Frydenberg finds the money tree

The treasurer is calling it the "recovery" budget, but as our experts outline this morning, it goes much, much further. Instead of winding back new spending as the economy recovers from the COVID recession, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is accelerating it, actually deepening projected budget deficits by spending or giving away in tax cuts more than extra revenue that's coming in from the sharper-than-expected economic recovery.

In Michelle's Grattan's words, Frydenberg has discovered the money tree.

Richard Holden thinks Frydenberg is right to do so. Holden believes the recovery isn't as assured as is commonly assumed.

The mix of spending is different to what we've come to expect from Coalition budgets. As the Grattan Institute's Danielle Wood and Tom Crowley write, it's "less hard hats, more soft hearts, as the budget pivots to women and the care sector".

Many will say it's not enough for aged care, and not enough for women, who were the biggest victims of the COVID recession in its early months. But it's a lot more than we might have expected, by my reckoning $63 billion more over the next three years.

Peter Martin

Section Editor, Business and Economy

Today's newsletter supported by Universities Australia

Wes Mountain/The Conversation

View from The Hill: Frydenberg finds the money tree

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

There are plenty of winners and few direct losers in a budget that lays the groundwork for the next election — still more likely to be next year than this.

WHYFRAME/Shutterstock

Less hard hats, more soft hearts: budget pivots to women and care

Danielle Wood, Grattan Institute; Tom Crowley, Grattan Institute

There's much more new spending on aged care than there is on infrastructure. That's a change.

Mick Tsikas/AAP

Frydenberg spends the budget bounty to drive unemployment down to new lows

Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

Never before has a budget done so much to supercharge the economy after the worst of a recession has passed.

Lukas Coch/AAP

Budget 2021: the floppy-V-shaped recovery

Richard Holden, UNSW

Looking graphically at actual and forecast GDP makes it clear why some speak of a 'V-shaped recovery'. But even the fairly bullish assumptions reveal a recovery where the V isn’t really sharp enough.

AAP/Shutterstock/The Conversation

Cuts, spends, debt: what you need to know about the budget at a glance

Alexandra Hansen, The Conversation; Wes Mountain, The Conversation; Chynthia Wijaya, The Conversation

Short on time? Here's everything you need to know about the 2021-2022 federal budget in 5 nifty charts and infographics.

AAP/Mick Tsikas

Budget splashes cash, with $17.7 billion for aged care and a pitch to women

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

The Morrison government has brought down a big-spending, expansionary budget.

Shutterstock

The carbon footprint of Airbnb is likely bigger than you think

Mingming Cheng, Curtin University; Guangwu Chen, UNSW; Sara Dolnicar, The University of Queensland

Our analysis shows most tourist accommodation — be it Airbnb or traditional hotel accommodation — comes with sizeable greenhouse emissions.

Health + Medicine

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Andrew Lavender, Federation University Australia

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David Farmer, The University of Melbourne

To tell you the truth, nobody really knows. But it's probably got to do with the fact that signals from your nose and your eyes arrive in the same area of your brain.

Arts + Culture

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Chari Larsson, Griffith University

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Rachel Boddy, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Billie Eilish received criticism for wearing an 'oppressive' corset on the cover of Vogue. But for centuries, the clothing gave women support in work, and in play.

Business + Economy

As the government is learning, a ‘wage freeze’ can come with unintended consequences

Laura Meriluoto, University of Canterbury

If the proposed public sector wage freeze is aimed at improving the lot of lower paid workers, there are better alternatives the government should consider.
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Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato

Were he still alive, former prime minister Robert Muldoon might have warned the Labour government about the trouble a wage freeze can get you into.

Environment + Energy
‘Boys and their toys’: how overt masculinity dominates Australia’s relationship with water Anna Kosovac, The University of Melbourne Pipelines, dams, gadgets: does water management really need to be all about control and power? Adopting less masculine ideas and working with nature may be more prudent.

Politics + Society
For Muslim refugees in immigration detention, another sombre, isolated Eid holiday Michelle Peterie, University of Wollongong Group visits and food are prohibited, and visitors must sit in designated chairs apart from their loved ones. Celebrating holidays in detention didn't used to be like this.