Test your Budget knowledge with our Budget 2017 quiz.
If you want a hint, ‘fairness’, “growth” and “families” are definitely not the answer to any of the questions, no matter how many times you say those words.
Budget trivia – how much do you know?
Q1. Approximately how long did Scott Morrison’s Budget speech last for?
Q2. Which House of Parliament sets the Budget?
Q3. Can parliamentarians drink alcohol during the Budget?
Q4. Where does the word Budget come from?
Q5. Australia has had how many Prime Ministers since Federation?
Q6. How many Prime Ministers also held the role of Australian Treasurer at some stage in their career can you name?
Q7. How many Australian Treasurers can you name?
Have a think about it and then read on …
Q1. Approximately how long did Scott Morrison’s Budget speech last for?
Scott Morrison’s speech lasted for approximately 30 minutes (7:30pm to 8:00pm)
Count yourself lucky. If you tuned in last night at 7:30pm on ABC for Treasurer Morrison’s 30 minute speech then spare a thought for British parliamentarians in 1853. They had to sit through William Gladstone’s 4 hour and 45 minute budget speech, the longest ever. Perhaps he sought to outdo his rival, Benjamin Disraeli who in 1852 lasted 5 hours (but he took a break in between his brandy & waters!).
Q2. Which House of Parliament sets the Budget?
Only the House of Representatives can set the Budget. Only the House of Representatives can decide what charges may be made “of the people, by the people and for the people” (Abraham Lincoln). It is a basic constitutional principle that only the people’s elected representatives can have any say in what taxes should be imposed upon them. While the Senate (Keating’s “unrepresentative swill”) can block Budget measures (as happened in 2014) it cannot set its own Budget measures. Our head of state (has anyone truly worked out yet if it’s the Queen or the Governor General? Because we’re still confused) has no say in Budget measures.
Q3. Can parliamentarians drink alcohol during the Budget?
We can’t find a rule that says that parliamentarians can’t drink during the Budget, but we assume they don’t all do it.
In the UK, by tradition the Budget is the only occasion a Member of Parliament can have a stiff drink while speaking in Parliament (alcohol is otherwise banned under parliamentary rules). While the last three British Chancellors have boringly opted for water, previous Chancellors have enjoyed whisky (Ken Clarke), a G&T (Geoffrey Howe, who sadly named his dog Budget), a brandy (Churchill in the 1920s) and sherry and beaten egg (Gladstone – maybe that’s why his speech took so long).
Perhaps this is one British custom we could have retained in Australia to our amusement. Can you imagine Paul Keating or Peter Costello on song in full attack mode after a double Bundy & coke or two? Then again, we assume Keating would more likely prefer a rare, aged French cognac.
Or John Howard as Treasurer back in the day drinking a…. nope, we can’t imagine him drinking at all. We could imagine Scott Morrison with a beer or two.
This is one tradition I believe there should be a groundswell of voter support to reinstate (perhaps then bringing into play the Kevin Rudd defense of “I was too drunk to remember” when all those election promises are invariably broken).
Q4. Where does the word Budget come from?
‘Budget’ derives from the Middle English ‘bowgette’, which came from Middle French ‘bougette’, which in turn is a diminutive of ‘bouge’, a leather bag.
In 18th century England the plans of public expenditure (the statements or schedules of accounts) were carried into Parliament in the leather bag called the budget. Over time, the term ‘budget’ began to refer to the contents of the bag rather than the bag itself.
In 1733, British Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Robert Walpole was depicted satirically as a quack doctor opening his bag (or budget) of pills and potions. Some things never change!
Q5. Australia has had how many Prime Ministers since Federation?
Australia has had 29 Prime Ministers since Federation. We list them all below.
| Number | Prime Minister | Party | From | To | Duration |
| 1 | Barton, Edmund | Prot | Jan-01 | Sep-03 | 2 years, 8 months, 24 days |
| 2 | Deakin, Alfred | Prot | Sep-03 | Apr-04 | 7 months, 4 days |
| 3 | Watson, John Christian | ALP | Apr-04 | Aug-04 | 3 months, 21 days |
| 4 | Reid, George Houston | FT | Aug-04 | Jul-05 | 10 months, 18 days |
| Deakin, Alfred | Prot | Jul-05 | Nov-08 | 3 years, 4 months, 9 days | |
