I tend to agree with you that "No government will ever act in the best long term interests of a country,"
That is evident in western democracies and in particular the USA.
The big challenge is the meteoric rise of China which arguably is the most government long term plan management on the planet (perhaps Singapore is close behind?) That said , would we want either style of Government?
I guess most of our poles would have read Machiavelli who in summary said that it was the duty of the Prince (read polly) to retain and add to power by whatever it takes.
I have 2 comments on the budget; one dealt with and the other ignored:
(a) Made in Australia. IMO this is a poor copy of China's "Made in China " which was announced by Xi in 2015 which gave the program a decade to implement. Evidently its now well on its way now.
I listened to the Treasurer's Press Club presentation and no journo asked him did he "borrow " the "Made in Australia" program from China and if so when was it going to be implemented? ....Like Made in Australia 2030 etc etc etc.
(b) Given that our sudden bout of inflation was caused by the spike in oil/energy costs (Ukraine War) , had he thought about reducing the oil (specifically petrol and diesel) by 20c/Litre taking it back to the pe-indexing petroleum excise duty (currently 57c/liter + GST). If our inflation was 50% domestic and say 50% imported, then this would address 50% of the current inflation rate and consequently permit the RBA to significantly drop interest rates. (all IMO only) which would loosen up the economy while reducing inflation.
