“And when you look closely at the document, 29 billion otherwise write down come from challenges in methodology of forecasting and challenges to predictions about spending. So this is a government which really saying one thing before the election and doing something very, very different after. Well, time will tell how the forecasts compare to reality until time can tell that. But you forgive us for being cynical when I thought my methodology is being used by the Howard Costello government and then the Labor government is changed after the election. And it's done with the very real impact of worsening the budget situation.”

 

Chris Bowen.Let's go the markets.

 

A short time ago, the Dow, Nasdaq and the S&P 500 were all steady. In London overnight, the FTSE dropped 36 points at the close.

 

To commodity prices.

 

West Texas Crude is trading at 97 US dollars a barrel. Tapis Crude is 115 US dollars a barrel and gold this morning is at 1231 US dollars an ounce.

 

The Australian dollar is buying 89 US cents, 65 Euro cents and 55 pence sterling.