| 5 | Fisher, Andrew | ALP | Nov-08 | Jun-09 | 6 months, 21 days |
| Deakin, Alfred | Lib | Jun-09 | Apr-10 | 10 months, 28 days | |
| Fisher, Andrew | ALP | Apr-10 | Jun-13 | 3 years, 1 month, 26 days | |
| 6 | Cook, Joseph | Lib | Jun-13 | Sep-14 | 1 year, 2 months, 25 days |
| Fisher, Andrew | ALP | Sep-14 | Oct-15 | 1 year, 1 month, 11 days | |
| 7 | Hughes, William Morris | ALP | Oct-15 | Feb-23 | 7 years, 3 months, 14 days |
| 8 | Bruce, Stanley Melbourne | Nat | Feb-23 | Oct-29 | 6 years, 8 months, 14 days |
| 9 | Scullin, James Henry | ALP | Oct-29 | Jan-32 | 2 years, 2 months, 16 days |
| 10 | Lyons, Joseph Aloysius | UAP | Jan-32 | Apr-39 | 7 years, 3 months, 2 days |
| 11 | Page, Earle Christmas | CP | Apr-39 | Apr-39 | 20 days |
| 12 | Menzies, Robert Gordon | UAP | Apr-39 | Aug-41 | 2 years, 4 months, 4 days |
| 13 | Fadden, Arthur William | CP | Aug-41 | Oct-41 | 1 month, 9 days |
| 14 | Curtin, John | ALP | Oct-41 | Jul-45 | 3 years, 8 months, 29 days |
| 15 | Forde, Francis Michael | ALP | Jul-45 | Jul-45 | 8 days |
| 16 | Chifley, Joseph Benedict | ALP | Jul-45 | Dec-49 | 4 years, 5 months, 7 days |
| Menzies, Robert Gordon | Lib | Dec-49 | Jan-66 | 16 years, 1 month, 8 days | |
| 17 | Holt, Harold Edward | Lib | Jan-66 | Dec-67 | 1 year, 10 months, 23 days |
| 18 | McEwen, John | CP | Dec-67 | Jan-68 | 23 days |
| 19 | Gorton, John Grey | Lib | Jan-68 | Mar-71 | 3 years, 2 months |
| 20 | McMahon, William | Lib | Mar-71 | Dec-72 | 1 year, 8 months, 25 days |
| 21 | Whitlam, Edward Gough | ALP | Dec-72 | Nov-75 | 2 years, 11 months, 7 days |
| 22 | Fraser, John Malcolm | Lib | Nov-75 | Mar-83 | 7 years, 4 months |
| 23 | Hawke, Robert James Lee | ALP | Mar-83 | Dec-91 | 8 years, 9 months, 9 days |
| 24 | Keating, Paul John | ALP | Dec-91 | Mar-96 | 4 years, 2 months, 20 days |
| 25 | Howard, John Winston | Lib | Mar-96 | Dec-07 | 11 years, 8 months, 22 days |
| 26 | Rudd, Kevin Michael | ALP | Dec-07 | Jun-10 | 2 years, 6 months, 21 days |
| 27 | Gillard, Julia Eileen | ALP | Jun-10 | Jun-13 | 3 years, 3 days |
| Rudd, Kevin Michael | ALP | Jun-13 | Sep-13 | 2 months, 22 days | |
| 28 | Abbott, Anthony John | Lib | Sep-13 | Sept-15 | 2 years |
| 29 | Turnbull, Malcolm Bligh | Lib | Sept-15 | – | – |
Q6. How many Prime Ministers also held the role of Australian Treasurer at some stage in their career can you name?
16 out of the 29 Prime Ministers (55%) also held the role of Treasurer at some stage in their career. We list them all below.
| 1 | Chris Watson | 9 | Arthur Fadden |
| 2 | Andrew Fisher | 10 | Ben Chifley |
| 3 | Joseph Cook | 11 | Harold Holt |
| 4 | Stanley Bruce | 12 | William McMahon |
| 5 | Earle Page | 13 | Gough Whitlam |
| 6 | James Scullin | 14 | John Howard |
| 7 | Joseph Lyons | 15 | Paul Keating |
| 8 | Robert Menzies | 16 | Bob Hawke |
Q7. How many Australian Treasurers can you name?
We list the Australian Treasurers prior to Scott Morrison below.
| Australian Treasurers since Federation | |||
| Year | Treasurer | Year | Treasurer |
| 1901–1904 | George Turner | 1940 | Percy Spender |
| 1904 | Chris Watson | 1940–1941 | Arthur Fadden |
| 1904–1905 | George Turner | 1941–1949 | Ben Chifley |
| 1905–1907 | John Forrest | 1949–1958 | Arthur Fadden |
| 1907–1908 | William Lyne | 1958–1966 | Harold Holt |
| 1908–1909 | Andrew Fisher | 1966–1969 | William McMahon |
| 1909–1910 | John Forrest | 1969–1971 | Leslie Bury |
| 1910–1913 | Andrew Fisher | 1971–1972 | Billy Snedden |
| 1913–1914 | John Forrest | 1972 | Gough Whitlam |
| 1914–1915 | Andrew Fisher | 1972–1974 | Frank Crean |
| 1915–1916 | William Higgs | 1974–1975 | Jim Cairns |
| 1916–1917 | Alexander Poynton | 1975 | Bill Hayden |
| 1917–1918 | John Forrest | 1975–1977 | Phillip Lynch |
| 1918–1920 | William Watt | 1977–1983 | John Howard |
| 1920–1921 | Joseph Cook | 1983–1991 | Paul Keating |
| 1921–1923 | Stanley Bruce | 1991 | Bob Hawke |
| 1923–1929 | Earle Page | 1991 | John Kerin |
| 1929–1930 | Ted Theodore | 1991 | Ralph Willis |
| 1930–1931 | James Scullin | 1991–1993 | John Dawkins |
| 1931–1932 | Ted Theodore | 1993–1996 | Ralph Willis |
| 1932–1935 | Joseph Lyons | 1996–2007 | Peter Costello |
| 1935–1939 | Richard Casey | 2007–2013 | Wayne Swan |
| 1939–1940 | Robert Menzies | 2013 | Chris Bowen |
| 2013-2015 | Joe Hockey | ||
We hope you enjoyed our Budget Trivia – we always aim to make finance more interesting for our clients.
We encourage reader feedback on our views in this article. What do you think?
