The Effect of Belt-Tightening on the Economy of Australia

In a recession, consumers spend less because their incomes are shrunk. As private expenditure shrinks, the government's tax take also shrinks. So effectively, what the government does by cutting during a recession is public expenditure along the lines of belt-tightening. And then it says, oh my god, it didn't work, let's cut expenditure even further. The more it does it, the more it realizes that it misses its targets. It's a very silly idea to treat the government budget like a private budget.