With all Australian governments poised to deliver their mid-year budget updates over the next fortnight, the convergence of elections in six jurisdictions and rising debts in three others suggest we are going to see a dip in tech spending across the country. The need to win votes and reduce debt is likely to result in governments scaling back or pausing existing ICT projects (capex), reducing maintenance and support costs (opex), and approving fewer New Policy Proposals (NPPs) in upcoming budgets.