Australia’s consolidated government accounts bring together federal, state and local governments spending and revenue statistics. This gives the most complete picture of the nation’s fiscal position. The spending trends outlined in this report highlight that Australia’s fiscal system is inconsistent and inflexible. The analysis points to six potential issues in current policy setting processes.

The report provides independent projections of the Federal Budget, including detailed estimates of future spending and revenues. It forecasts an underlying cash deficit $5.2 billion worse than estimated in the 2024-25 budget. This is a significant deterioration from the $15.8 billion surplus in 2023-24.

This research note questions how New Zealand has managed to sustain its large and growing current account deficits with the rest of the world without seeing a corresponding deterioration in its net international investment position (NIIP).

Anthony Albanese says debt and deficit have never been higher. Verdict: Mr Albanese is wrong.

This paper develops a framework to decompose the change in New Zealand’s public debt ratio into four component effects: the primary balance, real GDP growth, real interest rates, and exchange rates.