topic Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing in Community Spirit

Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

nero_bolt — Mon, 05 May 2014 01:24:43 GMT

BILL Shorten is trashing our tomorrow for cheap votes today. And the shame is much of the public seem to be cheering him on.

Wake up! Thousand of Australians may pay for the Opposition Leader’s reckless politicking with their jobs, and millions could get poorer.

“We are not buying this argument that there’s some Budget emergency,” Shorten soothed voters last week.

“There is no Budget crisis,” echoed his Shadow Treasurer, Chris Bowen.

No, there’s no need to accept the cuts of the wicked Abbott Government. It’s all a Liberal hoax.

“The truth is they wanted to confect or manufacture a Budget crisis because these are the sorts of cuts they actually want to bring in,” sneers Labor’s finance spokesman, Tony Burke.

What makes this worse is that Shorten is kicking Abbott for trying to fix the disaster created by Labor.

Left a surplus, and gifted our greatest mining boom, the Rudd and Gillard governments still piled

up $190 billion of deficits in just five years.

They plunged into an orgy of spending so carelessly, it’s criminal.

The $44 billion national broadband white elephant was mapped out on the back of a beer coaster by prime minister Kevin Rudd and his communications minister.

The $3 billion free insulation disaster was scribbled out by Rudd’s “inner circle” on a serviette, one of the scheme’s advisers claimed last week at the royal commission.

And Labor’s big spending is still locked in, so we face another decade of deficits unless something is done. Already we’re paying $12 billion a year in interest on Labor’s debt.

Should China suddenly slow over the next 10 years, or another global financial crisis come, we’ll be ruined. We’ll have not a dollar in the kitty to defend ourselves.

It is astonishing that one of Australia’s two main political parties is so dead to its duty to protect this nation from such harm.

Sure, Labor can quibble about the term “emergency”. We won’t be a Greece by Christmas. But it shouldn’t dare pretend change isn’t critical — and must start now.

Hear it from Martin Parkinson, the Treasury secretary Labor appointed, who two months ago warned we had to make “hard decisions” to cut government spending.

The nation’s debt was mounting so high that “if we do not start making these changes and simply keep drifting along, we will be increasingly vulnerable to the next global crisis”.

Then “our children may really end up doing it tough”.

The Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens praised Parkinson’s “important” warning and added: “Put simply, there are things we want to do as a society, and have voted for, that are not fully funded by taxes over the medium-term.”

But what do we hear from Shorten? No to cuts. No to tax rises.

Last year, Labor did at least promise $5 billion in cuts to health and education. But now, with Abbott in charge, it blocks those same cuts in the Senate.

When Abbott last week decided to lift the pension age to 70 by 2035, Shorten falsely screamed “broken promise” and refused to support it.

When Abbott floated adding a $6 fee to what are free visits to the doctor, Shorten cried “poorer people will be unfairly hit”.

Now that Abbott wants to keep down the projected $12 billion-a-year cost of Labor’s national disability scheme, Shorten shouts it’s “a complete betrayal”.

Now, Abbott plans a “deficit levy” on richer Australians, Shorten says he’ll fight this “deceit tax”.

And when the Government’s commission of audit last week recommended $70 billion in cuts, Shorten refused to support a single one — other than a cut to Abbott’s pet parental leave scheme.

Instead, he engaged in the crudest class war talk to rouse the rabble, falsely claiming the commission’s report was “written by big business, for big business” to ensure “families get less while millionaires get more”.

If Shorten were powerless, this wouldn’t much matter but he has this country by the throat.

Labor and the Greens can together block any law in the Senate, and when the new Senate takes over in July, they’ll still need only the support of Clive Palmer’s senators or three of the four other crossbenchers to keep stopping Abbott.

What a nightmare. There’s Labor and the Greens insisting there’s no problem, and Palmer all over the shop. The Government, meanwhile, has poll figures that are soft, a backbench that is skittish, and every interest group on its back.

We’re sinking and, on present evidence, can’t find the will to save ourselves. And there’s Captain Shorten telling us to just order another round of drinks on the house.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/wake-up-labor-were-sinking-as-budget-needs-fixing/story-fni0ffxg-1226905028303

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

fourandsixpants — Mon, 05 May 2014 01:30:48 GMT

http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/04/29/the-band-aid-levy-a-new-tax-wont-fix-the-structural-budget-probl...

see comments:

...." It isn’t that they want to get the budget back into surplus it is that their (libs in now) policies are confused and contradictory and the burden falls harder on those who can least afford it..."

