EDITORIAL: Jim’s Sham-bolic Budget a poor reward for punters

This is the Budget we were not meant to have. And it shows.

It is an insult to our intelligence that the Federal Government cobbled together this half-hearted effort because the Prime Minister delayed calling the election, forcing us to be fed their economic spin to launch their campaign.

The centrepiece of Jim Chalmers’ Budget is a tax cut that no doubt will feature in headlines on news bulletins across the country tonight. The Treasurer will be hoping that will have the desired effect of tricking the public into thinking the historic deterioration of their living standards has somehow now been addressed.

But if the commentators offering their expert opinion are honest with themselves, they will call the tax cut what it is — a sham.

It sounds cynical to question returning some cash to households, no matter how small it is, but it reflects the state of politics in this country that this Budget is being presented as a serious economic document.

It’s been spun off measures that include the tax cut offering a saving of $5.15 a week that won’t come into effect until next year and health giveaways like we’ve never seen before.

This is all being presented as a reward for punters who have suffered through surging prices and a cost-of-living crisis.

Apart from the piddly tax cut, the only new Budget item is some weird IR measure that doesn’t appear to have been raised by anyone of note as an economic killer.

Dr Chalmers clearly thinks it’s an issue, despite no one of note campaigning for it, as it was a main point he was excited to pitch as he revealed the Government would ban non-compete clauses for workers earning less than $175,000.

He hailed it as a much-needed initiative to somehow help grow the economy.

He is trying to pass off this Budget and his new measures as a showcase of what a brilliant economic manager he is, but hang on, only if Donald Trump hadn’t interfered and caused global volatility, and don’t forget the impact of the cyclone that never happened.

The Treasurer didn’t mention Trump by name, but his speech addressed the threat of a global trade war. “The global economy is volatile and unpredictable,” he said. “Tariffs and tensions abroad have been accompanied by storms at home.

“Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred could wipe a quarter of a percentage point off quarterly growth ... storm clouds are gathering in the global economy, too.”

The reality is, his Budget isn’t forecasting more than a decade of structural deficits because of bad weather and a polarising US President. This Budget depicts the highest level of spending in history outside of COVID and has us on track to hit $1.2 trillion in debt in the next four years.

This presents a Government that is ill disciplined, locking in years and years of deficits, high debt, high spending and high tax.

And that’s not really countering for expected international turbulence and, God forbid, a fall in the terms of trade.

If this Budget is an indicator of what the campaign is going to be like, pray for us all.