BUDGET 2016: A spoonful of sugar helps medicine go down

No sugar tax, but Michael Noonan sure wants you to think of him as your sugar daddy when he takes you on that date to the polling station he’s been promising you.

The levy on fizzy drinks was slapped down because the Coalition needs to keep everything as sweet as possible in the hope that voters suddenly forget about the bitterness of the past four budgets.

There was even sugar for other daddies as Mr Noonan promised two weeks of paternity leave. But, as with so much else, this only kicks in well after the election, September to be precise, and only if you vote the right way.