The Morrison government’s election budget halves petrol excise for six months and gives handouts to taxpayers, pensioners and welfare recipients in a cash splash aimed at clawing back votes, writes Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow at University of Canberra. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who unveiled the giveaway budget in Parliament House on Tuesday night, has been able… Read more »
Australia’s road out of the pandemic has descended into political acrimony and confusion, as Scott Morrison pushes back against the reluctance of some states to accept they will have to live with COVID in their populations. Morrison on Monday again insisted the nation must open – start “coming out of the cave” – once vaccination… Read more »
It was a small thing but a revealing moment during Scott Morrison’s Wednesday interview on Nine’s Today show. Presenter Karl Stefanovic noticed Morrison seemed out of sorts, despite the government having delivered the night before a benign budget that was well received and likely to be popular. “It is a very big budget. Josh Frydenberg… Read more »
The Morrison government has brought down a big-spending, expansionary budget that forecasts Australia’s unemployment rate will fall to 4.75% in two years time. But Australia’s international borders won’t be properly open for at least a year, according to the budget’s assumptions. “Australia is coming back,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told parliament on Tuesday night. “Employment is… Read more »
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg calls this a “pandemic budget” – one to sustain the economy in times that are still uncertain – but it also has a substantial element of an election budget. That’s not to suggest Prime Minister Scott Morrison will rush to the polls this year. But given the election has to be held… Read more »
Anthony Albanese will risk a backlash from employers when he releases an industrial relations policy promising a Labor government would substantially increase the legal rights and protections for Australians in insecure work, writes Michelle Grattan. Wednesday’s policy unveiling will ensure industrial relations is a major political battleground in coming months, with the opposition already declaring… Read more »
When he ended 2019 amid literal and political smoke, it would have seemed inconceivable Scott Morrison could finish 2020 on a high. Or that he’d have reached there on the back of Australia’s worst downturn since the Depression. Morrison learned from his mistakes of last summer, about how he needed to adapt his own style,… Read more »
The increase in the compulsory superannuation contribution, legislated to rise next July from 9.5% to 10%, is being fiercely debated following the release of the retirement income report. In this podcast we hear the views of Brendan Coates, Director of the Household Finances Program at the Grattan Institute and Greg Combet, former Labor minister, and… Read more »
Joe Hockey, former Australian ambassador to the United States who’s now in business there, came under sharp attack for some ill-informed comments about the high Democrat vote in Washington, DC. Despite this faux pas, Hockey’s description of the American system as a dog’s breakfast – with states, counties and even some cities having responsibility for… Read more »
Daniel Andrews’ Sunday announcement of some modest steps out of lockdown will bring both relief and reassurance to many Victorians, but frustration to those who think he should move faster. PM wants Melbourne restrictions eased sooner Certainly, the Morrison government wants the state to take bigger strides. As the federal government finalises next week’s budget,… Read more »
Josh Frydenberg has painted a sombre picture of the outlook for the Australian economy, saying that by mid next year it is set to be 6 per cent smaller than forecast at the end of last year. The treasurer also warned wages growth will be subdued for years, in a Thursday speech setting the scene… Read more »
The Morrison government will make sweeping changes to the insolvency system to improve the chances of saving small businesses hit by the pandemic. The reforms – which are described as the most significant for three decades – will cover three quarters of businesses currently subject to insolvency, almost all of which have less than 20… Read more »
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