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Verdict by the Cartoonist

Thursday, 11th May, 2006

Mr and Mrs Average are walking down the footpath with their new bundles of money saying "Wow. Look at all this. What are we going to do with it?" Lurking around the corner is an evil looking thug with a great big club and old newspaper pages at his feet proclaiming "Petrol Soars", "Prices Jump", "Interest Rates", "GST". And the little dog who is the trade mark of The Advertiser's Atchison answers: "Give and take?"

Political cartoonists have a way of getting to the heart of things that Canberra based journalists don't.

In the theatre of the House of Representatives the Budget performance is proclaimed a triumph. The Treasurer has triumphed; Labor is humiliated into silence after six questions.

Out in the real world where people do their own selfish sums the applause is not nearly as loud.

My own limited contacts out here in the Barossa Valley , supplemented by an ear tuned to talk back radio, suggest Atcheson has captured the public reaction far better than the headline writer for The Australian who called Tuesday night's budget " Manna from Heaven ".

This is a "Yes but ." budget that, as I wrote yesterday, preserves the political status quo rather than alters it.

Michael Atchison gets to the heart of matters with his
"Give and Take Budget