The Australian Government faces the same economic situation as New Zealand did in 2008 - staring down the barrel of a decade of deficits.
Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey yesterday postponed the release of the mid-year budget update amid the security scare in Sydney.
However, some of the headlines coming out of Australia confirmed Mr Hockey seems likely to be the first Australian treasurer to never deliver a fiscal surplus.
The underlying cash deficit for 2014-15 is forecast at $A40.4 billion ($NZ42.81 billion) followed by a forecast deficit in 2015-16 of $A31.2 billion.
The decade of fiscal deficits is partly because of the extent to which public spending programmes, which looked affordable in the good times, are called to account as the froth comes out of the economy, followed by less tax revenue.
The mid-year update was expected to reveal tens of billions of dollars in lost revenue over the next four years flowing from falling commodity prices and with bigger budget deficits for years to come.
Mr Hockey vowed on Sunday to use the budget as a ''shock absorber'' to protect the economy from the largest decline in the terms of trade since 1959.
The Treasurer rejected suggestions he had broken a return-to-surplus promise, insisting he ''never'' set a firm date for the economy to be back in the black.
Other headlines are:Price of iron ore to be $US60 ($NZ77.40) a tonne over the next two years.
Iron ore makes up 20% of Australia's export income;Real economic growth of 2.5% in the current year and 3% in 2015-16;Cumulative budget deficits of $A111 billion over four years; Unemployment rate to be at 6.5% early next year.
