Coverage of the recent Federal Budget proves standards of economic reporting are at an all-time low, asAlan Austinreports.

DATA EMBEDDED in this monthsBudgetconfirm Australias finances are the envy of the world.

It is the only nation on the planet with jobless and inflation rates below 4.7%, andmedian wealthper adult above US$250,000 (AU$350,000). It is also the only economy with triple-A creditratings, interestratesbetween 1% and 5% and governmentdebtbelow 25% of gross domestic product (GDP).

More importantly, the budget outlined courageousfixesfor debilitating injustices that have lingered for decades.

In most other nations, reporters would grasp the opportunity to boost national confidence by enthusiastically celebrating such excellent outcomes.

Last weeks courageous budget could portend an era of substantial achievement.

Instead, Australias newsrooms greeted the budget with headlines including:

• Budget debacle: PM has 48 hours to backtrack or great pain awaits (The Australian);

• Bereaved family to be over $7,000 worse off under Labors unfair and unjust new rules on discretionary trusts (Sky News);

• A future, betrayed in Australia (Spectator);

• Budget spending stokes fears of further rate rise pain (AAP/MSN);

• The dire consequences of Labors ideological war on wealth (The Australian);

• Treasurer facing backlash over Federal Budget (9 News); and

• Chalmers has given up on fixing debt and deficits (AFR).

Those reports are riddled with malicious distortions, blatant falsehoods and vitriolic personal attacks. They ignore the multiple world-leading accomplishments.

The following seven deceptions are disseminated regularly by virtually all newsrooms. They are on continual rotation on Sky News and the other Murdoch outlets. The hacks at the Australian Financial Review churn out these fabrications regularly, as do Nine Entertainments other publications and radio and TV stations.

The italicised quotes are from one profoundly misguided 11-minuteconversationbetweenMike Jeffreysat Radio 2GB and 4BC and chief economist atMacrobusiness,Leith van Onselen.

1. Living standards are falling

Living standards declined from early 2021, following COVID, until mid 2023, but have risen impressively since. In 2025 and 2026, Australians haveenjoyedrecord overseas trips per population, record car andlight aircraftsales, record private school enrolments, and record proportion of retail sales on dining out, jewellery, cosmetics and other luxuries. See chart below.

(Data source:Australian Bureau of Statistics)

2. Wages are not keeping up with costs

There is a kernel of truth here. Real wages did decline between March 2021 and September 2023 due, of course, to Coalition policies.

Since December 2023,inflationhas been 9.7%. Averagewageshave risen 11.7%,total wagesare up 15.1%, the agepensionhas increased 13.3%, thedoleis up 16.7%, the youthallowanceis 20.3% higher and Commonwealth rentassistanceis up 39.4%.

3. Australia is a high-taxing country

The evidence refutes this persistent lie. Australias top personalincome taxrate is now down to a modest 45%, the same as in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and South Korea. The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Iceland, Sweden, Belgium, Finland and Israel are all higher. Austria, France, Japan and Denmark are above 55%.

Australias total tax take is now among the worlds lowest. This is primarily because the goods and services tax (GST) is just 10%. Equivalent retailsales taxesare above 18% in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Ireland and elsewhere; and above 24% in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Hungary.

It is the most ambitious Federal Budget the nation has seen for a couple of decadesand the strain of committing to action showed on the faces of Labors front bench last night.

4. Labor keeps increasing taxes

Wrong. Last monthsFiscal Monitor, published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), shows taxation relative to GDP for 31 advanced economies.

In both 2025 and 2026, Australia ranked 26th out of the 31 on high tax rates. Only Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and the USA were lower. That is better than rankings under the hapless Coalition.

5. Labor is bad for business

The evidence shows businesses, large, small and middle-sized, employ more people, expand more rapidly and earn more profits under Labor.

As shownherein March, total gross operatingprofitsin all sectors except mining rose 3.7% to a record $316.2 billion in 2025. See chart below.

(Data source:Australian Bureau of Statistics)

6. Labor spends more than the Coalition

This monthsBudget Paper No.1shows spending to GDP since 1970. Former PMGough Whitlamspent the lowest of all PMs, averaging just 19.6% of GDP.Anthony Albaneseaverages 25.2%, which is lower thanTony Abbott,Kevin Rudd,Bob HawkeandPaul Keating. The highest spending by far wasScott Morrison, who averaged 27.5%.

7. Business investment is declining

The germ of truth here is that investmentcollapsedbetween 2013 and 2021 under the hopelessly incompetent Coalition. See chart below.

(Data source:Australian Bureau of Statistics)

Apart from brief periods of severe global downturns, business investment since 1992 has increased under all governments except those of Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison. It is steadily expanding again under Albanese.

The questions these incessant deceptions raise are these: Are Australias economics reporters too stupid to know what is actually happening, or do they know but choose to deceive?

Do they realise howdestructivethey are to national social cohesion?

Alan Austinis an Independent Australia columnist and freelance journalist. You can follow him@alanaustin001and [email protected].

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