Jim, this is the most important budget this century. You’d better not bottle it

March 11, 2026 — 5:00am

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In two months’ time, Jim Chalmers will deliver his fifth budget.

It will not only be his most important or the most important since 2014, but the most important this century.

A confluence of issues – poor productivity across the past 20 years, a budget in structural decline for almost the same length of time, a tax system that punishes workers and rewards asset collection, spending pressures that will only continue to grow, how the future of younger generations is being stolen by older ones – have all landed on Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher.

Throw in demographic pressures, the rise of AI and the war in Iran, and it’s a veritable potpourri of economic and fiscal challenges.

Almost all of these have been well known – in some cases, for decades. But as governments have come and gone, little has been done or achieved in fixing them.

Hey big spenders: Where the budget is blowing out

Now, right now, is the time to deal with most if not all of them in a co-ordinated manner.

Past failure has been driven both by political ineptitude and the ideological unwillingness of prime ministers and treasurers to take on the problems in front of them and the nation.

This year, however, one impediment has been effectively wiped away. The scale of Anthony Albanese’s 2025 election victory means not only does he have control of........

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