Treasurer Scott Morrison.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The rules require him to “deliver sustainable budget surpluses building to at least 1 per cent of GDP as soon as possible”.
It was certainly in his power to change the rules,and a week ago he left open the possibility that he would. Joe Hockey changed them between his first budget and his second,loosening the timeline from “at least 1 per cent of GDP by 2023-24” to “at least 1 per cent of GDP as soon as possible”.
Morrison’s most recent budget projection shows no sign of that sort of surplus all the way out to 2027-28 and,from the look of the graph,any time beyond.
If the graph is much the same on budget night,Morrison might be able to plead that ‘not in the foreseeable future’ means the same ‘as soon as possible”.
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“You've also got to run a strong economy,” he told Chris Uhlmann,pleading that the economy might not be able to sustain too rapid a return to too big a surplus. “You've got to run a strong economy where people can be guaranteed the essential services they rely on,and you need to have a responsible,methodical path back to budget balance”.
He’ll find it much harder to claim he is taking seriously the other key rule he has locked himself into.