The mid-year budget update is out, and while Treasurer Jim Chalmers is spruiking a slightly lower forecast deficit for the year and spending restraint, the numbers all point to a profligate government — one only being saved from much bigger deficits by persistent budget tricks designed to create the illusion of better fiscal management.
This year’s deficit, forecast at budget time before the election to be $42 billion, is currently on track to come out below $37 billion, or about 1.3%