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    <title>topic Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in in Community Spirit</title>
    <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1217919#M323881</link>
    <description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;I think the Coalition could have done so much better had they not taken such an extreme position on everything – all that sky falling in stuff, budget emergency, economy a total mess, all Labor’s fault, direct action is infinitely better than carbon pricing, let’s give wealthy families $75,000 to have a baby, let’s continue to get Indonesia offside and spend $12 billion on fighter jets in case they invade us, and let’s keep being negative about the economy and the budget and Labor and everything else. Kind of like a six year old in the playground who has lost his toys and is all forlorn and negative and needs someone to blame. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;You wouldn’t think we have one of the best budget positions and economic situations in the OECD and a standard of living second to Norway. Had the Coalition recognised this and recognised the fact that we have had the global financial crisis and world’s worst economic downturn in 80 years, as well as recognising the fact that global warming is real, and that they themselves are far from perfect, I think they could have done a considerably better job and the polls would probably reflect this and still perhaps be around 52:48 in their favour. But to keep up a relentless campaign of negativity and nonsense for eight months, and still no end to it, is only damaging themselves. For every negative comment about Labor or the economy or the budget or anything else, commentators can easily find a counter argument against the Coalition, both the current government and the one under Howard. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;I had a look at this Coalition report, “Labor’s 2007-2013 Mess”&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;FONT face="Times New Roman" size="3"&gt; (&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.laborsmess.com.au/LaborsMess.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;FONT color="#0000ff"&gt;http://www.laborsmess.com.au/LaborsMess.pdf&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;). It is perhaps the most lopsided and selective report since its “Our Plan: Real Solutions for all Australians”, a document that contains various incorrect and misleading data on productivity (especially), saving, economic growth, real wages, living standards and industrial disputes. About two-thirds of it revolved around alleged low productivity during the Labor government and how the Coalition would fix it. The problem was that the Coalition used ABS experimental estimates of productivity plus a strange report by the Economist Intelligence Unit that had numbers flying about all over the place, no dates, and no sources, rather than ABS national accounts figures on productivity that show it to be higher under Labor than the last six years of the previous Coalition government. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;The “Labor’s 2007-2013 Mess” forgets the global financial crisis and world’s worst economic downturn since the 1930s in most of its data and analysis. It fails to mention and understand that government revenue fell though the floor. It fails to mention that government expenditure increased 3.8% a year between 2008-09 and 2012-13 (or 6.2% a year between 2007-08 and 2012-13 to take into account the stimulus packages to keep us out of recession, as imperfect as they were), compared with 7.5% a year between 1999-00 and 2006-07 under the previous Coalition government. An IMF study released in 2013 found the Australian government was “profligate” in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 (and 1942 and 1960). Not a mention in this report. Had it been Labor, the report would have perhaps contained a two page spread on this IMF study. Using revenue and expenditure figures, had the previous Coalition government not gone on a spending spree and saved more for a rainy day and had we not had the world downturn, there would be no deficits and no debt. Not a word of this in the report. And of course, there’s no word of how the public service grew by 40,000 people between 2000 and 2007 and by 5000 between 2008 and 2013.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;The document fails to acknowledge that we have one of the lowest debt to GDP ratios of all OECD countries, steady if unspectacular growth, relatively low unemployment, and a standard of living second to Norway.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;There are many ways of looking at statistics and the Coalition’s document uses whatever way it can to try and show that Labor messed up, looking at raw numbers when convenient or percentage increases when these were convenient or a comparison with the Coalition when this was convenient and of course forgetting about the fact that Labor was in office during a world and therefore Australian downturn and the Coalition operated in a boom period. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;The document seems to be plucking incorrect data from its Our Plan document. For example, it says: “The number of working days lost to strikes more than doubled.” The annual average number of hours lost due to industrial disputes was 403,000 under the Howard government from 1996-97 to 2006-07, compared with 183,000 under Labor from 2008-09 to 2012-13. I’ve left out 2007-08 (165,000) as this was shared between both parties. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;The report also says: “Labor introduced more than 20,000 new or amended regulations”. This was a figure Abbott and Hockey used last year. But it was quickly discredited. There were over 22,000 legislative instruments introduced by Labor, but 9000 were repealed, and this included some that went back before 2008. The new instruments included such things as ordinances, proclamations, declarations, and airworthiness directives (3400 of these), which aren't regulations. Also, over 4000 were tariff concession orders, requested by business for their benefit. Based on numbered regulations, the Howard government introduced 4460 regulations between 1996 and 2007, averaging 372 a year. Labor introduced 1811, or 302 a year. