Business of Government: the fiscal fine print, musical chairs and more...

Business of Government: the fiscal fine print, musical chairs and more...
Defence reporting is about as reliable as the force's readiness to deploy say critics. (Image: Getty)
Jem Traylen
Reading the fine print on budget cutshe government is already backtracking on its commitment to running a budget surplus by 2027 and on some of the ‘fine print’ in its coalition agreement, such as backdating deductibility of interest. It has also not applied the exemptions to trustee tax rates that organisations like the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand were hoping for.Some fine-tuning of policy settings is to be expected once parties actually start governing – as former finance minister Grant Robertson used to...

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