The Budget papers indicate that there are no real tax cuts, they state their will be a 1.8% increase in personal income tax revenue next budget year.

Read the Budget Papers they show how disgraceful the budget really is.

Funding for National Securiy $702.0 million.

Funding for "Realising Our Potential" also builds on the Australian Government’s strong support of skills creation in the vocational education and training (VET) sector through a range of initiatives worth $638 million.

$35 million to build a new stand at the SCG, $22.9 million to combat illicit drugs.

Smoke and mirrors, I wonder what "goodies" we have in store when the opinion polls show that people just aren't buying this miserable budget?

more roy and hg:

You couldn't put a struck match between them.

Oh how easy it is for all you posters to criticise. As I mentioned in a previous contribution - "It always amuses me to see nightly on TV the public calling on the government to provide more money for everything from education, health, defence, pensioners, roads, R & D, social security to tax reduction. You name it, everything is mentioned eventually depending on personal priority. What seems to be forgotten is the fact that all the money is "our money" and people always feel that someone else should provide more than them. The government already "gives away" billions of dollars to compensate over half the population for anything from the baby bonus to first home buyers. Obviously there is a compromise" - There is only so much money in the kitty and of course the government wants to give the people what they want. That's called democracy. Not a perfect form of government, but the best we have come up with so far. Perhaps the dissatisfied writers in this column could suggest an alternative budget that would satisfy the majority of the population, because that's the name the game.

Snakes comments make the most sense. Yes, we have limited means. I agree there needs to be more infrastructure spending in general, but to race out and spend up big only inflates the ecomony, speeds up inflationary pressures, then low and behold, we get another interest rate rise. That's in no-ones best interests. So to my mind it is quite a responsible budget in overall terms. As far as the personal tax cuts go, they are just a little sweetner, more so that the govt can claim at election time that it has X record in giving personal tax cuts.

Its also good to see a govt that is making the most of the additional funds from the resources boom, by putting aside large capital amounts to fund ongoing expenses in future times, when there might not be the level of tax revenue that there currently is. This is responsible planning.

Country Gal

Spending on infrastructure does not put pressure on inflation it reduces it. One of the reasons we have high interest rates now is that the economy is at full capacity.

Dozens of ships waiting weeks to get loaded at most ports, a failing copper wire phone network, trucks failing to deliver on time due to crap federal roads etc.

What happens to the future fund and the lets not fund universities fund when the next stock market crash comes?

I have to agree with runner and Leigh. I think I have to start a sattirical thread.