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;At one point, the report says: “The Labor Government did not have a revenue problem, it had a spending problem”. But MYEFO 2013-14 shows that revenue fell from 25.6% of GDP in 2005-06 to 23.2% in 2008-09, 22.0% in 2009-10, 21.5% in 2010-11, 22.2% in 2011-12 and 23.1% in both 2012-13 and 2013-14. Expenditure rose due to the downturn but had returned to 24.1% of GDP in 2012-13, the same as 2005-06 (and of course the growth in expenditure was considerably higher under the previous Coalition government; see above). The Coalition has pushed it back up to an estimated 25.9% of GDP in 2013-14 because it has decided to run with many of Labor’s programs but introduce many of its own. At one point, the report tries to attribute the 25.9% figure in 2013-14 to Labor!&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;The document rattles on about the carbon tax of course but fails to acknowledge that it was to become an ETS. The report also fails to refer to the government’s recently released “Australia's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory” for December quarter 2013 in which the findings seem to go against just about everything the Coalition has been saying about the carbon tax, carbon pricing, emissions, the economy, clean energy, etc. By the time of the report, the carbon tax had been in for 18 months. In that time, quarter by quarter GDP growth has been 0.8%, 0.7%, 0.5%, 0.7%, 0.6% and 0.8%. And of course the report fails to mention that Reputex found that direct action would be three times more expensive and less effective that carbon pricing or that a survey of 35 economists found that 30 preferred carbon pricing and 2 supported direct action.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;There are two pages on Labor’s alleged failures in infrastructure, but it does not mention the failure of the Howard government to provide infrastructure in boom times when there was plenty of spare money.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;The “Labor’s 2007-2013 Mess” report is 60 pages. I could probably write 60 pages refuting and clarifying its contents. And I could probably write 60 pages on what the Coalition has messed up in just eight months.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"&gt;All this report does is show that the Coalition doesn’t have much idea and continues to waste its time and taxpayers’ money trying to blame Labor for everything. Very childish. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
    <pubDate>Fri, 09 May 2014 16:29:42 GMT</pubDate>
    <dc:creator>chri_pearc</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2014-05-09T16:29:42Z</dc:date>
    <item>
      <title>Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211261#M322530</link>
      <description>&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;We were recently reminded by the Commission of Audit of the immense challenge to restore the Budget over the long term.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;Six years of Labor delivered:&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;UL&gt;&lt;LI&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;five record Budget deficits,&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;LI&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;a further $123 billion in deficits for the next four years, and&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;LI&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;debt projected to reach at least $667 billion.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;/UL&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;Today we are releasing a document that sets out in detail the legacy that Australians have been left by Labor.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;While the Coalition Government did not create this mess, we are determined to do the responsible thing by all Australians.&lt;BR /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;BR /&gt;The next step in the Abbott Government’s Economic Action Strategy to build a strong, prosperous economy will be the release of the Budget next Tuesday night.&lt;BR /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;BR /&gt;The Government will face up to the difficult but necessary decisions to repair the Budget so that we can build a stronger economy.&amp;nbsp;&lt;BR /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;BR /&gt;It is in building a stronger economy that we can create more jobs, help small businesses and families and ensure there are more opportunities for all Australians.&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;BR /&gt;Regards,&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;IMG src="http://gallery.mailchimp.com/23ba888bf167d9d4256c7e86c/images/4d2e98a2-7e52-466c-8b2d-7e97d1534ce6.jpg" border="0" height="69" width="100" /&gt;&lt;BR /&gt;Mathias Cormann&lt;BR /&gt;Minister for Finance&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;64 Pages of the sad and sorry mess that Labor left Australia in&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&lt;A target="_blank" href="http://www.laborsmess.com.au/&amp;nbsp;"&gt;http://www.laborsmess.com.au/&amp;nbsp;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&lt;A target="_blank" href="http://www.laborsmess.com.au/?utm_source=Liberal+Party+E-news&amp;amp;utm_campaign=01c401355e-Labor+Mess+Booklet&amp;amp;utm_medium=email&amp;amp;utm_term=0_51af948dc8-01c401355e-57834785"&gt;http://www.laborsmess.com.au/?utm_source=Liberal+Party+E-news&amp;amp;utm_campaign=01c401355e-Labor+Mess+Booklet&amp;amp;utm_medium=email&amp;amp;utm_term=0_51af948dc8-01c401355e-57834785&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;Or the 64 page PDF is here&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&lt;A target="_blank" href="http://www.laborsmess.com.au/LaborsMess.pdf?utm_source=Liberal+Party+E-news&amp;amp;utm_campaign=01c401355e-Labor+Mess+Booklet&amp;amp;utm_medium=email&amp;amp;utm_term=0_51af948dc8-01c401355e-57834785"&gt;http://www.laborsmess.com.au/LaborsMess.pdf?utm_source=Liberal+Party+E-news&amp;amp;utm_campaign=01c401355e-Labor+Mess+Booklet&amp;amp;utm_medium=email&amp;amp;utm_term=0_51af948dc8-01c401355e-57834785&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&lt;IMG src="https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/35177i20E17D1FFA90BFDF/image-size/original?v=mpbl-1&amp;amp;px=-1" align="center" border="0" title="fc31e62e-34f1-44d2-a4d4-7438fa055cd7.jpg" alt="fc31e62e-34f1-44d2-a4d4-7438fa055cd7.jpg" /&gt;&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 09:39:41 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211261#M322530</guid>
