--- title: "The Australia Institute: \"Your mortgage, your credit card and the federal budget are n…\" | Politics Computer" description: "Your mortgage, your credit card and the federal budget are not the same thing. \n\nRichard Denniss explains why this misunderstanding dominates Australi" url: "https://politics.computer/ad/f15e2b7dbcc22c2a31c44dffee76e1b1b1296053c565f11eaca113d1dafe3d17" --- [Home](https://politics.computer/) / [Ads](https://politics.computer/ads) / [The Australia Institute](https://politics.computer/who/the-australia-institute) **The Australia Institute** Sponsored, paid for by The Australia Institute Your mortgage, your credit card and the federal budget are not the same thing. Richard Denniss explains why this misunderstanding dominates Australian politics, and why obsessing over budget surpluses misses the point entirely. 🎧 Listen to the What's the Point? podcast today. New episodes every week. ![](https://politics.computer/media/f15e2b7dbcc22c2a31c44dffee76e1b1b1296053c565f11eaca113d1dafe3d17?w=480) australiainstitute.org.au **New episode available now** Listen now Interest group, Federal # [The Australia Institute](https://politics.computer/who/the-australia-institute) Spent Under $300 Times shown 2K–5K Running since 10 Nov 2026 Run as 3 separate ads, 3 still running. Figures add up all of them. ## What the ad says Your mortgage, your credit card and the federal budget are not the same thing. Richard Denniss explains why this misunderstanding dominates Australian politics, and why obsessing over budget surpluses misses the point entirely. 🎧 Listen to the What's the Point? podcast today. New episodes every week. Links to australiainstitute.org.au All 3 copies in Meta's Ad Library - [Started 10 Nov 2026](https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=1008337438228163) under $100, running - [Started 10 Nov 2026](https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=923523230844182) under $100, running - [Started 10 Nov 2026](https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=2329224291265710) under $100, running ## More from The Australia Institute [All their ads](https://politics.computer/who/the-australia-institute) - [![Clear explainers. Sharp analysis. Fact checks. Quality research. We break down the big issues, with journalism and analysis you can trust ](https://politics.computer/media/c7421bc0eee44f3054a41b8db57652f79c49b5ce2b0699e5f6bbd361c68fe5c3?w=480) $17.7K–$20.7K spent Running since 21 Sept](https://politics.computer/ad/c7421bc0eee44f3054a41b8db57652f79c49b5ce2b0699e5f6bbd361c68fe5c3) - [![Clear explainers. Sharp analysis. Fact checks. Quality research. We break down the big issues, with journalism and analysis you can trust ](https://politics.computer/media/ca11204424099ffb17e6094b8708d0f722207fc4a836ff4b1304aafc2fee1bea?w=480) $15K–$20K spent Running since 20 Aug](https://politics.computer/ad/ca11204424099ffb17e6094b8708d0f722207fc4a836ff4b1304aafc2fee1bea) - [![Australia Institute research shows we lose out on $350 million every week without a gas export tax. Help us put this ad on TV 👉 Donate now](https://politics.computer/media/ca6cc83c137fb953eba264e1e024a9a3dd356a4fca8e443a3fa74c3adf67af70?w=480) $5.6K–$6.8K spent Running since 6 Oct](https://politics.computer/ad/ca6cc83c137fb953eba264e1e024a9a3dd356a4fca8e443a3fa74c3adf67af70) - [![Australia Institute research shows we lose out on $350 million every week without a gas export tax. Help us put this ad on TV 👉 Donate now](https://politics.computer/media/91bc02dadc0a7a8a91afae1f8d93d5bbf4aaed3713028480349607d41cad39a7?w=480) $4K–$6K spent Running since 6 Oct](https://politics.computer/ad/91bc02dadc0a7a8a91afae1f8d93d5bbf4aaed3713028480349607d41cad39a7) --- [Politics Computer](https://politics.computer/) A free reference for Australian politics. Seats and members from the parliaments, votes from Hansard, ads and spend from Meta's Ad Library, checked every Sunday, last on 15 Nov 2026\. Meta reports spend as a range for each ad, so every total here is a range too. Explore [Seats](https://politics.computer/seats) [Federal divisions](https://politics.computer/seats/federal) [Politicians](https://politics.computer/mps) [Senators](https://politics.computer/mps/senate) [Parties](https://politics.computer/parties) Victoria 2026 [The race](https://politics.computer/victoria) [Promises](https://politics.computer/promises) [Which party matches you?](https://politics.computer/quiz) Data [Every ad](https://politics.computer/ads) [Who's spending](https://politics.computer/who) [How MPs voted](https://politics.computer/votes) [Search](https://politics.computer/search) [How this works](https://politics.computer/about) [API and MCP](https://politics.computer/developers) For AI agents: [site guide (llms.txt)](https://politics.computer/llms.txt), [sitemap](https://politics.computer/sitemap.xml), [developer guide](https://politics.computer/developers.md). Every page is available as Markdown: send `Accept: text/markdown` or add `.md` to the path.