AAP has taken a look at the Women’s economic statement (which looks at how women have benefited from the budget) and found that there is no serious funding for addressing domestic violence:

No to Violence chief executive Phillip Ripper said if the federal government was serious about addressing the issue, it should have shown it.

“The budget ignored the cost of men’s family violence and the cost of women and children living in fear,” he said.

“This week we saw more women dying by men’s violence. How many more will we accept and at what cost?

“The cost is immeasurable to some families, for the women and children who have lost their lives and others their health, safety and wellbeing.”

Minister for Women Katy Gallagher said women were now earning an extra $217 a week since Labor was elected in 2022.

“We’ve made women’s economic equality a key feature of the work we do when putting budgets together, they’re not an after thought,” she said.

“They’re there at the table, we’re thinking about it … and you will see continued effort in that area.”

New funding included $2.5 million in the 2025/26 financial year for emergency accommodation for women and children experiencing all forms of violence under an existing program.

Labor has since committed more than $4 billion in women’s safety and delivering the national plan to end violence against women and children since its launch three years ago.

Women will have improved access to healthcare and contraception under funding announced before the budget.

More than $134 million over four years will be allocated to increase the schedule fee for four long‑acting reversible contraception items on the Medicare Benefits Schedule.

Clinics providing specialist care to women suffering from pelvic pain and endometriosis will be given a $20.9 million boost over the next three years.

IVF treatment will be made more affordable from April this year, with some women able to get earlier access to combination therapy through the pharmaceutical benefits scheme.

It’s going to pass. Bar any late night shenanigans from the opposition, the government will be able to rush the laws through the senate with the opposition’s help.

We reported earlier that Labor had set up the guillotine debate (where it sets a cut off time for a debate, to bring the matter to a vote) which the Coalition supported. That doesn’t happen unless there is a deal in place (otherwise why bring it to a vote) and it’s easy to work out who the deal is with by looking at who voted for the guillotine debate (the house and senate can’t change up business without the permission of the house or senate, if that makes sense – you have to vote on it and have the numbers)

What all of this means is….the Coalition are going to give Labor the numbers to ram this horrendous bill through the senate. Despite legal advice pointing at its gaping holes. Despite the damage it could cause to the environment. Despite being written in a way that could mean coal and gas mine projects could use it to bypass environmental protections.

Oh but don’t worry! Because Labor is going to fix everything with the environmental protection agency it is TOTALLY going to set up next term, despite promising it this term and not delivering anything but a toothless tiger it wouldn’t negotiate on.

Huzzah.

The ABS has released its latest inflation data and all the ways it measures it – trend, headline and annually, are all down.

Per the ABS:

The monthly CPI indicator rose 2.4% in the 12 months to February, following a 2.5% rise in the 12 months to January. 

The monthly CPI indicator excluding volatile items and holiday travel rose 2.7% in the 12 months to February following a 2.9% rise in the 12 months to January. This series excludes Automotive fuel, Fruit and vegetables, and Holiday travel and accommodation. 

The annual trimmed mean is an alternative measure of underlying inflation that reduces the impact of irregular or temporary price changes. Annual trimmed mean inflation, which excluded the annual fall in Electricity, alongside other large price rises and falls, was 2.7% in February, down from 2.8% in January. 

Greens senator and Yamatji Noongar woman, Senator Dorinda Cox has introduced a bill into the senate which would amend the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC) to prevent damaging industrial action near vulnerable monuments. 

Cox:

I have a deep commitment to protecting Australia’s ancient culture by supporting the traditional owners and communities who say no to the destruction of their cultural heritage and preserving their connection to our ancestors through our ancient rock art. These monuments represent and record our rich, historic and vibrant culture.”

“These sites are not only a testament to the unique cultural tapestry of our First Nations people, but they are also a vital part of our Australian tourism industry, which brings billions into our economy.  It’s our duty and responsibility to our future generations to ensure we preserve our monuments, art and sacred spaces and to showcase these to the world. They are as precious as England’s Stonehenge and Egypt’s pyramids.”

“Time and time again, we have seen a failure in Federal leadership and we cannot leave our sacred places and monuments in the hands of those who clearly prioritise the profits of gas cartels and climate wrecking projects over our future generations connection to the world’s oldest continuous culture, Australia’s history etched in our landscapes tell a story of time, place and story.”

