TRANSCRIPT:
A budget surplus was forecast back in May - and now, Australians know the final figure.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has revealed an underlying cash balance of $22.1 billion - which is almost 1 per cent of Australia's G-D-P.
The government is keen to frame the result as an example of its economic credentials.
"Now this surplus is a consequence of spending restraint, banking upward revisions in revenue, and also finding substantial savings in the budget. Now this is not the first time that a government has received a substantial improvement in revenue. But what is different this time is, instead of spending most of that, which our predecessors did, we have banked almost all of it, and that has made the difference."
The result is a turnaround from the almost 80 billion dollar deficit forecast before the last election.
But economist Chris Richardson says Labor may be less responsible for the windfall than they'd like to think.
"It is great news, but it's not due to the decisions of any politician, basically. Two things. Inflation takes money from families, gives it to governments, that's happening. The other is, the world is paying us a bunch for stuff we sell, things like iron ore."
Jim Chalmers has stressed his government had a choice in what to do with those economic conditions.
"This is evidence of our responsible economic management which is getting the budget in much better nick, at the same time as we roll out billions of dollars in cost-of-living relief. This is the biggest turnaround in the budget in history. And it shows that we don't have to choose between getting the budget in better nick at the same time as we help people who are doing it tough."
Economist Chris Richardson says the reality is more complex.
"Part of cost of living pressures is that families are actually paying a lot more in tax, than they were, not just in interest rates. So what is good news for government is what is, in part, what is bad news for families."
Still, economists believe there's a reasonable chance this good news for the budget bottom line can continue.
Jim Chalmers, however, is downplaying the possibility of a second surplus.
"Now one of the reasons you won't see us flogging 'back in black' mugs, or doing all the sorts of self-congratulation you saw from our predecessors, is because we understand a couple of important things. The surplus isn't an end in itself, it's a foundation, and also the pressures on the budget into the future are intensifying, rather than easing, and so we know we've got more work to do."
Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has also avoided the possibility of a second surplus.
"I'll leave those predictions to the Treasurer. I'd like him to get back to his day job, I'd like him to engage with Australians, and get his head around the way businesses are doing it so incredibly tough. And stop pretending that it's good times when really, it's pretty tough times."
While it's good news for now, deficits are forecast in the long term.
