to make Australia’s economy more dynamic and less reliant on the exports that Paul Keating referred to in his infamous “banana republic” comments in 1986.
The rationale here (as it was in October) is that this budget was necessary to ensure the recovery and return of the economy to its pre-COVID state. As even the most disinterested observer of the pre-COVID economy would attest, that is not a desirable outcome – nor one that will necessarily be achieved by the budget. Stimulus measures and closed borders have already seen Australia mo
UBS has added its voice to the chorus of commentators warning the RBA could be forced to lift rates prematurely in the face of a stronger-than-expected recovery.
Treasury’s admission that wages will remain depressed despite historic government spending has drawn the ire of Josh Frydenberg’s political opponents, who accuse him of mismanaging the economy.
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The budget we had to have? By Lachlan Maddock 10 May 2021
Desperate times call for desperate measures – but it’s unclear whether Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will deploy any on budget night.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg finds himself walking a tightrope, committing to repairing the economy while maintaining the LNP’s reputation as the party of fiscal responsibility. Any misstep will have disastrous consequences for an election that will likely be coming sooner rather than later, or for the fortunes of a country that is still recovering from a historic shock.
But it seems that Mr Frydenberg will deliver a budget that nobody is happy with: free-market conservatives are disappointed by increased government spending, while Labor and the Left believe that the government has not spent enough, or on the right policies.