Australia politics live: budget growth ‘bullish’ given Trump uncertainty, economist says

We have reports, analysis and reaction on yesterday’s budget, including scepticism from Chartered Accountants ANZ economist Prof Richard Holden. Follow today’s news live

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Good morning,

Krishani Dhanji here with you for the budget washup today.

In the long run, the only way to deal with a deficit is by increasing taxes or reducing spending, so this is the key figure that will drive major policy decisions, whoever is in government after the election.

This is arguably rather bullish in a world marked by global uncertainty with US President Donald Trump set to announce a new wave of tariffs on April 2, on top of the existing disruptions to global supply chains that have already occurred, and the substantial uncertainty about European security arrangements.