🙂
Without a responsible Senate to reject supply this Government will load Abbott up with debt requiring austerity measures that will give him voter backlash. “If I can’t win, at least I can make life hell for you”, seems to be Gillard’s thinking. Except it’s not hell for Abbott, it’s hell for us.
As Gillard continues to gift everyone, except the postman, billions in largesse the spin is that we, (a) had to spend our way out of the GFC and (b) that our debt is lower than other developed countries.
Neither claim is correct.
Spin (a): The GFC. It actually had little if any effect on Australia’s economy.
Nor did it have any effect on our biggest trading partner China, which consistently averaged a massive nine per cent growth rate throughout the GFC period and maintained a debt to GDP ratio of 15%. While our debt to GDP ratio has more than doubled since 2007 to 23.6%
Receipts from our minerals were at their highest and only one of our big four banks was marginally exposed to the US sub-prime mortgage scam.
If Gillard expects us to believe that spending billions on a school halls rort, pink batts and set top boxes warded off a global financial crisis, then one of us belongs in a funny farm.
The GFC was an Antipodean non-event.
What the GFC did do was give the Rudd/Gillard Government the perfect excuse to launch into the biggest and most wasteful spending spree in Australia’s history.
The strangest part of the fiasco was that Swan was able to keep a straight face when he actually predicted a 2012/13 surplus... up until 12 weeks ago that is.
Spin (b): Lower debt. Section 53(A) of the Trade Practices Act (False and Misleading Conduct) is copping a hiding under Gillard. Her figures for Australia’s economy have morphed from spin into outright lies.
Our unemployment figure is certainly not 5.4%. It is closer the 14%
Gillard’s claim that almost one million jobs have been created under Labor is a lie. Since 2008, under Labor, the number of jobless has risen 22%.
The claim of 71,000 new jobs in February is another outright lie. “The number of people unemployed increased by 400 people to 660,000 in February”, as announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Our manufacturing component of GDP is a miserable 18% and diminishing.
ASIC reports since 2007 bankruptcy rates have risen 115% and are still climbing sharply.
Housing prices have fallen leading to foreclosures due to equity deficiencies. Banks and building societies’ repossessions have risen 22.5%.
Interest rates have fallen to where they are useless as a stimulatory measure and have drained retirees’ nest eggs.
Swan’s famous “pipeline of investment” (he doesn’t mention that any more) has vanished to South America, Mongolia and South Africa.
The Consumer Confidence Index has fallen from 125 in 2007 to 110 now.
The ABS reports our Trade Deficit continues to grow. Government revenue is in drastic decline. The motor vehicle industry is on its last legs. The rural sector is on life support and the carbon tax is twisting the knife in every other sector.
Swan should not compare our economy to “other developed nations”.
Unlike the diversity of the North American economies, we suffer a precarious single export economy, our mining industry, and it’s copping a Gillard/Green bashing.
CPI is up a compounding 2.2% and Swan will raise the credit card limit to $350 billion which will at last allow him to legitimately compare our debt to another developed nation... Greece.
Oh, there is much more but this is enough to thoroughly discount anything of the spin Gillard will spout throughout this ‘non-campaign’ period.
While Cyprus raids private citizens’ bank accounts to draw down its debt, Gillard plans the same with our superannuation savings and that’s independent of any Eurozone partners.
But, as always, there is a silver lining... the cost of TV sets has dramatically fallen.
Thank God, because there is Besser block damage to a million sets each time Gillard opens her gob.
http://pickeringpost.com/article/prepare-for-some-dizzying-spin-from-the-consummate-spinster/1073
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