The point of the economic statement delivered by Treasurer Jim Chalmers today was to 'soften us up,' according to The Australian's Contributing Economics Editor Judith Sloan.
'To give us the bad news sooner rather than later,' Ms Sloan told Sky News host Chris Kenny.
'Because he didn't announce any actions, he didn't make any decisions, so it was just really a way, outlining, I think, a set of possibly implausible treasury forecasts along the lines of the ones that have now been ditched.'
