Wayne Swan

Early action to tackle climate change will reduce gross national product by just a tenth of a per cent a year, with the economy continuing to grow strongly, the federal government says.

The federal government is planning to raise an extra $10 billion from the business sector through new tax measures announced today in response to a sharp deterioration in its budget outlook.

Prime minister Julia Gillard and her deputy Wayne Swan will continue in their jobs, after no competing candidates entered the leadership ballot called in Canberra today.

There are plenty of theories floating around today as to why the Australian Government has failed so badly at managing its finances but behind the politics is a simple fact; it has never understood that business creates wealth and jobs, not government.

RARELY do two budgets – Tuesday’s federal budget, which was the last before an election, and the August state budget, which will be the first after an election – send such conflicting messages.You could be excused for thinking they relate to different countries.

LET’S face it, government budgets lost meaning a long time ago – at least as a kind of one-off announcement where everyone held their breath to see how they were affected.

Former prime minister John Howard has defended his government’s introduction of the baby bonus, saying the tax system should recognise the costs associated with raising children.

WHAT do you call a person who makes the same mistake year after year? ‘Fool’ is one suggestion, and it seems the same description certainly applies to governments.

The degree to which we, in Australia, control our economic destiny is exaggerated.

A change at the top is the only way Labor can hope to lay a glove on the opposition.

Kevin Rudd’s ‘tax breaks for the Territory’ plan has a strong similarity to a proposal by Gina Rinehart that was ridiculed by Labor.

Labor leader Bill Shorten has named his opposition ministry, with WA MPs Gary Gray and Melissa Parke awarded the resources and assistant health portfolios respectively.

The Abbott government has put off making the really tough decisions in its first budget.

Premier Colin Barnett will be looking for a new chief of staff now that Brian Pontifex has been appointed as Australia's next ambassador and permanent representative to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris.

The federal government has adopted a Keynesian-style stimulus policy with its new temporary instant asset write-off, moving cash flows for small businesses forward and recouping the revenue in later budgets.