But this year it has looked like one of those willy-willies that blow up in outback Australia when the wind stirs a storm of dust.A Middle East war, a fuel crisis, another interest rate rise, calls for extra cost-of-living help amid warnings against high government spending, accusations of prime ministerial lying — they are collectively testing the government's ability to control how it wants to frame its fifth budget.But the immediate "narrative" it puts on the budget is one thing — more significant in the longer term is getting its settings right in these extraordinarily volatile times, something we'll only be able to judge in retrospect.As is the modern way, some major items have been announced well before Tuesday's main event, including reform of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and a fuel security plan.The NDIS overhaul is the big money saver in the budget, a whopping $22 billion Questioned this week about potentially breaking his word, the prime minister's tone was narky.Leaving aside the basic issue of integrity, in political terms, does breaking these promises matter?With Labor having a massive majority and the opposition shambolic, the government will reckon it can get away with it, so long as it can present a budget with more "winners" than losers and it can carry the (not uncontested) argument that it is promoting intergenerational equity