Gahy, humans. Welcome to the safe space for dangerous ideas. And at precisely 7.30 p.m., Australian Eastern

Daylight Time, this Tuesday, the 25th of March, 2025, the Treasurer will deliver Australia's

budget. That may sound boring and dry, but in fact, it's kind of Australian

politics as big night of nights. It's a bit like the State of the Union is in America.

People gather at fancy suiets. There are balls and people get dressed up and everyone wants

to shake the treasurer's hand and the Prime Minister's hand and they listen to the speech,

and then they go out and drink too much and fondle each other until the wee hours of the morning.

The journalists, that is, the politicians would never stoop to such behaviour.

And the person who delivers this address is not, unlike the State of the Union in the United States, the head of government.

The person who delivers the address is the treasurer, which is a very interesting kind of role in Australian politics. The treasurer is not merely

the Treasury Secretary. The treasurer is also the person who basically has to defend the government's

economic policies every single day in Parliament. This person is a bit like,

if you're a total political wonk in America, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee,

combined with the Treasury Secretary, combined with the vice president. Frequently, treasurers go on

to become prime ministers. They are often seen as the prime minister in waiting

in their party if they are ambitious and high performing, and today's guest certainly is.

And much like the vice president is not really involved in the day-to-day running of the US government,

the deputy prime minister is not really that fundamental in guiding government policy.

The person who is is the treasurer.

Now, this particular budget night is particularly important because we're coming up to an election.

It's probably going to take place in May.

We are going to find out this week or next the precise date.

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