Nothing to see here, just budget follies with "Ned" and Dame Groan ...

 

From reptile feast one day, to reptile famine the next.

Part of the problem is the monomaniacal way the reptiles adoptwhen covering the world. Like a dog with a pet toy, they get their teeth into it and shake and shake ...

The pond hasn't the slightest interest in the budget, or for that matter the reptiles fawning over the filthy rich, and yet this day, that's all there was ...

Over on the extreme far right, things were no better ...

The pond was so desperate, it did a deep dive below the fold and looked at what was on offer there ...

Same old same old, though while maintaining the law school rage, the lizard Oz editorialist did at least mention Erdogan taking a leaf out of Vlad the Sociopath's playbook...

There was much more elsewhere ...

For example ... Türkiye protestors vow to continue action as Erdogan insists 'show' will end

Want news of life on Mars? 

It's out there ... Nasa rover discovers largest organic compounds yet found on Mars, Presence of long-chain alkanes in rock raises new questions about possible existence of life billions of years ago

How about South Sudan? 

Anywhere but the lizard Oz: South Sudan on brink of renewed civil war, UN warns, Building tension and violence threatens to unravel the peace deal that halted ethnic conflict in 2018.

What about the reptiles, eyeless in Gaza as the genocide proceeds apace?

Go elsewhere, perhaps to rolling live coverage, Israeli attacks on hospitals, blockade, causing ‘slow death’ in Gaza

What about the latest glorious folly of Team Trump? It was out there in force ...

Also in the Graudian rolling coverage, the insatiable greed and bottomless corruption of the world's richest man ...enabled and facilitated by the man he purchased at a discount price

Elon Musk appears to be laying the groundwork to privatize some space and satellite operations now under the authority of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), or steer lucrative contracts toward his SpaceX and Starlink companies, former agency employees say.
They’re sounding the alarm as at least four other federal agencies have reportedly begun pushing new contracts toward Musk’s Starlink satellite internet company. Musk, the world’s richest man, has been tasked by Donald Trump with drastically slashing the federal government workforce and costs.
The situation raises conflict of interest questions for one of Trump’s closest allies who backed him with millions of dollars of funding in the 2024 election. Musk boasts that his so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) “slashes spending”, but critics say he’s using his position to steer government funding toward his companies.
Noaa could offer the biggest prizes yet for Musk, presenting the opportunity for SpaceX to have a commanding financial advantage in a commercial US space market expected to grow to a value of nearly $2tn in value over the next decade. Already Doge likely has access to competitors’ confidential business information at Noaa, former employees at the agency say.

There were levels and bevels to that yarn ...

Even the immortal Rowe chipped in for a laugh ...

And what is the pond left with? 

Dame Groan sobbing into her beer, and "Ned" nattering for an ungodly four minutes about the budget ...

It was too much for a possum to bear, let alone the pond, and so the pond proceeded under protest and with a notable reluctance to comment on anything ...

Federal Budget 2025: When poll chips are down, hold the reform: putting party’s political needs first, Labor has delivered a budget that fails Australia’s needs. It is the budget of a flawed government.

Useless bloody uncredited collage to boot ... Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese have failed Australia with their 2025 federal budget.

Was it an attempt to take the pond back to the days when the reptiles tracked the tax on grog and cigs, because that's all that mattered in a manly world intent on self-destruction?

Fergeddit it, it was useless bloody "Ned", in full reptile campaign mode ...

This budget fails Australia’s needs in terms of fiscal accountability, structural policy, productivity enhancement and strategic imperatives – it puts immediate election tactics before the pressing challenges facing the country.
It is the budget of a flawed government. But also the budget of an astute government driving to win an election. The message to the people is “the economy is turning the corner” and “the worst is behind us” backed by enough cash relief to sound plausible.
In the short-term, the budget affirms the road to economic recovery – but in the longer-term the budget is static. It suggests an economy marking time, lacking an ambitious structural agenda, ill-suited to a world that is more demanding and dangerous.
The sad truth is Labor doesn’t trust itself or the public to redirect our national priorities from cost-of-living hand-outs and mini tax cuts to the mounting challenges that will cost Australia the longer they are denied and deferred.
It is a budget for an election, not for the transformational times we are living in. There is no significant spending restraint, no major tax reform, no increase in the defence budget, and little prospect of a more competitive economy despite Jim Chalmers declaring a world that is more volatile, disruptive and unpredictable. But the tax-cut debate is opened up – and this points to an election war of uncertain dimension over tax policy given opposition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor has said the Coalition will not support the Treasurer’s tax cuts, calling them a “cruel hoax”.

Say what? It is a budget for an election

Oh FFS, there's an election coming up, of course it was going to be an attempt to sweet talk the way to an election ...

They're politicians, FFS ...

The reptiles loaded "Ned" up with plenty of AV distractions ...Budget 2025 has landed — but what does it mean for the political road ahead? We break down the key measures, the reactions from both sides, and how the budget is shaping the debate in an election year.

