ARTICLE: From Surplus to Trillion-Dollar Debt - Australia's Economic Reputation Squandered

When Peter Costello’s time as Treasurer ended in 2007, Australia stood as an economic outlier. After inheriting a $96 billion net debt ‘black hole’ from Labor in 1996, the Howard-Costello Government delivered ten surpluses in from twelve budgets through relentless fiscal discipline.

ARTICLE: The Crippling Decline in Disposable Household Income

“We’ve come a long way, we’ve got a lot going for us, we’re better placed and better prepared than other countries.”

This was the bold claim made by Treasurer Jim Chalmers at the National Press Club back in June.

His words have come back to bite him however, as new data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has revealed that Australia has recorded the steepest decline in real household disposable income among all other developed nations.