Jim Chalmers is putting a positive spin on the economy, but is Australia’s outlook grim?

Treasurer Jim Chalmers hailed the boom in datacentres, which papered over much of the bad news in the economy. Australia has not seen this pace of new business spending since the end of the mining investment boom nearly 15 years ago. Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters

The economy slowed sharply in early 2026 and Australians’ living standards are once again going backwards.

At the risk of upsetting the treasurer by “talking down the economy”, as he put it, there wasn’t all that much to love in the latest national accounts.