PETER VAN ONSELEN: Jim Chalmers was keen to tell me this Budget is about ... trends now
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Budget 2024 will be Treasurer Jim Chalmers' day in the sun, but no one will be watching how it is received in the weeks that follow more closely than the Prime Minister.
Anthony Albanese has more to gain (or lose) than anyone. His future may well be on the line if voters feel let down in these difficult economic times.
No first-term government has lost a re-election attempt in this country since 1931, so on that basis Labor should feel confident that a second term beckons.
But plenty in recent decades have almost lost after one term, including the last Labor government when Julia Gillard scraped home as a minority government in 2010.
Speaking to Chalmers ahead of writing this column, he seemed upbeat about the budget he's pulling together but aware of the challenges.
On Tuesday evening Treasurer Jim Chalmers (pictured) will deliver his third Budget
'What we've tried to do here, Peter, is be really attentive to the economic cycle rather than the political cycle', Chalmers told Daily Mail Australia.
If you believe that you'll believe anything: a politician ignoring politics? This could be the last Budget before the next election. But perhaps the budget will satisfy on both fronts, economically and politically.
Politically, Chalmers needs to deliver Australians cost of living relief, but he must do so without stoking inflation and therefore risking interest rate rises as well.
It's a near impossible task, and getting the balance right is akin to walking a tightrope. This is Chalmers' burden.
The reward, if he gets it right, is credit for any political success that follows. Failure, however, would not only put the government in harms way, but also be a blow to the
