Budget 2011: A Labor budget?

As a Labor member, I was was pleasantly surprised to hear a major change of rhetoric from the federal government during the budget speech and in the days that have followed.

There was an embracing of the word, "Labor".  Talk of Labor values. And an attempt to create a values based narrative around jobs, training and participation.

And it seems to have been backed by some real, though minor and subtle shifts in economic and labour market development policies.  Ian McAuley from the University of Canberra writes about this in New Matilda.

The Treasurer did give some hints of a return to traditional Labor principles in Tuesday’s budget. In making some cuts to "middle class welfare", it is mildly redistributive, and it takes a few steps toward economic reform in terms of getting more people into the workforce. It breaks a little from economic policy of recent years.

And Possum Comitatus wrote about some of the real labour market development policy shifts in Crikey yesterday.  Also worth a look.

Is it revolutionary? No.  The optimal public policy moves? Probably not.  What I would regard as progressive? Certainly not with new participation test for disability support pensioners.

But it is interesting.