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Not a word about the razor gang Latest related coverage Economic analysis Audio: Herald's economics editor Ross Gittins shares his thoughts on budget. Political analysis Audio: Herald state political editor Andrew Clennell talks about this year's budget. Workers, it's your sacrifice Ross Gittins: You've got to be cruel to be kind Budget at a glance Other related coverage Sounds of silence greet benevolent despot Union ire over 2.5% pay rise limit Passengers miss the bus again Holes in transport spending Payroll tax cut follows long campaign Hospital beds for the aged, not for all Global credit woes restricting growth More places for toddlers Bigger, longer and hotter: paying the price for bushfires Pope's visit will cost taxpayers $139m Disabled allocation 'will not meet demand' Mostly static on the home front Super-sized courtroom for big cases Advertisement THERE was something flat about Michael Costa's third state budget yesterday. There was not much new except for a payroll tax cut for which business has lobbied for years. The huge round of infrastructure spending has already been announced over the past few years. In all, it was a mid-term damp squib and remarkably similar to last year's budget. But the real battle lies ahead. If ever there was a sign in its 13-year history that this government has moved further away than ever from the unions it was probably this budget. Not only were the Treasurer and his people pointing out that if electricity privatisation did not occur there would be big problems with infrastructure spending, they were pushing ahead firmly with the target to keep wages growth in the public sector at 2.5 per cent. Right now it is almost as if the main opposition to the Government is not the Coalition or the media but the unions.