Paradoxically, the budget item currently generating the most heat is one that instantly won bipartisan support.

The big banks are livid at the new tax on them, designed to raise more than $6 billion over the budget period in the cause of “budget...

Despite the hefty tax imposts in Tuesday’s budget, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann still insists the fiscal problem was a spending rather than a revenue one.

Cornman says the problem was clearly “on the spending side” but while the government had made significant progress it couldn’t get all the savings measures...

This week’s budget papers show the government spending A$33 billion on education this year, nearly the same amount that Australia’s five new offshore gas fields will make in sales each year when they are running at full capacity.

Unless prices spike higher, however, these five monster projects may never pay a cent in royalties or...