      <dc:creator>nero_bolt</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T09:39:41Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211267#M322532</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG src="https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/35179iE2488F72AAB03A2C/image-size/original?v=mpbl-1&amp;amp;px=-1" align="center" border="0" title="10295138_627211224035887_1546515725423424932_o.jpg" alt="10295138_627211224035887_1546515725423424932_o.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 09:37:49 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211267#M322532</guid>
      <dc:creator>nero_bolt</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T09:37:49Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211277#M322537</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;nobody with half a brain swallows that anymore, they now know that hockey has doubled the deficit since september &lt;img id="smileyhappy" class="emoticon emoticon-smileyhappy" src="https://community.ebay.com.au/i/smilies/16x16_smiley-happy.png" alt="Smiley Happy" title="Smiley Happy" /&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 09:41:04 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211277#M322537</guid>
      <dc:creator>lakeland27</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T09:41:04Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211281#M322538</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 09:41:34 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211281#M322538</guid>
      <dc:creator>azureline**</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T09:41:34Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211287#M322539</link>
      <description>A lot of the public aren't falling for the propaganda bombing Nero.it's an LNP mess now</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 09:44:21 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211287#M322539</guid>
      <dc:creator>debra9275</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T09:44:21Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211297#M322542</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;Agree with posts 3, 4 &amp;amp; 5.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 09:48:26 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211297#M322542</guid>
      <dc:creator>cherry*135</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T09:48:26Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211341#M322550</link>
      <description>You know they're worried when they have to resort to saturation bombing.</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 10:03:47 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211341#M322550</guid>
      <dc:creator>spotweldersfriend</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T10:03:47Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211357#M322551</link>
      <description>&lt;BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&lt;HR /&gt;@am*3 wrote:&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;P&gt;Agree with posts 3, 4 &amp;amp; 5.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;HR /&gt;&lt;/BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&lt;P&gt;There is something seriously wrong with a mob who have to rely on trashing the opposition as if they're still on the campaign trail.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I dislike Cormann's style a lot. &amp;nbsp;I also think people should live in Australia for longer and get to know Australia better before they're allowed to enter politics. &amp;nbsp;He seems to be in it for the money and power.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 10:06:42 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211357#M322551</guid>
      <dc:creator>freakiness</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T10:06:42Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211713#M322585</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&lt;img id="womanlol" class="emoticon emoticon-womanlol" src="https://community.ebay.com.au/i/smilies/16x16_woman-lol.png" alt="Woman LOL" title="Woman LOL" /&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.thevine.com.au/life/news/10-things-what-if-they-gave-a-budget-and-nobody-came-20140429-280674/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.thevine.com.au/life/news/10-things-what-if-they-gave-a-budget-and-nobody-came-20140429-280674/&lt;/A&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size="4"&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;B-b-b-but the economy is on fire! Australia's going to be repossessed!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size="4"&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;But enough of the lefty Abbott-bashing - let's look at some evidence for our terrible spiralling debt.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;First up, our level of debt to GDP has been remarkably consistent, sitting around 10% since the 70s (aside from the mid-90s where it blew out to around double that under Abbott's economic hero John Howard). Certainly for the last decade it's pretty much flatlined at around 11%, where it currently sits. The OECD average is around 50%. &lt;A target="_blank" href="http://www.factsfightback.org.au/how-big-is-australias-debt-check-the-facts/" rel="nofollow"&gt;Compared with the UK, New Zealand, the US, Israel and every other developed economy, we're utterly amazing.&lt;/A&gt; So: no huge debt blowout.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Our interest payments are also completely tiny and entirely manageable: our interest rate is miniscule, &lt;A target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://theconversation.com/the-truth-behind-our-dangerous-public-debt-levels-13245"&gt;sitting under 0.5%&lt;/A&gt; (this is why the whole "like households, governments need to leave within their means" argument is bull**bleep**: they have different responsibilities from and enjoy far better economic conditions than households).&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;There's also the tiny point that &lt;A target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/budget-in-a-bind-if-joe-hockey-and-tony-abbott-are-both-serious-20140428-37cmb.html"&gt;the numbers that Hockey is using to justify his budget are, to be kind, made up&lt;/A&gt;: more specifically, he's using&amp;nbsp;"out-of-date forecasts from the beginning of December", according to BusinessWeek's Michael Pascoe, instead of the actual&amp;nbsp;current data.