“We have seen the denigration and destruction for too long, we need Federal leadership on this issue and we need it now, every day that passes without action means this precious rock art will continue to be destroyed. These sacred monuments need to be safeguarded from the irreversible damage of industrial emissions, particularly from gas projects.”

“The We All Come Together for Country Bill 2025 fills a significant gap in our current legislation. Amending the EPBC Act, we are setting clear, enforceable standards that prevent harmful industrial activities from compromising our cultural heritage and tourism industry, they also provide the surety industry has been asking for. These amendments will ensure that future generations have the opportunity to experience and explore Australia’s history, landscapes and ensure that our tourism economy continues to thrive for decades to come.”

“Tourism is a lifeline for many of our communities, most being small operators and family businesses that contribute to our GDP and showcase our nation’s unique heritage to the world. With this bill, we are not only preserving irreplaceable First Nations cultural treasures but also protecting an industry that supports local jobs and enriches our national identity. I am proud to champion this Bill for the sake of our First Nations cultural heritage, tourism, economy, and our collective future.”

You can find more information on some of what communities are working to protect, here.

The Centre For Future Work has put together a budget briefing paper which has all the analysis you may want on the budget and some you probably didn’t even know you needed.

As expected with a Federal election looming, the budget is not a horror one of austerity. However, the 2025-2026 budget is characterised by the absence of any significant initiatives. There is very little in this budget that is new other than the surprise tax cuts, which are welcome given they benefit mostly those on low-incomes. There are continuing investments in some key areas supporting wages growth, where it is sorely needed, and rebuilding important areas of public good. However, there remains much that needs to be done in the next parliament.

While we are having a look at things that Peter Dutton is telling us he will do, let’s take a look at the North West Shelf expansion. Here is the Australia Institute’s view on that:

Peter Dutton says he’ll approve the North West Shelf (NWS) gas expansion within 30 days if he wins the election.

He also wants to introduce a National Interest Test for major projects seeking environmental approval. The test would take into account economic and social benefits.

Woodside’s proposed 50-year NWS gas expansion should be subject to a National Interest Test. 

It would fail miserably. 

Here’s why:

• It would potentially give Woodside hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Australian gas for free. Fail
• It would continue to push up gas and electricity prices in WA, which have tripled since Woodside started exporting the state’s domestic gas. Fail
• It would likely drain WA’s domestic gas reserves. With NWS offshore gas fields rapidly declining, Woodside wants to process gas from any third party, including onshore WA domestic gas. Fail
• It would continue to destroy one of the world’s great artistic treasures, the Murujuga Cultural Heritage site. Fail
• The additional emissions would wipe out the emissions reductions from all of Australia’s climate policies many times over, increasing the frequency and severity of fires, floods and other disasters. Woodside’s own documents estimate greenhouse gas emissions are around 90 million tonnes annually, the equivalent of 12 coal power stations. Epic Fail

“The Australia Institute would welcome a National Interest Test on big gas projects like Woodside’s North West Shelf gas export terminal extension,” said Mark Ogge, Principal Advisor at The Australia Institute.

“It would fail miserably.

“Big gas companies like Woodside are draining Australia of gas, getting most of the gas they export for free, paying little or no resources tax and price gouging Australians for our own gas.

“Australian politicians should remember their job is to represent the interests of Australians, not the interests of a handful of mostly foreign-owned oil and gas corporations who are ripping Australians off every day of the year.”

The guillotine debate has been set up for the environmental gutting laws in the senate.

The Coalition voted for that, so at this stage, it looks like Labor will pass the laws (which will enable some projects to bypass the environment minister’s reconsideration powers) in this last senate sitting.

Ok, let’s take a look at some of the things Peter Dutton has said.

“I think if you look at history, a Coalition Government has always come in to clean up a Labor mess. John Howard did it post the Hawke-Keating period and got our economy and our country back on track, and Tony Abbott did after Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd, and we will do the same for our country…”

Does anyone remember the 2014 budget? The one that led to Abbott losing the prime ministership, Joe Hockey leaving federal politics and Peta Credlin who basically refers to herself as the mastermind, sitting in a late night commentating chair pretending she knows how to run the country?

