Four nights ago, when a nervous Wayne Swan rose to deliver the budget that was crafted to create a ''stronger, smarter, fairer Australia'', the public galleries were sparsely populated and unanimated, his colleagues were stoic, sullen and stern, and the mood almost funereal.

Picture by Gus: Like an oil film on a street, opinions can show different colours depending on the slant (or place) of our observation...

Computers could take some tough decisions out of our hands, if we let them. Is there still a place for human judgement?

Yep, the barking of Tonicchio offers nothing else but hot coals and pain for the future, should you let him in... Mind you the CCs of the ABC are in rapture... I mean Barry Cassidy and Annabel Crabb... They both got hooked on Tony's thick fishing line, like lazy perches in search of a quick worm...

To paraphrase Tony, Tony's idea about the environment is crap. Tony's idea about jobs is crap. Tony's idea about the economy is crap... Tony's idea about superannuation is crap.... Tony's idea about anything is crap.

Leigh, there’s nothing I’m prouder of than my record as treasurer.

In dollar terms this fall means that last year Wayne Swan was budgeting for an extra $56.8 billion in revenue over the four years to 2015-16 than he is now.

Why did that not come through?

Although football fans may struggle to believe it, there is something more important than soccer. No less than the future of human civilisation is at stake. And without civilisation, there is no soccer.

What if the government could save hundreds of millions of dollars by listing a cheaper drug, shown to be just as effective as the one which costs the PBS more than any other medicine? You won’t find out so long as the company that owns both drugs keeps the bargain-priced cousin shut out.

Remember how Coca-Cola, in league with other beverage giants, killed off the NT's recycling scheme?

Coke took the NT government to the Federal Court over its 10 cent deposit recycling scheme, introduced in 2012 (it was similar to SA's scheme).

Less than a day after launching his NBN comparison website, a Liberal-leaning university student has been hailed on social media, accused of being a covert agent for the Labor Party and taken a verbal slap from Malcolm Turnbull.

When Coca-Cola Amatil boss Terry Davis fronts the group's AGM Tuesday morning he will be asked to explain why a bottle of Coca-Cola costs up to two-thirds more in Australia than Asia.

Julia Gillard denounced the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement ahead of anti-Israeli protest action planned at the University of NSW yesterday.

According to Marc Corcoran on the ABC News website: