The Coalition will vote against a number of budget measures when they go before the Senate later this year. The Government will then need the votes of five Greens senators, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon and Family First Senator Steve Fielding to pass its legislation.

Here’s a rare look into the world of campaign financing in Australia. It comes in the form of an offer document to the corporate sector being circulated by Labor HQ in the interests of raising money for the party. And on any measure it’s Kevin Rudd who’s up for sale.

Wayne Swan and Kevin Rudd can no longer blame their predecessors for all of Australia’s mounting economic ills. And they know it. Whether or not the banks pass on next month’s anticipated official rates cut, you can be sure our new leaders will say that the Reserve Bank’s decision stemmed directly from their actions as brave inflation fighters.

The Federal Treasurer today agreed that Australia’s financial institutions are “certainly independent” of the government. “But… when the official interest rate goes down… then borrowing costs should follow, it’s really that simple,” he told ABC Television.

If the banks ignore all the free advice about how easily they can afford to pass on an official interest rate cut, the Rudd Government will find itself under pressure to find some way to make good on its threats.

Today’s discussion paper will increase the pressure on the Rudd Government to consider calls by seniors groups for a $30-a-week lift in the singles payment, at a “conservative” estimated cost of $1 billion a year. The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, has fuelled speculation that the Government will act on the aged pension, conceding pensioners are “doing it tough”.

The industry is concerned that the Government’s proposed emissions trading scheme makes no provision for emissions from the more than $60billion of proposed new natural gas projects, putting that investment in doubt, even though gas usually replaces far dirtier fossil fuels in the countries to which it is exported.

Following yesterday’s board meeting, Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens announced the bank’s new position in a prepared statement. “The board’s view is that scope to move towards a less restrictive stance of monetary policy in the period ahead is increasing,” it read.

The federal treasurer said the ANZ Bank’s announcement that it was increasing its provision for bad debts showed Australia was not immune from developments in global financial markets.