The pond kept on sulking ...

Labor’s tax-cut surprise is cute and modest, giving everyone a $268 tax cut next year and up to $536 the following year by cutting the lowest marginal rate from 16 to 14 per cent. Yet it reveals, by omission, the hopeless paucity of our tax reform debate. It raises the tax issue for the Coalition – will the Coalition avoid any tax cut for fiscal responsibility or will it now bring down its own far more ambitious and reformist tax cut? Presumably, it will opt for the latter option. Labor’s hubris is on steroids.
Chalmers says economic progress has been “exceptional” and the budget plans for “a new generation of prosperity”. He says it’s about rebuilding incomes and boosting resilience. But the numbers tell a different story.
The return to growth trajectory is still historically weak; spending is permanently higher for a decade, and mainly social spending; the cash balance budget deficit over the next four years is $179bn and the headline deficit figure (that includes off-budget measures) is monstrous at $283bn over the same period; budget deficits will run until 2035-36; and there is no plan for a long overdue tax reform during the next parliament.
But Labor cannot solve the central proposition on which Peter Dutton will run – that most people remain worse off since ­Anthony Albanese took office. Living standards are being slowly, agonisingly repaired, but there’s a long way still to go. That Labor’s inescapable dilemma.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that since the mid-year review, Labor has committed $35bn in spends and tax cuts but financed the lot off the operation of the economy on the bottom line. Nice if you can get it.
The central aim of the budget is the rekindling of hope. Trust is too much to expect after unprecedented falls in living standards and negative growth in GDP per person. The purpose is to prove to the public that Labor’s cost-of-living relief outmatches that of the Coalition.
Chalmers is geared up for the campaign, selling an economic recovery, falling inflation, falling interest rates, and rising wages. His pitch is inflation returning to the 2-3 per cent band and unemployment still contained below 4.25 per cent – and, given the situation, it’s a plausible pitch.

Yet another AV distraction landed ... With the 2025 election looming, Jim Chalmers’ budget is under intense scrutiny. Will it boost Labor’s chances — or backfire at the ballot box? We break down what’s in the budget, how it’s being received, and whether it could define the outcome of the campaign.

Sheesh, he never stops with the yammering ...

The Treasurer depicted a world of disruption where US President Donald Trump was imposing ­tariffs, China’s growth was slowing and war was raging in Europe and the Middle East – economies are slowing but strategic risks are rising.
Yet Labor has taken a wilful ­decision not to increase the ­defence budget while bringing forward $1bn for submarines and missiles.
The budget is inadequate for a more dangerous world and its ­defence spend is an open provocation for Trump to criticise Australia, if he ever thinks about it. This is a big, potentially dangerous, call by Labor.
The government faces the ­fiscal embarrassment of having two budget surpluses and then a plunge into deficits – of $27.6bn in 2024-25 and $42.1bn forecast for 2025-26. Spending in real terms is projected to increase by 2.7 per cent a year in the five years to 2028-29. But spending stays at a permanent higher plateau, projected to be 27 per cent of GDP in the coming year and 26.4 per cent of GDP in four years’ time, compared with 24.4 per cent when Labor took office.
Despite the tough times, this is an election budget.

Didn't the ageing dotard, in full portentous and pompous form, already mention that? this is an election budget

Yes, there's an election coming up, you foolish fop ... feel it ... that's the entire point, to lure us into the house, avoiding perils along the way, only to find the pan and the oven ready for a roasting ...

The reptiles decided to interrupt the single-minded "Ned" with yet another AV distraction, Jim Chalmers stepped into the spotlight with his latest budget — but how did his performance land in the political arena? Dennis Shanahan breaks down the key moments, reactions from both sides and how they shaped the fight leading into the next election.

The only joy was that the final "Ned" gobbet was short ...

The new tax cuts cost revenue $17.1bn over five years, strengthening Medicare costs $8.3bn over four years mainly for bulk billing, energy rebates cut $150 off bills this year to compensate for Labor’s failure to lower power prices, while the top price for a PBS script is cut to $25. The 20 per cent cut in student loan debt slashes $19bn in debt for more than three million students, a redistribution towards the better-off, post-graduation. Labor is funding pay rises for aged-care nurses and promoting its Future Made in Australia economic subsidies.
Chalmers wants to fight on the economy – he promotes a revived competition policy and bans non-complete clauses that restrict workers moving from employers.

The pond bets that the chance of the budget reply getting the same sort of unendurable scrutiny is somewhere between zero and nihil ...

The pond realises that there are Dame Groan specialists out there, who hang on her every piece of verbiage, but the only upside the pond could see was that the reptiles timed her as a three minute read ...

One trillion reasons to demolish Jim’s ‘facts’ and fiction, The estimates on gross debt are alarming. Recall the days when Chalmers would tease then treasurer Josh Frydenberg about reaching $1 trillion in debt. This year’s budget predicts this figure will now be reached under Chalmers’s watch.

