From tight purse strings to massive fiscal firepower: the Coalition’s staggering transformation | Katharine Murphy

The RBA begged the government for stimulus to kickstart the economy - to no avail. But coronavirus has seen a radical change in thinking

On 12 March Scott Morrison came to his courtyard with $17.6bn. A week later the Reserve Bank of Australia cut the cash rate to 0.25% and pumped more than $100bn into the financial system in an effort to keep struggling businesses afloat and stave off substantial job losses.

On 22 March Morrison returned to his courtyard with another $66bn. Then on 30 March, Monday, the prime minister came back with $130bn for wage subsidies. Monday's $130bn will be spent not over the four-year forward estimates, which is the budgetary convention. It will be spent over the next six months.