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Impossible business growth underpins house of cards Budget

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National Press Club address by Dr Jim Chalmers, Treasurer, National Press Club, 26 March 2025

From Parliament House, Canberra: Last year Australia experienced record numbers of business failures. While the percentage of businesses was not as high as in 2013, the actual number of failed businesses was higher. Further, productivity growth, a key driver of living standards, has been negative and remains flat. Yet underpinning this election budget is a rebound in private sector growth that is difficult to justify.

Writing in the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

On the Budget, Michael de Percy was down at Parliament House today listening to Treasurer Jim Chalmers being questioned – but he didn’t get to ask his... Which is a shame, because I’m willing to bet Mr Chalmers would visibly squirm trying to answer it. You can read all about it here.

Writing in the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes had this to say:

Fresh from the Budget lock-up, Michael de Percy highlights how the Budget assumptions about private sector growth, and its ability to contribute to the revenue bottom line, are probably too good to be true. If so, the huge spending already locked in plus to be announced in the election campaign will incur even larger debt, and thus deficit, to cover the magic pudding profligacy that now has largely been endorsed by both sides.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Impossible business growth underpins house of cards Budget.

Regional Australians are the biggest budget losers

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Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers, Great Hall, Parliament House, 26 March 2025

From the Canberra Press Gallery: Regional Australia is the engine room of private sector activity in Australia. With the Budget set to see a reversal of the public sector’s growth that has hidden the real cost of living pressures experienced by most Australians, it is difficult to see how the Budget’s public sector and Net Zero focus will help the regions. To put it another way, regional Australians are the biggest losers in this Budget, with no relief in sight.

The night before I went into the Budget Lockup in Parliament House, Alexandra Marshall had this to say in the Unfiltered newsletter:
Of course, we have the Budget release and Speccie writer Michael de Percy has volunteered his sanity to go down and be part of the lockup. If you’re not already, follow us on Facebook where we’ll keep you updated. Michael is going to be looking for the crazy, infuriating, and outrageous detail in Chalmer’s major work that everyone else has missed. 
Writing in the Morning Double Shot newsletter before I went into the Budget Lockup, Terry Barnes had this to say:
Today is Budget day, and the Albanese government’s spendathon is tipped to continue. I see from Alexandra Marshall’s Unfiltered newsletter that our gallery correspondent Michael de Percy is going into the media lock-up to pore over the Budget papers, so you don’t have to. In the meantime, he’s written about what he doesn’t want to see in the Budget, and how the Albanese government weak leadership in economic policy is costing Australia dear as we become less efficient and productive. Meanwhile, Alexandra herself is flabbergasted at the brazenness of the Prime Minister’s latest pre-election handout.

The day after my article was released, Terry Barnes wrote in the Morning Double Shot newsletter:

Our man in the Budget lock-up, Michael de Percy, ran his acute political eye over the Budget, with a particular focus on how Chalmers’s effort will go down in regional Australia, where Labor needs to shore up support in areas like the Hunter, while pushing down Coalition support in regional Queensland, Tasmania, and elsewhere. Here is his report, and there’ll be more later today. 

Even our illustrious Editor-in-Chief, Rowan Dean, shared the joy:
It was quite the adventure for a first-time Press Gallery journalist, and it was great to be part of the Spectator Australia team!

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Regional Australians are the biggest budget losers.

Ranty Snippets

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My first Ranty Snippet on @SpectatorOz Facebook Page
 

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