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;And while government public debt isn't by definition a bad thing - borrowing money to stimulate the economy or protect services in times of crisis is often the most responsible thing that a government can do, which is why our level of debt rightfully skyrocketed during WWII - the fact remains that our debt burden is scary-sounding numbers that translate as negligible percentages.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Now, there are those who argue that all debt is bad and that things could be better. This is largely nonsense, and takes as its premise that public money is not collected for the benefit of the people who contribute that money.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;To use Abbott's own ridiculous governments-as-households analogy: you could have more money to put away in savings if you stopped buying food and clothing, but a) being hungry and naked is not preferable to being fed, clothed and managing your debt responsibly, and b) ultimately, what's the point of money if it's not to exchange for things we need? &lt;EM&gt;That's literally the entire reason we have the stuff.&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 11:46:26 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211713#M322585</guid>
      <dc:creator>boris1gary</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T11:46:26Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211815#M322594</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/its-the-debt-not-the-spending-why-the-budget-is-bleeding-20140503-zr3mo.html#ixzz3121XgCtM" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/its-the-debt-not-the-spending-why-the-budget-is-bleeding-20140503-zr3mo.html#ixzz3121XgCtM&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size="4"&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;B-b-b-but it's the debt, not the spending: why the budget is bleeding.&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size="4"&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;The trouble with&amp;nbsp; relying upon C&amp;amp;P which you do not read,&amp;nbsp; and/or you do not understand,&amp;nbsp; is that you end up posting biased rubbish e.g.&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;EM&gt;"First up, our level of debt to GDP has been remarkably consistent, sitting around 10% since the 70s (aside from the mid-90s where it blew out to around double that under Abbott's economic hero John Howard). Certainly &lt;STRONG&gt;for the last decade it's pretty much flatlined at around 11%, where it currently sits."&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Thus by extrapolation the&amp;nbsp; whole post, and subsequent ones,&amp;nbsp; will be viewed as&amp;nbsp; being as reliable!&lt;EM&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG src="https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/35201iB9E37616C7F49445/image-size/original?v=mpbl-1&amp;amp;px=-1" align="middle" border="0" title="australia-government-debt-to-gdp.png" alt="australia-government-debt-to-gdp.png" /&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;EM&gt;"Last decade &lt;STRONG&gt;flatlined at around 11%" &lt;/STRONG&gt;really? the Circus would appear to have achieved&amp;nbsp; what could be described as a&amp;nbsp; debt big-top.&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;EM&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;EM&gt;Looks like the OECD also have a different idea of FLATLINE:&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;EM&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;EM&gt;&lt;IMG src="https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/35203iC452FA35E5C8F5CE/image-size/original?v=mpbl-1&amp;amp;px=-1" align="middle" border="0" title="australia oecd debt to gdp.JPG" alt="australia oecd debt to gdp.JPG" /&gt;&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color="#0000FF"&gt;&lt;FONT size="3"&gt;nɥºɾ&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 12:49:35 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211815#M322594</guid>
      <dc:creator>monman12</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T12:49:35Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211903#M322604</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;to monman.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;*&lt;EM&gt;Yawn&lt;/EM&gt; dear......as boris points out.....Why have money if you're not going to spend it, that's basically what it's for you know and this money is the people of Australia's money, to be spent on stuff for them.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;This money is not a slush fund for lying, pontificating politicians or their mates to order boys toys with.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;...if those in power are worried about current debt - national, personal, state, federal -whatever, then these govt fat cats should be getting stuck into the legislation that can harness and control banksters (instead of granting banks financial product selling powers where unsuspecting customers ultimately get 'ripped off'&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;where these financial planners &amp;amp; banks&amp;nbsp;gets MASSIVE earnings off customers monies), financial planners and these same financial fat cat corporations.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 13:34:25 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211903#M322604</guid>
      <dc:creator>fourandsixpants</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T13:34:25Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211919#M322605</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;I would hate you to be my banker with an attitude like you have just expressed.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;So you are under the impression that government should spend taxes willy nilly as it is not their personal funds.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I an sure that you would make a fuss if the lending institution was to spend up on your credit card without concern&amp;nbsp;about the debt that they ran up on your account and foisted goods and services on you that you did not need, want or could afford.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;You know........ eventually the piper has to be paid.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 13:50:06 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211919#M322605</guid>
