Budget 2015: And now an election within a year?

BUDGET SPECIAL: Tuesday 12 May 2015 Are we looking at an election budget? By Barrie Cassidy As a political document, this budget just might work. The imperative now for the Government - after a miserable 12 months - is to get back in the political game. The Coalition, after all, trails on average across the polls by just four points - 48 to 52 per cent, two-party preferred. A budget that stabilises the situation - and maybe even gives a bit of a kick - will be of great comfort to a government that was on its knees embroiled in a leadership crisis just three months ago. That's partly why it feels like the last budget before the next election. That is not to suggest an imminent election or even one this year - but there has to be at least a 50-50 chance now of one before May next year. Hockey gets a visit from the Fairness Fairy By Annabel Crabb Behold! The 2015 Budget has been subjected to a rigorous fairness-ification. It has been basted, lubricated, indeed Bedazzled with fairness. And it turns out that fairness is not only a popular concept - it's lucrative, too. Not to mention amazingly flexible. Last year's budget attempted to pull $1.7 billion out of Family Tax Benefit B by fiddling about with indexation levels, and was politely shown the door by the Senate. This year, a similar amount is targeted, but this time under the guise of pursuing wrongdoers, and one suspects the Government will do better. So much depends on how these things are framed. Swapping savings for self-preservation By Chris Uhlmann The second Abbott budget is utterly at odds with the first, and its apparent unifying principle is self-preservation. Just a year ago the Government's primary goal was averting a fiscal "crisis" by making big savings and paying down debt. In delivering this new fiscal blueprint, the Government clearly believes that people will focus on everything it says from now on, rather than everything it said last year and for years before that. This looks like Swan-style stimulus By Ian Verrender This was supposed to be a boring budget. It is anything but. It is a radical shift from Joe Hockey's maiden effort; a sudden lurch from austerity to big spending stimulus that bears all the hallmarks of a government desperately hoping to resuscitate a flagging economy and its own credibility. In the Treasurer's words, the budget provides a credible path to surplus. But it is a pathway paved with assumptions that border on the incredible. Budget 2015: Winners and Losers - where do you fit? By Tim Leslie Small business, parents of young children and national security are the big winners. There's also good news for rural Australians and medical research. Middle-income earners, stay-at-home parents and downloaders are among the losers, while foreigners - individuals and companies - will also be paying more. Explore our special interactive feature to see what's in this budget for you. For complete coverage visit ABC News. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe to NewsMail. About this email: You received this email because you are subscribed to ABC News email alerts. This message was sent to you at starnewsposting@gmail.com This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. Manage your preferences | Unsubscribe | Contact Us Australian Broadcasting Corporation 700 Harris Street, Ultimo NSW 2007 © 2015 ABC | Conditions of Use | Privacy Policy