...." Abbott school of logic which posits a statement along the lines of everything Labor did was bad and we have to clean up this huge mess without giving a skerrick of evidence that there is a huge mess to clean up.

The fact that under labor we were one of the few advanced economies that didn’t go into recession during the GFC and the fact that our government debt levels are low are meaning less to people like this. "

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

daydream**believer — Mon, 05 May 2014 01:32:26 GMT

Ok, so i voted for Liberal, but im beginning to regret that decision.

Yes, i have no doubt Labor blew the budget out and Liberal now have to fix it, but cmon, you cant tell everyone you are going to cut, cut, cut and raise the retirement age and then announce that you want to buy a heap of war planes and make changes to paid parental leave thats going to cost an extra 4bil.

And can someone please tell me his plans for the NDIS?

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

freakiness — Mon, 05 May 2014 01:33:01 GMT

Would you please put Bolt's name at the top of any scrolling C&P so we are not mislead into thinking it is the work of yourself or someone worth reading.

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

debra9275 — Mon, 05 May 2014 01:35:17 GMT

8 days isn't it until the budget is revealed?

the LNP is already slipping badly in the polls, If there were an election held today, they would be gone. I wonder how the polls will reflect after the budget???

it's becoming clearer & clearer that Abbott was buying votes with that silly paid parental leave that our country can't afford

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

spotweldersfriend — Mon, 05 May 2014 01:35:51 GMT

"Poll figures that are soft"

Trailing Labor 52%-48% and they've yet to deliver the horror budget.:D

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

boris1gary — Mon, 05 May 2014 01:38:35 GMT

http://theaimn.com/2014/05/05/bluff-bluster-and-bulldust/

Bluff, Bluster and Bulldust

What a load of codswallop. How stupid do they take us for? Many would not have noticed but this government has begun its term of office reading directly from the Book of Howard. So deprived of ideas, of savvy, of intellectual nous, of vision and pretty much everything else that constitutes leadership, they (mostly Abbott and Hockey) simply copy from the tactics of bluff, bluster and bull-dust employed by the Howard government in 1996.

They do this to condition the electorate to the pain that is coming and to blame the previous government for putting them (us) there. They blatantly cloud the already heavily polluted atmosphere of political skulduggery by casting doubt, fear and uncertainty across the landscape. They want us to accept the conservative government philosophy of favouring the well-off by dressing it up as repairs essential to our future and presenting themselves as our economic saviours. They do this because when all is said and done, they really do represent the big end of town. The NSW ICAC inquiry makes that plain for all to see. It is endemic in national Liberal philosophy. They then try to pass it off as fiscally responsible in the mistaken belief that backing big business will ultimately benefit the not so well-off at some stage in the future. Codswallop! In his budget preparation, Hockey seems to be ignoring or overlooking glaring examples of tax expenditure waste such as mining subsidies, generous tax brackets for high income earners and unnecessary superannuation perks in favour of squeezing those they deem as easy targets.

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

fourandsixpants — Mon, 05 May 2014 01:41:18 GMT

8 days isn't it until the budget is revealed?

the LNP is already slipping badly in the polls, If there were an election held today, they would be gone. I wonder how the polls will reflect after the budget???

it's becoming clearer & clearer that :

Abbott was buying votes with that silly paid parental leave that our country can't afford

......................................................................................................................................................................................................

Yes. Back in 2013 many of Abbots fiberal party members did not even support this/his paid parental scheme

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

fourandsixpants — Mon, 05 May 2014 01:47:09 GMT

to spot:

"Poll figures that are soft"

Trailing Labor 52%-48% and they've yet to deliver the horror budget

...............................................................................................................................................................................................................

yep! a suicide mission

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

nero_bolt — Mon, 05 May 2014 01:55:10 GMT

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

freakiness — Mon, 05 May 2014 01:58:25 GMT

Ah, no that would be because it was worked by a handful of Liberal party members without any concern for the common good.

It's straight from the IPA wish list and we didn't vote for the IPA to run the country.

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

debra9275 — Mon, 05 May 2014 02:26:18 GMT

no nero, lots of us just don't accept the rubbish they want us to believe. the commission of audit is a joke,when you consider who the individuals are.

