Jim Chalmers’ rhetoric about the supposedly “stunning improvement in our nation’s finances” under Labor overlooks the contribution from the massive and unexpected rebound in tax revenue as Australia’s national income has been pumped up by an energy and commodity price boom exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

That has poured in $365 billion more revenue than expected between the election of the Albanese government and the end of the forward estimates. The boast overlooks the substantial fiscal challenge facing the nation from his budget’s forecast decade of deficits and the highest plateau of federal government net debt for more than half a century.