Departmental expenses – money used to manage government programs – are forecast to soar to an historic high after the 2016 election, reaching more than $70 billion a year.

Even after accounting for inflation, the amount eclipses the previous high in 2005-06, when the Howard government spent billions on a revamp of defence administration.

However, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, who is tasked with reining in the bureaucracy’s costs, says the rising expenses are “overwhelmingly related to the roll-out of the national disability insurance scheme”.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald