Shock as Labor will post ‘a SURPLUS’ in the federal budget next Tuesday in an astonishing windfall: here’s why
- Treasurer Jim Chalmers will provide surplus
- This would be the first federal Labor since 1989
The Labor government reportedly expects to post a surplus in the federal budget on Tuesday evening in a stunning fiscal turnaround.
Sky News political editor Andrew Clennell speculated that the surplus could be possible due to rising tax revenues from higher iron ore, coal and gas, and low unemployment.
It would be the first budget surplus since 2007, when the coalition was in power before the global financial crisis deepened.
But it would also mark the first federal labor budget in the black since 1989, when 18 percent interest rates led to a recession two years later.
The Labor government reportedly expects to post a surplus to the federal budget on Tuesday evening in an astonishing fiscal turnaround (pictured is Treasurer Jim Chalmers)
Treasury Secretary Katy Gallagher did not deny a possible surplus during an interview broadcast Thursday morning.
The last time a federal Labor government produced a surplus was in 1989 when the late Bob Hawke was Prime Minister and Paul Keating was Treasurer.
The incumbent Treasurer Jim Chalmers was an 11-year-old schoolboy in Brisbane.
This is all the more remarkable given that the previous coalition government spent $300 billion on Covid welfare measures, leaving a government gross debt of $1 trillion.
More to follow…