Business of Government: Prefu past and present, Hughes next? and more ...

A smoking gun: The loss of tobacco excise due to the government’s smokefree policies is an unknown factor. (Image: Getty)

Jem Traylen

Wed, 13 Sep 2023

Good luck with those budget bidsTuesday’s pre-election economic and fiscal update (Prefu) was a continuation of the theme delivered in the government’s recent ‘mini-budget’ in which $4 billion of savings were announced.The Prefu took all that into account and laid bare the stark choices faced by whoever will be sitting on the Treasury benches after the election – the key figure is $1.3b – this being all that’s left of Budget 2024’s operating allowance once things like $1.4b worth of health sector...

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