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POLITICS AND ECONOMICS The Budget Wayne Swan rides tax wave - Wayne Swan is banking on surging company tax revenue and the revitalised mining boom, backed by government spending discipline, to drive the federal budget back into surplus three years ahead of forecasts and cement Labor's case for re-election - The Australian Lucky country returns to bounty - Michael Stutchbury in The Australian says Wayne Swan's Lucky Country has come up trumps again thanks to the same China-fuelled mining boom that powered the economy through the global recession. The only number that counts - There's only one number that counts in Wayne Swan's pre-election budget - $1 billion - that's the surplus in 2013 and the foundation for the 2010 election campaign - Dennis Shanahan in The Australian Accounts deliver an election narrative - concludes Paul Kelly in The Australian Full Budget coverage - The Australian Wayne Swan's Budget 2010 speech: Riding the resources...

Labor states back big mining companies on resources profits tax - Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan are considering changes to how they implement the new 40 per cent resource profits tax after state Labor governments sided with the big mining companies amid more projects being delayed and jobs being put under threat - The Australian Judge throws out case against former WA premier Brian Burke - Former West Australian premier Brian Burke shed tears of relief as he was acquitted of corruption allegations yesterday, before attacking the state watchdog responsible for laying the charges 18 months ago - The Australian Brian Burke's acquittal leaves WA corruption watchdog exposed - Calls were made for Western Australia's Crime and Corruption Commission to be stripped of its power to lay charges following the acquittal yesterday of high-profile target Brian Burke - The Australian Party warns PM Kevin Rudd: no more U-turns - Senior Labor Party figures have made it clear that Kevin Rud...

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS The polls Rudd takes a battering from voters - Kevin Rudd's approval rating has plunged by a massive 14 points in three weeks and the Coalition is now level-pegging with Labor in two-party terms, in an Age/Nielsen poll that will send shockwaves through the government - Melbourne Age Rudd in freefall: voters lose faith - Support for Kevin Rudd has plunged to record lows and his proposed mining tax has failed to win popular backing, putting more pressure on the federal budget tomorrow to lift the government out of an entrenched election-year slump - Sydney Morning Herald How a toxic elixir destroyed the prism of trust - Peter Hartcher in the Sydney Morning Herald writes on how Kevin Rudd appears to have committed a fundamental breach of faith with the voter. Elections John Singleton may go in to bat for Tony Abbott - John Singleton - the advertising legend who helped catapult Bob Hawke into The Lodge - is gearing up to take on Kevin Rudd by tu...

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS Health and hospitals Revealed: Rudd's $2b budget lure - Another $2 billion in health funding is expected to be revealed at Tuesday's federal budget to pay for changes to primary care, increase the number of nurses and the duties they perform, and to introduce a long-awaited system of electronic health records - Sydney Morning Herald Shortage of GPs 'forces children to hospital' - Almost half the young children in some parts of NSW were taken to a hospital emergency department in one year, according to figures which doctors say point to a dangerous shortage of GPs - Sydney Morning Herald Economic matters Rate rises put brakes on spending - The spate of interest rate rises have finally hit spending. The latest retail figures show NSW consumers spent less in March than in December, after seasonal adjustment - Sydney Morning Herald Foley replaces election optimism with warning of tough economic times - A $1.2 billion shortfall in GST r...

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS Taxation Rio Tinto shelves billions in projects - Mining giant Rio Tinto has shelved plans to spend $11 billion expanding its massive iron ore operations in Western Australia because of the wave of uncertainty sparked by the Rudd government's proposed tax on super profits - The Australian Bare knuckles out as Kevin Rudd faces miners - When Kevin Rudd journeyed to Perth to meet half a dozen West Australian businessmen, he had no idea it would turn into a confrontation with 30 of the nation's most powerful executives, starting with boxing gloves and ending with a bare-knuckle brawl - The Australian Miners vow long fight to resist super profit tax - Resources stocks bounced back yesterday as tension escalated between mining companies and the Government over a super tax - Adelaide Advertiser Miners step up for fight with Labor - The mining industry is considering a major campaign against Labor's tax on ''super-profits'' in th...

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS Political life Labor knives out for Rudd - Nervous Federal Labor MPs still expect Kevin Rudd to win the next election but now widely expect the Prime Minister to be knifed as leader some time early in his second term. His back bench and ministerial colleagues are increasingly alarmed by the voter backlash to Mr Rudd's growing catalogue of policy discards, especially his dumping of an emissions trading scheme, once an ALP article of faith - The West Australian Julia Gillard dismisses leadership talk as Kevin Rudd dives in polls - Melbourne Herald Sun Another rate rise, another blow for PM - Kevin Rudd is facing his darkest hour in politics with Labor plunging in the polls, his key policies struggling for traction, and the spectre of further interest rate rises before the election - Sydney Morning Herald Paluzzano resigns as hearings continue - A NSW Labor backbencher, Karyn Paluzzano, resigned yesterday as a parliamentary secretary after allegati...

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS Polls Climate shifting against Kevin Rudd: Newspoll - Kevin Rudd's personal standing has taken a hammering after his decision to dump his climate change policy last week, and for the first time since 2006 the Coalition has an election-winning lead - The Australian ALP on slide after dumping ETS - The Labor government has lost its position as the leader on climate change for the first time, following Kevin Rudd's decision to dump plans for an emissions trading scheme - The Australian Voters turning on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, latest Newspoll shows - After a fortnight of broken promises and backdowns, voters have turned on Kevin Rudd and dragged the Government down with him - Melbourne Herald Sun Taxation Mining companies facing double tax slug - Mining companies are facing the prospect of double taxes in the form of raised state royalties, just a day after the Rudd government claimed its new resource "super profit" tax would avo...

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS Taxation Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says he is 'proud' of tax and super changes after Henry Tax Review - Melbourne Herald Sun Political life Malcolm Turnbull's recipe for a twice-cooked souffle - Turnbull's rethink about his future - he will now contest Wentworth again - has one fundamental bottom line: he could not give up his ambition to become prime minister - Michelle Grattan in the Melbourne Age New MLC keen to have her say - Glenorchy mayor, and now independent Elwick MLC, Adriana Taylor secured her seat yesterday after a carve-up of preference votes from Greens candidate Kartika Franks put her well ahead of Labor's Tim Jacobson - Hobart Mercury Opinions Government gone mad - Greg Barns writes in the Hobart Mercury that the size of Tasmania's public service needs an urgent downsizing. Review too radical for Rudd - You could gauge the Rudd government's alarm at the breadth and radical nature of the Henry t...

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS Political life Malcolm Turnbull does a backflip on going - Malcolm Turnbull is today expected to announce he will contest the next election after withdrawing his resignation from federal parliament - The Australian Turnbull weighs the worth of keeping seat - Speculation is rife that Malcolm Turnbull will announce today that he is staying in politics. Senior Liberals said that as of late yesterday, Mr Turnbull had decided to reverse his April 6 decision to retire at the federal election and would stay on as the member for Wentworth - Sydney Morning Herald Economic matters Miners to wage war on new tax - The West Australian It's shaping up to be a great year for Grange - A move towards a single flat volumetric tax on alcohol is set to cut the price of a $620 bottle of Grange by $133 while adding $20 to the price of a four-litre cask - Sydney Morning Herald Kevin Rudd picks $35bn tax fight with miners - As part of an election strategy to take ...