Returning to low debt feels like a pipe dream when politicians lack both the appetite for austerity and the honesty to level with voters about the trade-offs.

After more than four years in power, and despite Australia’s booming mining revenues, all Labor has to show is forecast deficits as far as the eye can see.

Returning to low debt feels like a pipe dream when politicians lack both the appetite for austerity and the honesty to level with voters about the trade-offs.