Coverage of the latest Federal Budget proves requirements of financial reporting are at an all-time low, asAlan Austinreports.
DATA EMBEDDED on this monthsBudgetverify Australias funds are the envy of the world.
It is the one nation on the planet with jobless and inflation charges under 4.7%, andmedian wealthper grownup above US$250,000 (AU$350,000). It can also be the one financial system with triple-A creditratings, interestratesbetween 1% and 5% and governmentdebtbelow 25% of gross home product (GDP).
More importantly, the finances outlined courageousfixesfor debilitating injustices which have lingered for many years.
In most different nations, reporters would grasp the chance to spice up nationwide confidence by enthusiastically celebrating such wonderful outcomes.
Albaneses springboard for even larger triumphs
Last weeks brave finances may portend an period of considerable achievement.
Instead, Australias newsrooms greeted the finances with headlines together with:
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Budget debacle: PM has 48 hours to backtrack or nice ache awaits (The Australian);
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Bereaved household to be over $7,000 worse off beneath Labors unfair and unjust new guidelines on discretionary trusts (Sky News);
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A future, betrayed in Australia (Spectator);
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Budget spending stokes fears of additional fee rise ache (AAP/MSN);
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The dire penalties of Labors ideological conflict on wealth (The Australian);
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Treasurer dealing with backlash over Federal Budget (9 News); and
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Chalmers has given up on fixing debt and deficits (AFR).
Those experiences are riddled with malicious distortions, blatant falsehoods and vitriolic private assaults. They ignore the a number of world-leading accomplishments.
The following seven deceptions are disseminated commonly by just about all newsrooms. They are on continuous rotation on Sky News and the opposite Murdoch retailers. The hacks on the Australian Financial Review churn out these fabrications commonly, as do Nine Entertainments different publications and radio and TV stations.
The italicised quotes are from one profoundly misguided 11-minuteconversationbetweenMike Jeffreysat Radio 2GB and 4BC and chief economist atMacrobusiness,Leith van Onselen.
1. Living requirements are falling
Living requirements declined from early 2021, following COVID, till mid 2023, however have risen impressively since. In 2025 and 2026, Australians haveenjoyedrecord abroad journeys per inhabitants, report automobile andlight aircraftsales, report non-public faculty enrolments, and report proportion of retail gross sales on eating out, jewelry, cosmetics and different luxuries. See chart under.
(Data supply:Australian Bureau of Statistics)
2. Wages aren’t maintaining with prices
There is a kernel of reality right here. Real wages did decline between March 2021 and September 2023 due, after all, to Coalition insurance policies.
Since December 2023,inflationhas been 9.7%. Averagewageshave risen 11.7%,complete wagesare up 15.1%, the agepensionhas elevated 13.3%, thedoleis up 16.7%, the youthallowanceis 20.3% larger and Commonwealth rentassistanceis up 39.4%.
3. Australia is a high-taxing nation
The proof refutes this persistent lie. Australias prime personalincome taxrate is now right down to a modest 45%, the identical as within the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and South Korea. The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Iceland, Sweden, Belgium, Finland and Israel are all larger. Austria, France, Japan and Denmark are above 55%.
Australias complete tax take is now among the many worlds lowest. This is primarily as a result of the products and providers tax (GST) is simply 10%. Equivalent retailsales taxesare above 18% in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Ireland and elsewhere; and above 24% in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Hungary.
Chalmers’ truthful go finances a good guess to attraction
It is essentially the most bold Federal Budget the nation has seen for a few decadesand the pressure of committing to motion confirmed on the faces of Labors entrance bench final evening.
4. Labor retains rising taxes
Wrong. Last monthsFiscal Monitor, revealed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), reveals taxation relative to GDP for 31 superior economies.
In each 2025 and 2026, Australia ranked twenty sixth out of the 31 on excessive tax charges. Only Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and the USA had been decrease. That is healthier than rankings beneath the hapless Coalition.
5. Labor is dangerous for enterprise
The proof reveals companies, giant, small and middle-sized, make use of extra folks, broaden extra quickly and earn extra earnings beneath Labor.
As shownherein March, complete gross operatingprofitsin all sectors besides mining rose 3.7% to a report $316.2 billion in 2025. See chart under.
(Data supply:Australian Bureau of Statistics)
6. Labor spends greater than the Coalition
This monthsBudget Paper No.1shows spending to GDP since 1970. Former PMGough Whitlamspent the bottom of all PMs, averaging simply 19.6% of GDP.Anthony Albaneseaverages 25.2%, which is decrease thanTony Abbott,Kevin Rudd,Bob HawkeandPaul Keating. The highest spending by far wasScott Morrison, who averaged 27.5%.
7. Business funding is declining
The germ of reality right here is that investmentcollapsedbetween 2013 and 2021 beneath the hopelessly incompetent Coalition. See chart under.
(Data supply:Australian Bureau of Statistics)
Apart from transient durations of extreme international downturns, enterprise funding since 1992 has elevated beneath all governments besides these of Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison. It is steadily increasing once more beneath Albanese.
The questions these incessant deceptions elevate are these: Are Australias economics reporters too silly to know what is definitely occurring, or do they know however select to deceive?
Do they realise howdestructivethey are to nationwide social cohesion?
Alan Austinis an Independent Australia columnist and freelance journalist. You can comply with him@alanaustin001and [email protected].
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