The forecasts are in and it doesn't look pretty - the government is expected to be hit with a bigger budget deficit than it was bracing for, with the elusive surplus drifting further out of reach.
A budget surplus doesn't appear on the horizon until the next decade, according to an AAP survey of 11 economists.
Many are tipping a return to surplus in 2021/22, but some believe it could be as far off as 2023/24 - years away from the forecast of 2019/20 in the government's December budget update.
Most economists also expect budget deficits far worse than the government's latest forecasts suggest.
Chris Richardson from Deloitte Access Economics says next year's deficit will smash the government's expectation of $31 billion by a whopping $14 billion, likening 2015/16 to a Stephen King novel or Edvard Munch's famous Scream painting.
The government has both a revenue and a spending problem, AMP chief economist Shane Oliver says.
Sliding commodity prices and slow wages growth mean less cash is flowing into government coffers, but we're still spending as if the mining boom never ended.
Savings measures are being blocked by the "useless" Senate and politicians are too afraid of being unpopular to make hard decisions, Dr Oliver said.
He said several mistakes have been made by both sides of politics, with the Howard government spending too much during the "milk and honey" years of the mining boom followed by the Labor government's mistake in not winding back its financial crisis spending spree quickly enough.
Dr Oliver said below-trend economic growth and dismal business and consumer confidence mean the government can't afford another "insensitive" budget like last year's, which had a debilitating impact on the economy.
But it does need to implement long-term measures to bring spending under control, focused on those who can afford it, because at some point, Australia could be at risk of losing its prized AAA credit rating.
"We're looking at a worse run of budget deficits than we saw in the 1990s, when we had the biggest post-war recession we've ever had, and there's no real excuse for it," Dr Oliver said.
Commonwealth Bank chief economist Michael Blythe said the government needed to get the balance right in supporting the struggling economy in the short-term while making progress on fixing the budget over the long-run - a budget that lifts confidence while also preserving the AAA rating.
Market Economics managing director Stephen Koukoulas was upbeat, predicting smaller deficits than the government and forecasting a surplus by 2017/18, possibly even 2016/17.
He said people were failing to notice green shoots in the economy, including a stronger-than-expected jobs market.
"Assuming that for every dollar they spend, they save a dollar somewhere else, these numbers are pretty achievable," he said.
WHAT THE ECONOMISTS EXPECT
* Only one forecasts a surplus in this decade
* Deficit 2014/15 range $38b-$50b, median $45b
* Deficit 2015/16 range $22b-$45b, median $41b
* Economic growth 2014/15 range 2.2-3.2pct, median 2.3pct
* Economic growth 2015/16 range 2.6-3.3pct, median 2.8pct
* Unemployment 2014/15 range 6.1-6.5pct, median 6.3pct
* Unemployment 2015/16 range 5.75-6.6pct, median 6.4pct
(Source: AAP survey of 11 economists)
