Government

More Australians were feeling bad about the economy in the week the federal budget was released.

The federal opposition has questioned Treasury's budget forecasts, saying the numbers would be different if the department was "left to its own devices".

Look carefully through the gloom of a sputtering local economy, mine closures, ballooning state debt and rising unemployment and you might catch a glimpse of the first signs of next year's recovery

MAKING predictions in politics is fraught with risk.

Two Liberal premiers and a major industry group say the goods and services tax should be on the reform agenda.

An independent review of Australia's franchise sector has recommended substantial reforms, including strengthening the obligations of parties to act in good faith and a stronger enforcement regime.

Australia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart, has drawn criticism from Prime Minister Julia Gillard after saying Australia would face the same problems as Greece if support for the mining industry was

Pay rises handed to the Western Australian government ministerial staffers are excessive, given savings are being sought in the rest of the public sector, the opposition says.

Billionaire Clive Palmer says he's been approached by West Australian parliamentarians keen to become candidates for his political party.

The resources sector is being used like an ATM machine and Australia's record debt is unsustainable, mining magnate Gina Rinehart says.

Last week's interest rates cut by the RBA could be part of a concerted move by central banks around the world to take more chances to boost growth.

Former prime minister John Howard has defended his government's introduction of the baby bonus, saying the tax system should recognise the costs associated with raising children.

LET'S face it, government budgets lost meaning a long time ago – at least as a kind of one-off announcement where everyone held their breath to see how they were affected.

Australia remains one of the top destinations for migrating professionals, but has slipped in a global rankings survey amid the high-value dollar putting pressure on exchange rates.

WA business leaders say the federal budget has made life more difficult for local industry and fails to recognise the state's importance to the national economy.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says his official budget reply won't be a complete list of the coalition's "spends and saves" but will paint a big economic picture.

The federal budget has failed to improve Australia's "inefficient" tax system, business leaders have said.

Every project in Australia worth $500 million or more must show how it will provide opportunities to local businesses, under new laws introduced into parliament.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has defended her government's budget, stating tough choices had to be made.

Treasurer Wayne Swan has handed down his sixth consecutive budget deficit, saying sharper spending cuts would have put jobs and the economy at risk.

Treasurer Troy Buswell has trimmed $92 million in government expenditure as rising spending and a “significant erosion” of revenue threaten to bring the state's budget into deficit.

West Australian Premier Colin Barnett is declining to rule out further public sector job cuts as the state deals with a "volatile" environment.

Whatever else is revealed in tonight's federal budget there is one thing I hope for – an end to the nonsense of ‘modelling', because it is painfully obvious that modelling is nothing more than mode

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey is demanding the federal government publish a range of Treasury figures explaining revenue shortfalls, policy funding and future debt forecasts.

The federal government will abolish the baby bonus and project a return to surplus in 2016-17 in tonight's budget, the ABC has reported.

The federal government has confirmed it will contribute $400 million to upgrading sections of the Perth-to-Darwin Highway and says there will be more for Western Australia in today's budget.

Australians will be spared a budget that "cuts to the bone" but should brace for a disciplined road forward, Treasurer Wayne Swan has warned on the day he delivers his sixth, and possibly, final bu

RARELY do two budgets – Tuesday's federal budget, which was the last before an election, and the August state budget, which will be the first after an election – send such conflicting messages.

The federal government is spending $300 million to make it easier for people to work or study while they are on income support payments.

The resources industry is urging the federal government to tread carefully as it attempts to plug holes in its budget, due to be handed down early next week.

There are even less inflation hurdles for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut the cash rate further, if need be.

Business groups have welcomed the industrial relations policy package announced this week by federal opposition leader Tony Abbott but most have lobbied for the coalition to go much further.