      <dc:creator>poddster</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T13:50:06Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211955#M322609</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;.....er....I don't have a credit card. I only have a debit card. I practise only spending what I have and budget for what I need.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The govt should spend what they have on what we need.....not on what they want.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;ref. your comment ...."........ eventually the piper has to be paid." Sure but we don't all have to donn extra tight lycra budgie smugglers&amp;nbsp;whilst making affordable&amp;nbsp;increment payments on a planned and well managed budget.....wouldn't want to blow out the crotch seams!&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 14:26:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211955#M322609</guid>
      <dc:creator>fourandsixpants</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T14:26:22Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211957#M322610</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;That raises a question.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Why don't you have a credit card and live on funds you do not have, like the majority of the population?&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 14:31:25 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211957#M322610</guid>
      <dc:creator>poddster</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T14:31:25Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211965#M322613</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;I did experience the 'greed' concept and I didn't like the results! So, I chopped up the 2 credit cards, made a plan to pay them off and had a &lt;STRONG&gt;lot less stress&lt;/STRONG&gt; just keeping my greedy wants at bay, so to speak:)&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Sure, there are times of 'emergency' .......so you borrow on an agreed and affordable repayment plan....or start saving for future emergencies-takes a LOT of discipline btw to do this&amp;nbsp;.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I well remember what my Dad told me, many years ago&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT face="%value" size="4"&gt;".....it's not how much money you make/get/have that matters but HOW you spend it."&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"&gt;I try to practise this.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"&gt;Had a boss many years ago who told me that HIS boss told him that money is nothing but what you can buy with it as this&amp;nbsp;is where the value is.....and NEVER think of money as anything but 'units' then when you plan how you will spend your money you will not get distracted by emotion.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"&gt;He also passed on that every pay you should use %'s to divvie up and budget for bills, spendings on self and others&amp;nbsp;and savings both short and long term.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"&gt;I practise this.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 14:52:06 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211965#M322613</guid>
      <dc:creator>fourandsixpants</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T14:52:06Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211971#M322614</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;Good advice and good plan.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Don't you think that a country should adopt a plan that is similar?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Perhaps Hockey is in the process of trying to repay the country's dept and aiming to cut up the credit cards that the previous government maxed out over a six year period of spending like a drunken sailor on superfluous things&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 15:00:31 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211971#M322614</guid>
      <dc:creator>poddster</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T15:00:31Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211977#M322617</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;No!!!!!&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Hockey himself has just DOUBLED the deficit !!&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I don't trust him to manage our money.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 15:13:46 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211977#M322617</guid>
      <dc:creator>fourandsixpants</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T15:13:46Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211983#M322619</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;Like&amp;nbsp;I said in another thread don't believe all you read &lt;span class="lia-unicode-emoji" title=":slightly_smiling_face:"&gt;🙂&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The landscape that the previous government left was scattered with financial land mines that are just now being discovered, there are still plenty left to try and find and defuse.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 15:20:51 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211983#M322619</guid>
      <dc:creator>poddster</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T15:20:51Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211985#M322620</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;I distrust this because this present leadership clan have had since September 2013 to go through the books.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;This present bs leading up to the budget is just a ploy.....they&amp;nbsp;have failed&amp;nbsp;miserably to convince me that they are competent, trustworthy sincere and professional. Nothing that&amp;nbsp;Hockey, Australia's Treasurer,&amp;nbsp;has said in the last few weeks gives me confidence.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Everything that Hockey has done worries me actually.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 15:28:12 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1211985#M322620</guid>
      <dc:creator>fourandsixpants</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T15:28:12Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Labors MESS they left Australia in</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1212031#M322626</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;What was your confidence level of Swan&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2014 16:13:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Labors-MESS-they-left-Australia-in/m-p/1212031#M322626</guid>
      <dc:creator>poddster</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2014-05-07T16:13:22Z</dc:date>
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