The D, D, Defi- no. Wayne can’t bring himself to say it

Instead he said spoke of “cushioning the impact,” of the Global Financial Crisis, the “temporary borrowing” the Government would require to do this, and “National Building for the Recovery.”

There were “building blocks of long term growth and prosperity,” a mining boom that is “unwinding” and an understanding of “the dignity of work.”

Anyone who had so far failed to notice Australia had fallen into recession might have been forgiven last night for thinking Wayne Swan was delivering good news, such was the dressing up of the bad.

The aim of this Budget, Mr Swan said, included “supporting” 210,000 jobs. Six months ago the Government would have claimed to have “created” jobs, not just “supported” them – so this was one concession to the huge hole we’ve been dropped in.

The language was so carefully chosen, so finely massaged to shield us from the reality of a Government Debt expected to grow to $188 billion by 2012-13, Mr Swan’s speech lost any real meaning.

Performing a rhetorical double back flip with half pike Mr Swan closed off his speech by addressing the “path to surplus.” Still no mention of the $57.6 billion deficit for next financial year.

Here are some highlights:

“This Budget is forged in the fire of the most challenging global economic conditions since the Great Depression. It is a budget that supports jobs today by investing in the infrastructure we need for tomorrow.”

“Others may be overwhelmed by the scope and the ferocity of the biggest global downturn in memory. But Australians are too strong, too resilient, and too united to be overwhelmed.”

“We know we can emerge more productive and more prosperous than before this crisis began.”

“We can tell our kids and grand kids with pride that to respond to the great economic challenges of our time we created the infrastructure, generated the ideas, shaped the minds, marshalled the energy, and developed the skills that led to a new era of prosperity and sustainability for Australia.”

“Tonight we stand with the Australian people to say we refuse to be overwhelmed by the brutal force of this global recession.”

Just don’t mention the D-word.