Hockey himself had been more than willing to emphasise the "emergency" aspect of a record low cash rate under Labor as proof the government had lost control of a descending economy. Back then in April 2009, it had dipped as low as 3 per cent where it remained until September. These were the dark days of the global financial crisis when calamities on the world scene were a daily occurrence and yet Australia skirted a recession. But now, when things are supposedly much better, a move to a decidedly lower cash rate (100 basis points lower in fact) was greeted by Hockey as unalloyed "good news for families, good news for small businesses". As for what it said about the future and therefore about confidence, Hockey met that head-on too.

Illustration Andrew Dyson

"I say to the Australian people directly ... whether you be a household or a small business, now is the time to have a go, to borrow some money and to invest. There are many green shoots in the Australian economy."

Stripped of such spin, the rate cut suggests two possibilities: that the central bank believes growth remains vulnerable to stalling at the hands of external factors (China, Greece, Europe, a bursting property bubble) or, that the bank might be sandbagging the economy against a lack of serious stimulatory intent from the government in the budget. But here again, Hockey conceded nothing, describing the economic objectives of the central bank as "totally in sync with what the government will hand down in the budget next week".

Of course, voters are at a disadvantage on that score. We don't know what the government will hand down next week, beyond a burgeoning deficit of $46 billion or so, a pledge that it will put money in household pockets and in small businesses, and be otherwise "dull and routine". This will be achieved while continuing the hard work of budget repair and while spreading fertiliser on the economic "green shoots". There will be some losers such as wealthy part-pensioners, but Hockey assures us it will all make sense in the end and even promises that the deficit will be lower each year in nominal terms and as a proportion of GDP.