Dutton is just saying ‘we’ll do the same for our country’.

Combine that with the public service cuts (which are now at about 41,000 people if you listened to Angus Taylor last night) and you have a fair idea where the Coalition wants to take the economy.

And how.

On 4 March, Dutton said this:

So, we’re not cutting frontline positions. We have a health department and an education department – the Commonwealth Government doesn’t own a school, we don’t run a hospital, we don’t employ a doctor or nurse or a teacher. That’s the difference than say the Queensland or the Victorian or the New South Wales Government.”

If you look at the language, and we really should be believing what these people say, because they more often than not do it, and combine that with what Angus Taylor has been saying as recently as yesterday morning:

What we’ve said is the public service has got too big. We’ll get it back to the levels it was at when we were last in government. I learnt in my private sector career, I had one unlike this hopeless Treasurer, in the real world, working with businesses across this country, I learnt that you don’t need to have a bigger team to have a better team. You don’t need to have a bigger team to have a better team.

This is just a more civil version of what the children running Elon Musk’s DOGE agenda have been saying. That they don’t understand why the US Treasury department would need more staff than privately owned banks.

When last in government, the Coalition basically imposed austerity. In an attempt to get to surplus before the pandemic, the Morrison government almost sent the economy into recession. Because that is what happens when you start taking money OUT of the economy (which is all surpluses do). No wage growth. Higher unemployment. All because before the pandemic began, it was ‘you can’t fix the economy until you fix the budget’ and then after the pandemic began, when the government lifted people out of poverty with a snap of their fingers it was because ‘you can’t fix the budget until you fix the economy’.

The Coalition is TELLING you what it plans on doing. Listen.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump whose influence was scattered all throughout the budget, but never namesd (he and Putin draw a long dark shadow) is happily dancing towards April 2, which he calls ‘Liberation day’ because that’s when all his tariffs will come into play.

It’s a short term strategy that is going to maybe give the US a little domestic bump if all goes well and then plunge it into an economic abyss. Which Trump and his acolytes wouldn’t care about, but we should, because it’s people.

Interestingly, the Financial Times (and as Noam Chomsky says in Manufacturing Consent, you should always read the business papers because that is where the people who control the economy talk to each other and tell the truth) has put together an article showing that most of the world (Mexico not included for obvious reasons) could probably untangle itself from the US economy and after some pain (again, that’s people suffering so should not be dismissed) would manage to carry on just fine.

As to the tariffs, here is what AAP is reporting:

Reuters reported on Tuesday that India is open to cutting tariffs on more than half of US imports, valued at $23 billion, in the first phase. India has among the highest trade-weighted average tariff rates at 12.1 per cent, compared to 2.5 per cent for the US, according to the World Trade Organisation.

A US delegation led by Assistant US Trade Representative Brendan Lynch is in New Delhi this week for trade talks with Indian officials from Tuesday through Saturday, the US embassy in New Delhi said.

Trump said on Monday he may give “a lot of countries” breaks on tariffs, but provided no details. Trump also said that separate tariffs on autos, pharmaceuticals and aluminium were coming in “the very near future”.

EU officials have struggled to talk Trump back from a trade war as he embarks on a multi-front tariff offensive expected to draw strong retaliatory measures.

Maros Sefcovic (the EU trade commissioner) said last week that little progress has been made in talks with Washington after Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports earlier this month.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters in Halifax that Canada was prepared to add retaliatory trade measures against the US, depending on Trump’s April 2 trade actions.

Trump has also threatened to end a month-long tariff reprieve for goods compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement.

But Carney said Canada was not rushing to the negotiating table with Trump, with whom he has not spoken since taking office, adding he wants “substantive discussions” between sovereign nations – a reference to Trump’s frequent demands Canada should be annexed by the US.

White House officials have cautioned that countries rushing for early tariff relief were unlikely to avoid them completely, because Trump’s reciprocal duty calculations will include non-tariff barriers, currency policies and other factors that are harder to roll back.

The house is ticking along with the change of business to get the budget bills through the house as quickly as possible. Then they’ll get through the senate.

That’s when the real fight will begin as the Greens and the crossbench try and stop the environmental gutting laws Labor is pushing through the parliament.