THE SQUIZ
Giddy up, thrillseeker… Treasurer Jim Chalmers will deliver the Albanese Government’s first Budget tonight, but don’t expect the all-singing, all-dancing performance reserved for what’s usually delivered in May each year. The new mob will use tonight to chuck out the last bits of the Morrison Government’s agenda so they can put funds behind charting their own policy course. But Chalmers and PM Anthony Albanese have also characterised this ‘mini-Budget’ as a reconciliation of our federal finances with domestic and global economic headwinds.

SET THE SCENE FOR ME…
Ok. Imagine a beach where you’re stretched out with a luxurious cocktail, and it’s warm and relaxing. This is the opposite of that. When it comes to our nation’s finances, it’s raining non-stop, there’s nowhere to hide, and the booze is more like headache-inducing Passion Pop than Champagne… Chalmers will probably spend a fair bit of tonight laying out the current challenges. Reports yesterday said our outlook will be downgraded for this and next financial year – that means our economy isn’t growing as fast as we’d like to see. Accompanying that is a need to cut government spending to put the federal budget on a more sustainable footing. And forget about wages rising or inflation falling to reasonable levels anytime soon – Chalmers says 2024 is the year for that… That means tonight’s effort won’t be about “fancy” or “flashy” new policies, it’s more about the tricky landscape the government is navigating.

SO WHAT WILL WE SEE?
According to what Labor’s senior pollies have said, we’ll see how the new government will ease cost-of-living pressures, as promised at the election. We’ll also get a sense of how they will fund their election promises and seek to repair the situation inherited from the Morrison Government – long story short, our nation is carrying a lot of debt, largely because of the pandemic. For the Coalition’s part, they want to see measures that will drive economic growth and contain spending. Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor said “Australians need Jim Chalmers to stop complaining about the challenges of this economy … If the treasurer can deliver on these priorities, we will back him in. If not, we will hold him to account.”