With roughly four months remaining until Australia’s election in mid-September, the ruling Labor party’s proposed 2013-14 budget indulges in a bit of electioneering. That includes spending measures for transportation infrastructure, healthcare and education, among others.

Of course, the budget is one of the last major opportunities the incumbent government has to make its case to voters. And keeping in character with most politicians, Labor opted to defer the sort of budget cuts that would restore a surplus any time soon.

The budget deficit for the current fiscal year ending in June is forecast to come in at AUD19.4 billion, with a balanced budget by 2015-16 and an AUD6.6 billion surplus by 2016-17. Labor had previously pledged to return the budget to surplus this year. And critics suggest that a surplus within four years is based on assumptions that are more wishful thinking than reality.

But with a ratio of net debt to gross domestic product of just 10 percent, Australia has ample room to indulge in such a postponement, especially relative to the shoddy finances of its developed-world peers.

Instead, the government chose to close the loopholes on a number of tax reforms introduced during the government led by former Prime Minister John Howard. In an effort to overcome the tax minimization strategies of a number of large corporations and multinational firms, Treasure Wayne Swan announced a package of six tax measures that are expected to bring in an estimated AUD4.3 billion over the next four years.

Of particular significance for investors in the resource space is the curtailment of deductions for exploration, including the acquisition of prospecting rights and information gathering.

These measures alone are anticipated to deliver an additional AUD1.1 billion in tax revenue through June 2017. But they also come at a time when Australia’s mining industry is suffering from high labor costs, commodity-price volatility, decreasing ore grades, and a strong Australian dollar. Beyond that, investment in the resource sector is expected to peak this year.

Miners are already balking at the changes, which include ending the deduction of the purchase price of land that had been previously explored for minerals, while limiting the timespan for depreciating a new discovery to just 15 years or the life of the mine, whichever is shorter.

Swan insists that this policy is intended to support “genuine exploration activity,” as opposed to exploiting known resources. But trade groups note that this simply piles on another expense to a beleaguered industry that has been the backbone of Australia’s now-slowing economy.

At the same time, the controversial minerals resource rent tax (MRRT), which was introduced in July 2012, continues to underperform in terms of projected revenue. Swan forecasts revenue of just AUD200 million from the tax this year, a mere 10 percent of what the government had previously estimated.

Notwithstanding criticism from those who pay close attention to such matters, any sops to voters are unlikely to narrow the significant gap between Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s center-left government and the Coalition opposition. Recent opinion polling shows that Labor is still down about 10 percentage points to 12 percentage points versus the Coalition.

And that margin has been fairly consistent since Gillard took the unprecedented step of calling for new elections nearly eight months in advance back in late January. In contrast to the seemingly interminable US election cycle, Australia’s federal elections are rarely announced more than six weeks out.

And the Coalition is unlikely to do Labor any favors in the interim. For instance, it’s expected to ignore unpopular cuts to middle class welfare, such as the cash payments to parents of newborns, or the so-called “baby bonus.”

That saves the opposition from any backlash it would suffer from eventually imposing reforms to middle class welfare should it prevail in September. It looks like Opposition Leader Tony Abbott intends to simply let the clock run out, with hopes that the election is a foregone conclusion in his favor.

The Roundup

Here’s when AE Portfolio Holdings will report their next sets of financial and operating numbers. Some have “confirmed” dates, while for others we’ve provided an “estimate.”

For most, this will cover the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2013. We’ve noted for others that report on a different schedule the period to which the announcement pertains.

Conservative Holdings

• Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Fund (NYSE: FAX)–N/A (fund, reports holdings on a quarterly basis)
• AGL Energy Ltd (ASX: AGK, OTC: AGLNF, ADR: AGLNY)–Aug. 21, 2013 (estimate)
• APA Group (ASX: APA, OTC: APAJF)–Aug. 21, 2013
• Australand Property Group Ltd (ASX: ALZ, OTC: AUAOF)–July 24, 2013 (2013 H1, confirmed)
• Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ, OTC: ANEWF, ADR: ANZBY)–April 30, 2013 (FY 2013 H1, confirmed)
• Cardno Ltd (ASX: CDD, OTC: COLDF)–Aug. 13, 2013 (estimate)
• CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL, OTC: CMXHF, ADR: CMXHY)–Aug. 21, 2013 (estimate)
• Envestra Ltd (ASX: ENV, OTC: EVSRF)–Aug. 22, 2013 (estimate)
• GPT Group (ASX: GPT, OTC: GPTGF)–Aug. 12, 2013 (2013 H1, estimate)
• M2 Telecommunications Group Ltd (ASX: MTU, OTC: MTCZF)–Aug. 26, 2013 (estimate)
• Ramsay Health Care Ltd (ASX: RHC, OTC: RMSUF)–Aug. 22, 2013 (estimate)
• SMS Management & Technology Ltd (ASX: SMX, OTC: SMSUF)–Aug. 14, 2013 (estimate)
• Telstra Corp Ltd (ASX: TLS, OTC: TTRAF, ADR: TLSYY)–Aug. 8, 2013 (confirmed)
• Transurban Group (ASX: TCL, OTC: TRAUF)–Aug. 6, 2013 (estimate)
• Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES, OTC: WFAFF, ADR: WFAFY)–Aug. 15, 2013 (estimate)

Aggressive Holdings

• Amalgamated Holdings Ltd (ASX: AHD, OTC: None)–Aug. 22, 2013 (estimate)
• Ausdrill Ltd (ASX: ASL, OTC: AUSDF)–Aug. 28, 2013 (estimate)
• BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX: BHP, NYSE: BHP)–Aug. 21, 2013 (estimate)
• GrainCorp Ltd (ASX: GNC, OTC: GRCLF)–May 16, 2013 (FY 2013 H1, confirmed)
• Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN, OTC: MALRF)–Aug. 15, 2013 (estimate)
• Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM, OTC: NCMGF, ADR: NCMGY)–Aug. 12, 2013 (estimate)
• Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH, OTC: OISHF, ADR: OISHY)–Aug. 12, 2013 (2013 H1, estimate)
• Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG, OTC: OGFGF, ADR: OGFGY)–Aug. 22, 2013 (estimate)
• Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO, NYSE: RIO)–Aug. 8, 2013 (2013 H1, confirmed)
• Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX: SKI, OTC: SFDPF)–Aug. 26, 2013 (2013 H1, estimate)
• Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX: WPL, OTC: WOPEF, ADR: WOPEY)–Aug. 21, 2013 (2013 H1, estimate)
• WorleyParsons Ltd (ASX: WOR, OTC: WYGPF, ADR: WYGPY)–Aug. 28, 2013 (estimate)