Jim Chalmers hasn’t just tried to put lipstick on the proverbial porcine. He’s gone in with a bit of rouge and a very clever bit of contouring, too.
Sure, the economy is barely hobbling along, with weaker-than-expected growth in the March quarter of 0.3 per cent.
But look over here at this shiny thing!
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“Despite all of the doomsayers and everyone who wants to talk the economy down, we’re seeing a boom in private investment and that’s a good thing,” he said.
The future’s in data centres, folks.
And OK, not to be dramatic or anything Mr Treasurer, but we also appear to be careening towards a per capita recession.
However, Dr Chalmers thinks things are “very solid”.
Nothing to see here, folks.
“Obviously, we’re doing much more in the Budget and elsewhere to try and turn that productivity performance around,” he advanced.
“We know that this is a longstanding challenge and it will take some time to shift and the Budget, more than Budgets that we’ve seen, probably since the 1990s, took the productivity challenge seriously.”
While the Treasurer dances around reality while studiously avoiding the word stagflation, almost anyone who is not him can see these numbers are shocking.
Growth has stalled and it is not picking up any time soon.
Productivity has declined dramatically.
GDP per capita, based on population, was down 0.1 during the first three months of 2026 for a lacklustre annual increase of one per cent.
If it happens again in June, there will be a per capita recession, which effectively means a recession in every household. It’s when the economy grows but not enough to actually make the lives of Australians any better. When individual circumstances belie the rosy picture being painted.
Per capita GDP is widely acknowledged as a better measure of living standards than the overall number. And by any measure, that measure is bad.
But Dr Chalmers doesn’t want to talk about per capita GDP or parents running fundraisers just so their kids can play sport or folks who can’t afford to fill a petrol (let alone diesel) tank.
We are used to politicians putting their own spin on bad news but Dr Chalmers is in a veritable whirl trying to make us believe they’ve got this thing under control.
And fair play to him to invoke the war, which has undeniably impacted the economy: household consumption grew by just 0.5 per cent.
But the reality is that these lacklustre numbers convey nothing but chaos, confusion and uncertainty.
Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson said the Treasurer was “in complete denial about the impact of the wrecking ball of his policy”.
Indeed he likes to dismiss the “doomsayers” who apparently enjoy talking the economy down. But people are being honest about the economy and, frankly, it would be good if the Government was too.
Responsibility for the editorial comment is taken by Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore
