Budget 2024: Australians to Enjoy Short-Term Gain for Long-Term Pain Under Budget

Analysis It was a plan “for the here and now, and the decades to come,” federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers promised in his opening remarks in the government’s official Budget speech (or, as it’s officially known, the Appropriation Bill No. 1). But while Australians’ spirits may receive a positive bump in the immediate future thanks to a range of payments set to occur on July 1 this year, the next decade—or at least as far forward as the Budget forecasts go—provide little cause for celebration. Mr. Chalmers boasted twice of having achieved “the first surplus in 15 years last year” and “the first back-to-back surplus in decades,” from the next financial year onwards, the country’s accounts go well into the red and remain there for at least the next four years....