The Wire

Treasurer Wayne Swan addressed a media conference in Brisbane, in his last major address before handing down his 4th budgt in May. It came to no surprise that he was warning us to expect a tough budget, in the wake of natural disasters in Australia and Japan. Besides dealing with the predicted nine billion dollar blow to the economy caused by cyclones floods and tsunamis, the treasurer also says the next wave of the mining boom won’t bring in the so-called rivers of gold we say during the Howard years. But is the state of the economy just due to unforseen circumstances or is it as Tony Abbott said-just bad economic management?