I watched an interview last week and they were asked did they have any evidence of people

over using doctors

what eventually came out after lots of argy bargy was that they had no proof of this at all and their finding was based purely on the commission's assumption that it could possibility happen in the future

as I say, it's a joke

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

catsnknots — Mon, 05 May 2014 02:41:33 GMT

@daydream**believer wrote:
Ok, so i voted for Liberal, but im beginning to regret that decision.

Yes, i have no doubt Labor blew the budget out and Liberal now have to fix it, but cmon, you cant tell everyone you are going to cut, cut, cut and raise the retirement age and then announce that you want to buy a heap of war planes and make changes to paid parental leave thats going to cost an extra 4bil.

And can someone please tell me his plans for the NDIS?

NDIS will not change at all... that was dealt with during COAG but the media only made a 30 second mention. I get email updates for the NDIS and even they confirmed it is not going to be changed.

Also you can still retire and access your superannuation earlier but the only difference is that you won't get the increased pension if you qualify but you will need to make do with Newstart until you are 70.

On the paid parental leave do you know that the Public Service and those in union EBA's gets full pay for 14 weeks? So all those at the ABC, hospitals, government departments and all those from unions that are complaining complaining get way more than the average person, they say that the average worker does not deserve what they get. Does not sound fair to me. And you or I will not be paying for it. It is going to be a levy on the top businesses... the likes of the big 4 banks for example that are announcing multi billion dollar profits will pay.

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

freakiness — Mon, 05 May 2014 03:38:56 GMT

@catsnknots wrote:

Also you can still retire and access your superannuation earlier but the only difference is that you won't get the increased pension if you qualify but you will need to make do with Newstart until you are 70.

You can only access non preserved super before retirement age. The age for accessing preserved super will increase to 70 also, according to Mr Hockey last week.

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

catsnknots — Mon, 05 May 2014 03:40:24 GMT

@freakiness wrote:
@catsnknots wrote:

Also you can still retire and access your superannuation earlier but the only difference is that you won't get the increased pension if you qualify but you will need to make do with Newstart until you are 70.

You can only access non preserved super before retirement age. The age for accessing preserved super will increase to 70 also, according to Mr Hockey last week.

I heard talk that they would keep it at the same level.... lets see what the budget brings

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

freakiness — Mon, 05 May 2014 03:59:29 GMT

@catsnknots wrote:
@freakiness wrote:
@catsnknots wrote:

Also you can still retire and access your superannuation earlier but the only difference is that you won't get the increased pension if you qualify but you will need to make do with Newstart until you are 70.

You can only access non preserved super before retirement age. The age for accessing preserved super will increase to 70 also, according to Mr Hockey last week.
I heard talk that they would keep it at the same level.... lets see what the budget brings

It's not at the same level now. It depends on the year of birth when you can access preserved super funds.

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

i-need-a-martini — Mon, 05 May 2014 04:10:20 GMT

Isn't it funny how feral the right winged press has gone in the pre-budget lead?

If I had to hazard a guess I would say they are terrified at what the average intelligent person is going to make of this budget and have gone overboard with their fingerpointing toward Labor.

Is it because they are trying to hide the fact that spending increased ever so marginally since 2009 in comparison to the last 30 years?

To be exact, govt spending to GDP over the last 30years has been hovering at a low (by global standards) 25%. During Howards time it averaged at 24.1% with some years reaching over 26%.

During Labors tenure, spending for the year 2009-2010 was 26.1%

Spending for the year 2010-2011 was 25.2%

Spending for the year 2011-2012 was 24.3%.

At the same time, our net government debt increased by a whopping 0.1% last financial year - one of the lowest in the world.

No wonder the right winged press is raging and blowing so much hot air at the moment. Anything to take away the focus from what economists have been saying about our economy for a few years now hey?

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

daydream**believer — Mon, 05 May 2014 06:48:56 GMT

@freakiness wrote:
@catsnknots wrote:

Also you can still retire and access your superannuation earlier but the only difference is that you won't get the increased pension if you qualify but you will need to make do with Newstart until you are 70.

You can only access non preserved super before retirement age. The age for accessing preserved super will increase to 70 also, according to Mr Hockey last week.

Yep, thats what Hockey said last week.

Who cant be angry when you read how much all the politicians can get when they retire

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

catsnknots — Mon, 05 May 2014 06:51:11 GMT

I agee DDB.. that gold class needs to stop. No need for that extra bit of luxury that we will never get.

Re: Wake up Labor, we’re sinking as Budget needs fixing

fourandsixpants — Mon, 05 May 2014 08:17:09 GMT

....pollies enjoy perks - even after leaving public office.