Cue an (AI?) variation in the same style as opened "Ned's' piece, 'Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese think we should accept the budget figures as indisputable’. Artwork: Emilia Tortorella.

Come on Emilia, 'fess up, you did that with a 'bot, didn't you? 

The pond would think better of you if you admitted it. Then the pond could blame the 'bot for the hideous banality and that inane coin motif...

I always take a novel into the budget lock-up. There is usually some free time between filing my column and the time we are released into the night.
There is a lot in common between the budget and fiction; apart from the figures in the locker and the ones for the coming year, the mass of material presented in the inordinately lengthy budget ­papers is essentially made up.
Yet Jim Chalmers apparently thinks we should simply accept the contents of the tables and graphs as indisputable.
Take this howler: real payments will grow by a mere 1.7 per cent a year over the seven years to 2028-29. If you think that is credible, you probably believe in the Easter Bunny.
And what about this one? The budget has been repaired to the tune of $2.1bn in savings.
When total payments are expected to be $732bn this financial year, these “savings” are not even a rounding error.
One of the most annoying features of this year’s budget is the ridiculous comparisons drawn with the Pre-election Fiscal and Economic Outlook statement released in 2022.
For starters – who cares? But more to the point, these sorts of statements are strongly influenced by the context in which they are written, and things change.

The reptiles kept the Groaning down to one AV distraction, and whaddya kno, it was a repeat, Jim Chalmers stepped into the spotlight with his latest budget — but how did his performance land in the political arena? Dennis Shanahan breaks down the key moments, reactions from both sides and how they shaped the fight leading into the next election.

Dame Groan was in the same despair she's always in ...

The idea that the Treasurer should give himself some sort of pat on the back because, on some measures, the economic and fiscal parameters show some slight improvement relative to PEFO is ­ridiculous and, some might say, desperate.
The big picture of this budget is ongoing overspending, ongoing deficits and ballooning debt.
Government spending by 2028-29 is expected to be a full two percentage points of GDP higher than in 2022-23.
This outcome alone should be a source of embarrassment to the government. After all, there is a lot of bragging in the budget speech about the economy having turned the corner, unemployment remaining low and inflation coming down.
This raises the question of why the government can’t see its way clear to balance the budget over the next four years, at the least.
The estimates on gross debt are alarming. Recall the days when Chalmers would tease then treasurer Josh Frydenberg about reaching $1 trillion in debt. This year’s budget predicts this figure will now be reached under Chalmers’s watch, with gross government debt expected to reach $1.022 trillion next financial year.
By the end of the forward estimates, gross debt will have reached $1.22 trillion, or 36.8 per cent of GDP.
There is of course the entirely predictable boast about Australia’s debt position being low by inter­national standards. What is overlooked is the extremely rapid deterioration in our debt position and the fact that net interest payments are now the fastest growing line item in the budget.

Over the forward estimates, government payments go from $777bn to $878bn, with cumulative underlying deficits over the four years coming in at $152bn.

Oh come on, have a laugh about the international situation ...

That's a lovely portrait of the beefy boofhead from down Goulburn way ... it captures the smirk perfectly...

Back to the ranting and the raging ...

Next financial year, interest payments will reach nearly $28bn. At the end of the forward estimates in 2028-29, the figure is above $38bn, 1.2 per cent of GDP.
This raises the very important distinction between the underlying cash position and the headline cash position, the latter taking into account the massive ramp-up in off-budget spending. The Treasurer would rather us think about the first of these measures.
The true state of the budget is really reflected in the bottom line, including off-budget spending. In each case, the headline deficit is significantly greater than the underlying deficit, with the cumulative difference over the forward estimates more than $100bn.
Another area of ongoing concern is Treasury’s inability to estimate future changes in net overseas migration, which is the largest component of population growth. Recall that in last year’s budget, the expected NOM was 260,000. The anticipation is that it will be 335,000, a gap of nearly 30 per cent.
We are also expected to believe that the NOM for the coming fin­ancial year will be 260,000 and in the year after that 225,000.
These assumptions are important because immigration feeds into demand for housing and the need for infrastructure and government services.
It also boosts nominal GDP, which makes the prospect of a recession less likely but does nothing to lift per capita incomes.
Apart from the slight surprise about the cut to the lowest income tax rate, virtually the rest of the budget had been pre-announced, aka leaked.
This contrivance does not add to the allure of the document – quite the reverse.
The real conclusion is we have a government addicted to spending other people’s money and we should expect this to continue if Labor stays in power.
The last treasurer who took the task of balancing the nation’s books seriously was Peter ­Costello.
It’s worth recalling what he said on this issue: “Running a deficit and racking up debt is sending the bill to the next generation.”
To his mind, government debt is not just an economic issue, it’s also a moral one, something Chalmers should take seriously.

Phew, it was easy to get to the end simply by ignoring trolling of the Petey boy kind ...and so to round out the pond's coverage with the infallible Pope ...

Foolish infallible Pope, as if the reptiles cared for this sort of detail ...