Who gives a stuff about the surplus?

Treasurer Jim Chalmers (Image: AP/Ajit Solanki) The Albanese government was once again “ crowing ” this morning, as it confirmed a $15.8 billion surplus for 2023-24 — the first back-to-back surplus since 2008, and the first Labor consecutive surplus since Paul Keating in the late ’80s. Treasurer Jim Chalmers was eager to boast of a $6 billion improvement on the May forecast, claiming it came down to lower spending, and was therefore “ proof of our responsible economic management ”.

Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie, however, was not impressed. “Nobody gives a stuff about a surplus,” she told the Today show , in typical Jacqui fashion. “Mate, I can assure you right now, people are doing it hard out there.

Nobody’s talking about a surplus.” So does anybody give a stuff about this windfall, coming at a time of acute economic pain for so many, outside of the pundits convinced that The Surplus® is the only measure of Good Economic ManagementTM? Jim Chalmers’ spray at the RBA is embarrassing Read More It’s far from the first time this government has demanded pats on the back for delivering a “better than expected” bottom line; as Crikey noted in April, Chalmers mentioned his 2023 surplus at least 141 times ahead of this year’s budget. We’ve watched this play out repeatedly since Labor came to office, and each time anti-poverty advocates express dismay that Labor’s surplus has been built on the backs of those suffering on JobSeeker.

“People are.