Australian budget

I reported this week that the cost of the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project is estimated to have ballooned from an initial announced cost of $2 billion in 2017 to around $42 billion.

The federal government will introduce new eligibility criteria for the National Disability Insurance Scheme as part of changes announced by Health Minister Mark Butler on Wednesday.

Australia’s federal budget uses two main deficit measures, and they differ because they treat certain transactions differently—especially asset sales, loans, and off‑budget funds.

On Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released data showing that Victorians pay the highest state and local taxes in the nation. As illustrated below, state and local government taxes in Victoria were $6,605 per capita in 2024-25, $582 (9.7%) higher than the state and territory average.

The month of March saw a record 15,839 electric vehicles (EVs) sold, up 42% from February. As a result, 14.6% of all new car sales in February were EVs. The SMH’s Victoria Devine argued that the EV Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) exemption for novated leases under $91,387 is the main driver of EV sales.

In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, folks take a government-issued pill whenever they feel less than 100% happy, to keep them in line.

The $50 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has become a perpetual motion machine that is driving ‘jobs and growth’ across the economy while acting as a lead weight on the federal budget.

Queensland received the largest dollar increase in GST in 2026–27: $2.45 billion, or $423 per person.

In 2024, former federal Treasury official Stephen Anthony warned that Victoria may need a federal “bailout” due to increasing state debt.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a major driver of the growth in public spending.

One Nation proposes allowing wage-earning couples with children to split their income and file joint tax returns, potentially saving thousands of dollars in taxes each year.

Alex Joiner, chief economist at IFM Investors, published a short analysis of the impacts of rising energy costs on the federal budgets and on Australians as a whole: Joiner argues that the energy shock is “not bad for Australia” but “terrible for Australians”.

The federal budget is facing deepening budget deficits and rising net debt.

The worst treasurer since Jim Cairns, and the dumbest since Wayne Swan is certainly not the unluckiest.

Tobacco excise has climbed by around 60% since 2020 and now accounts for more than two-thirds of the legal cost of a packet of cigarettes.

We have repeatedly warned that Victoria is headed toward financial ruin.

Australia’s federal budget uses two main deficit measures, and they differ because they treat certain transactions differently—especially asset sales, loans, and off‑budget funds.

A previously undisclosed $57 billion deterioration in the federal budget outlook has emerged since the election, driven mainly by higher long‑term spending under the Albanese government.

The 2025-26 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Update (MYEFO) was released on Wednesday. The key economic forecasts are shown below. Headline Findings Deficit improvement: 2025/26 underlying cash deficit revised to $36.8bn (–1.3% of GDP), better than March’s forecast of $42.1bn (–1.5%).

The taxation arrangements around electric vehicles (EVs) are a reverse Robin Hood arrangement that extracts taxes from ordinary Australians to distribute to the rich. A case in point is the EV fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemption, which was introduced in 2022 to make EVs more affordable for employees through salary packaging and novated leases.