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Final budget outcome better off than forecast, but still $10bn in the red
Krishani Dhanji
The final budget outcome will show the budget is $10bn in the red, more than $17bn better off than forecast at the pre-election outlook.
A strong labour market has been credited by the government as the main driver of the budget improvement.
The pre-election economic and fiscal outlook, released in April, forecast an underlying cash deficit of $27.9bn for 2024-25, which the treasurer and finance minister will today announce has been improved to $10bn.
But the budget will remain in the red over the next decade.
The government says the fiscal position is now $209bn better off over the three years to 2024-25, and has returned almost 70% of revenue upgrades since coming into government. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the deficit is “a fifth of the forecast we inherited from the Coalition”:
In dollar terms, we’ve made more progress on the budget in three years than any government in history. It’s a reminder that we have one of the strongest budgets in the G20.
Key events
Latest Optus triple zero outage ‘disappointing’, finance minister says
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said news of the latest Optus triple-zero outage was “disappointing” but said Australians should still have faith in their ability to call emergency services.
Gallagher spoke to ABC News this morning:
I imagine for many Optus customers this is more disappointing news off the back of the major disruption that happened the week before. Look, I understand it is slightly different to the major outage that you’ve been covering over the last week but, yes, it’s still disappointing and, although I understand Optus did make the necessary reports over the weekend, there’s clearly more work to be done.
The minister said government reviews of telcos were meant to ensure the triple-zero system was “in the best shape possible”:
It’s not satisfactory at all to have people unable to connect in their time of need … We need to make sure that’s as strong and robust as possible. That’s the work that minister [Anika] Wells and the regulators are leading.
Final budget outcome better off than forecast, but still $10bn in the red
Krishani Dhanji
The final budget outcome will show the budget is $10bn in the red, more than $17bn better off than forecast at the pre-election outlook.
A strong labour market has been credited by the government as the main driver of the budget improvement.
The pre-election economic and fiscal outlook, released in April, forecast an underlying cash deficit of $27.9bn for 2024-25, which the treasurer and finance minister will today announce has been improved to $10bn.
But the budget will remain in the red over the next decade.
The government says the fiscal position is now $209bn better off over the three years to 2024-25, and has returned almost 70% of revenue upgrades since coming into government. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the deficit is “a fifth of the forecast we inherited from the Coalition”:
In dollar terms, we’ve made more progress on the budget in three years than any government in history. It’s a reminder that we have one of the strongest budgets in the G20.
Two sailors rescued after catamaran goes missing off NSW coast
Two sailors suffering from extreme exhaustion were rescued off the coast of NSW after the catamaran they were on went missing this weekend.
Police said they were called on Saturday evening after the two men, aged 50 and 68, reportedly left Yamba harbour earlier that morning en route to Southport, Queensland. When they did not arrive as scheduled, emergency services began a search of the area.
The men were able to call for help about 9pm last night, saying they were about 22 nautical miles offshore from Sandon, NSW, about an hour south of Yamba.
A search aircraft was able to locate the catamaran and volunteers with Marine Rescue NSW have been towing it back to Yamba, and were expected to arrive this morning. The two men are reportedly uninjured, but suffering from extreme exhaustion.
Optus reports new triple zero outage, this time in NSW
Optus said it is investigating a fresh triple-zero outage, this time in the Illawarra region of NSW yesterday.
The telco said an issue with a mobile phone tower in Dapto had affected calls made between 3am and 12.20pm on Sunday, including those to the triple zero network. Nine triple-zero call failures were identified, including a caller who required an ambulance and used another phone to contact emergency services.
One person tried to call emergency services but could not get through. Police have since confirmed they are OK. Four of those calls were referred to NSW police to undertake welfare checks.
The telco said all callers who tried to use the triple-zero network have been reached and are fine.
Optus said in a statement:
We have investigated the impact of the issue on calls made between 3am and 12.20pm yesterday, including calls made to the Triple Zero network, and have confirmed with police, all callers who attempted to contact emergency services are OK.
We sincerely apologise to any customers who were impacted.
The communications minister, Anika Wells, is set to meet with Optus executives today.
Good morning
Nick Visser here. It’s Monday, welcome to the first live blog of the week. Here’s what’s on deck:
Optus reported more triple-zero outages overnight, this time in the Dapto region of NSW. The telco said it identified nine triple-zero call failures in a coverage area with a population of about 4,500 people. Police confirmed all callers who attempted to reach emergency services are OK.
Two sailors who went missing off the NSW coast after their catamaran failed to reach its destination have been found and were expected to arrive home this morning. Police said the pair never reached the end of their trip in Queensland after leaving Saturday, but were found off the coast of Yamba, NSW late last night.
The final budget outcome will show the nation’s finances about $10bn in the red, a far better figure than the pre-election economic outlook, release in April, that estimated a cash deficit of nearly $28bn for 2024-25. The budget will still remain in deficit for the next decade.
Stick with us.
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