Treasury boss says he’s got one. If he does he might want to reflect that arrogance and an extreme sensitivity to criticism are never the foundation for great two-way communication:
STEPHEN LONG: For eight years now Ken Henry’s given the post-Budget speech to economists as the head of Treasury and in that time, few Federal Budgets have had such a sceptical, even hostile response. Today Dr Henry all but conceded it hasn’t been sold well.
KEN HENRY: When the country’s best communicator of economic material, and of course here I’m referring to our friend Ross, confesses that, and I’ll quote, “this is the most puzzling back-to-front Budget I can remember,” it’s clear that we have a communications problem.
STEPHEN LONG: The Ross he’s referring to is Ross Gittins, the long-time economics editor of “The Sydney Morning Herald”. He dubbed this one “the Budget that brings home the confusion”.
KEN HENRY: Some budgets speak for themselves I guess. This one apparently does not.
STEPHEN LONG: Perhaps because it has not one but three narratives: fiscal stimulus to combat recession, charting a path out of deficit, and ways to meet the fiscal challenge of an ageing population.
Although he conceded it wasn’t an easy Budget to explain, the Treasury boss was clearly irritated by what he saw as the inability of some in the media and the commentariat to get it.
KEN HENRY: This is storytelling of extraordinary complexity. And while it hasn’t tested Ross it clearly has exceeded the reading age of many.
STEPHEN LONG: But even the economically literate came in for a serve. There was again a note of irritation as he attacked the way in which economists and commentators have questioned the Budget forecasts for economic growth.
KEN HENRY: What’s most interesting about these arguments I have found is that they’re often accompanied by extensive quoting of our own material published in Budget Statement 4. It’s as if we must have failed to take account of our own analysis. Yet others seem to think that we must have simply plucked the numbers out of the air.
I’m going to tell you what we actually did. It’s a little complicated but I know it’s not too complicated for this audience.
