August 21, 2026 — 5:00am

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When John Howard lost the 2007 election, he could proudly and correctly claim the nation’s finances had never been in better condition.

Budget surpluses and government policy such as the sale of Telstra had dramatically improved the nation’s books. Gross government debt was $55 billion or just 0.3 per cent of GDP.

You would have to go back to the 1910s to find debt at such a low level, when the then-Fisher government started borrowing to pay for Australia’s involvement in World War I.

But in the intervening years…

Read the full article at SMH.COM.AU