In this episode of New Politics, we provide an alternative assessment of the 2024 Budget, exploring its reception across various media outlets, economic assessments, and the underlying political machinations. Of course, most of the reactions from major players in the media landscape, including News Corporation, Nine/Fairfax, the ABC and the Guardian, are mostly negative and it’s their inherent biases that shape public perception.
We also look at the underlying priorities revealed in the Budget, such as the $11 billion in fossil fuel subsidies juxtaposed against the $6.5 billion allocated for social housing and homelessness, and the relatively minimal support for the arts and creative industries.
What is the significance of the Budget in the context of the next federal election and how does it set the stage for the campaign? Will there even be another Budget before the next election? It’s unlikely: this smells like, tastes like and looks like a pre-election Budget, we don’t think there’ll be another one in this parliamentary term.
We also turn our attention to the federal government’s new Future Gas Strategy, which looks very similar to Scott Morrison’s much-derided 2020 gas-led recovery plan – we discuss the environmental and economic ramifications of expanding gas production until 2050 and ask the question: how does pumping more greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere actually decrease greenhouse emissions, as claimed by the minister for resources? It doesn’t – but a bit of gaslighting of the electorate will always reduce the political problem.
We then cover the sentencing of whistleblower David McBride, who exposed war crimes committed by Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan. This case raises significant questions about whistleblower protections and the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability. Why is McBride in jail, when the people who committed the war crimes are still free?
And Senator Fatima Payman displays more courage in her little left finger than the entire government and she will probably pay a large price for this courage. That’s Australian politics: courage is always punished, cowardice is always rewarded.
Song listing:

1. ‘Confessions Of A Window Cleaner’, Ed Kuepper.
2. Blue Sky Mine’, Midnight Oil.
3. ‘Everybody Knows’, Sigrid (cover version).
4. ‘Praise You’, Fat Boy Slim.