This week in The Fin podcast, political editor Phillip Coorey on what to expect from next week’s federal budget, why this might be the time for brave decisions and what lessons Jim Chalmers can learn from Peter Costello.

Suggested reading:

• Chalmers’ budget warning after RBA shock Treasurer Jim Chalmers has used the Reserve Bank’s shock resumption of interest rate rises to warn that fighting Australia’s 7 per cent inflation rate must come ahead of demands to increase welfare spending in next week’s budget.
• Cutting NDIS waste to save more than $60b in a decade The Albanese government expects to save more than $60 billion over the next decade by cutting the growth rate of the “unsustainable” National Disability Insurance Scheme by almost half within three years, and pushing it lower after that.
• Labor MPs join growing calls to increase the dole Four federal Labor MPs have broken ranks to join calls for the government to increase the JobSeeker payment by $24 billion at next month’s federal budget.

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