Stephen Koukoulas

borderline neutral.

Given that we've got a $3 trillion economy per annum now, a couple of billion dollars, well, it sounds really nice if we had it.

It's not really the thing that will make economists rush out and change their GDP forecasts or inflation forecasts.

It's at the margin.

Some areas are contractionary, higher taxes, cuts in NDI spending.

Some are expansionary, giving some of that money or recycling it, if that's the right word, back to the lower income earners.

And they've been in for four years and they've won a big majority.

So it is – I think it is.

The previous couple of budgets from the Labor Party, because they won in 2022, were more –

Look, they were more sort of cautious.

They were giving a few $5 a week income tax cuts and a few other bits and pieces and incorporating some of the defence expenditure, which was sort of part of the medium-term defence strategy, AUKUS and all these other things.

This one, they've said, well, OK, we've done all that sort of stuff, but this is the one that we've got two years to the next election...

We are confronting, well, I don't know what to call it, an upheaval in the right side of politics, as in the right wing side, with One Nation coming on powerfully, the Liberal Party and National Party in somewhat of a disarray.

So they're not quite sure how to position themselves for this change in who the opposition might be.

The way the polls are going, One Nation could well be a fairly important force in the election in two years' time.

So they're changing these parameters to try to, well, do the Labor things, if you like, but also neutralise some of that annoyance that a large part of the electorate obviously has.

So, Stephen, a pass mark or not?

Yeah, look, I think it's generally pretty good.

It's one of those ones that we economists always, always complain about.

Like Chris Richardson, my good mate, who knows the budget better than anybody in the country.