The Commission of Audit and the Budget were always going to be exercises in ideology. This budget attempts to change the very fabric of Australian life. The government wants to change the way Australians have always seen themselves – as a clever country, a land of a fair go, and a nation of people willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. If passed, this budget will make it significantly harder for those already struggling to access appropriate healthcare, deny tertiary education to those who can’t pay for it, and replace ‘merit’ with ‘money’ as the basis of success in our society.

But does it make good economic sense? In this politics in the pub a panel of Australia Institute researchers go through the impacts of the Budget on the country economically and socially, what’s likely to get through the Senate, and a better way to collect revenue & fund services.