JPH 09/07/10 10:53 PM Report Abuse

This is one of the most important election policies the Coalition must emphasise during the actual campaign, and, if successful they must address this fundamental issue when in government- that is, of course, restoring the budget to surplus, restoring Australia's economic mantle to its former glory, and paying off Labor's record debt and deficit!

JPH 09/07/10 11:07 PM Report Abuse

Good luck Tony Abbott and the Coalition! We, the Australian people, desperately need you to WIN the next election! Just look at what 1 term of Labor has already done to this nation- it sends shivers down my spine imagining what another 3 years of Labor governance will do for our country!!!

jason 12/07/10 06:27 PM Report Abuse

Government debt is very important, and it may be first cab off the rank. Certainly it is hard to argue that private debt is not also important. One wonders what an Australia would look that saw it's overseas investment over time increase to the extent that our net foreign liabilities were nil, and what we would have to put in place to make that happen. Would it be possible? How would it be better? It certainly sounds like a more solid footing for a nation to be on - the world just as important to us as we are to it.

dave Tomlinson 14/07/10 10:21 AM Report Abuse

For the good of this country lets hope the liberal party can restore some sanity to Australian Politics!

I have been living in the US for the past 25 years, returned home last year to be absolutely disgusted in whats going in Aus, here is an idea to help restore the budget surplus within three years, get lazy people off the dole, if they need help make them work for the dole, IE turn up and clean up parks / government owned property, if you don't turn up you don't get the dole, perhaps this might relive the local council workers from this duty and move their energy to a more pressing project!

JPH 14/07/10 10:18 PM Report Abuse

Why are so liitle people voting in favour of this idea? It's a great idea and may I say what's scary is that many Australians now believe that Labor will actually deliver a budget surplus, and a growing amount of voters in opinion polls are choosing Labor over Liberal when it comes to managing the economy..

Jason 15/07/10 07:54 AM Report Abuse

Re JPH 14/07/10 10:18 PM

This is a fascinating point JPH I agree. There is much to be said, however I think "debt" is a much fuller territory in the minds of the electrate than it was 10 years ago.

BBloke 15/07/10 09:45 AM Report Abuse

Active participants will be hard to find here, after the Liberal party deleted the idea's and thoughts of more than 10,000 people before they decided to tell us their ideas in favour of the electorates ideas.

JPH 15/07/10 03:25 PM Report Abuse

Thanks Jason for your comments and you make a very valid and proper point that debt is becoming more and more a focal point in the minds of the Australian people; also thank you for your support. In terms of what BBloke writes, I totally understand, but what I was referencing to was the fact that a whole host of ideas that have been posted have actually received far more likes and supporters than this idea, such as the "No Change To Personal Service Income Laws" which as of writing has 22 likes and 9 supporters and so on, whereas one of the most significant elements of not only the Coalition's economic policies and credentials, but also being at the very heart of all small government, conservative advocates, getting the budget back in the black, back on track and starting to pay off Labor's record debt, has rated so little support. That's the point I was making.
Anyway THANK YOU to both of you for providing comment to what is such an important issue!!!

Sergio 18/07/10 03:44 PM Report Abuse

It's a shame that people can be deceived into believing that it is thanks to the enormous government spenditure (and consequent debt) that we were able to get out of the GFC in good shape.

Governments do not create wealth, they take from some and give to others. If any of us were mugged in the street, and the thief bought new clothes, would he be 'stimulating' the economy?
The answer is NO, or at least, no more than what we would have stimulated it ourselves if we hadn't been deprived of the money.

Governments do not create employement, for every job they 'create' there's a job lost in the private sector.

There are many fallacies around, and when presented with a government measure people normally accept the economic effects that they 'see' but fail to understand those which are 'not seen' simply because they didn't happen.

They see a new school built by the government, but they don't see that were that money not taken away from taxpayers, they would have also given good use to it by investing, saving, or simply by spending and thus giving employment to someone else.

PB 19/07/10 10:34 AM Report Abuse

Focus more on the economy and reducing taxes.This is what voters want, will the alco tax be reduced , will income tax be reduced . the big issue not discussed or focused on so far is interest rates ,get it on the radar . low interest rates + low taxes = economic stimulus without wasting what labour have alraedy wasted.
Tell BM to play it cool watch what he says think first hey.

Peter Brennan 20/07/10 12:46 PM Report Abuse

I see a danger in promoting a lower interest rate enviroment. Whilst I understand the desireability, consideration should be given to winning votes from the retiring baby boomers who have:-
1. Had their super reduced due to the GFC
2. Moved their capital to cash & fixed interest investments...this policy will further reduce their retirement income.
Better to let the Reserve Bank make the decisions and to focus on promoting a strong economy, in other words go quite on interest rates.
Consideration should also be given to increasing allowable super contributions to the limits set by the Howard Government and reversing labours super fiddle.

Peter 20/07/10 01:24 PM Report Abuse

Hey Joe,
One way to lower interest rates is to give a government guarantee for super funds on certain conditions. As an employer, I pay it, but ther is no guarantee afterwards that it wont be lost by the manager of whatever fund has it and both the employer be disadvantaged having made the paymet, and th employee. The economic cycle is larger because of international influences (like the GFC), but similar things have happened before. Establishing a "statutory reserve deposit" for funds like the banks used to have prior to deregulation. and then making these funds available to home buyers might do the trick.
Keep up the good work. Put the redhead back onto the matchbox!

Roy Muir 20/07/10 05:22 PM Report Abuse

The extent of debt that the ALP has placed on Australia needs to be highlighted. they should not be permitted to get away with the line that the Budget will be in surplus in 3 years. No mention is made of repaying borrowing to fund wasteful spending.

CJR 22/07/10 08:37 PM Report Abuse

One way to help the government get back into surplus would be to stop our dependance on foreign oil. How much money do we send to the middle east etc when we could be using our own vast amounts of natural gas to power australia's 15 million cars. If we become energy independant we can save billions. What we need to do this is more natural gas bowsers around the city either brought in by subsidy or tax cuts in building them. As the saying goes "build it and they will come".

William 25/07/10 12:18 PM Report Abuse

Another place for cost cutting: put time limit on funding ex-prime ministers and their 'life after office'. Pollies are generally worth their money for the job they do, but SO much money after their 'use-by-date' is insane. I can understand if some is put away into Super. But, really how long do we have to pay?! This surely must be a definite place to save money and repay debt [ and, to take the Labor lead on 'mining tax' make this retrospective too!! ] For many Pollies this saving may not be palatable, but for the average voter it will show that the People on the Hill are leading by example.

Peter McDonald 25/07/10 10:32 PM Report Abuse

With your advertising regarding the debt levels why don't you show all the noughts in a billion dollars and not just $1B. this doesn't compute it's just a number with out real significance --- put in the noughts.

John Hawley 26/07/10 09:46 AM Report Abuse

Good luck Tony - you are right in what you sayoney. It's also good that you are finally linking State Labour with Federal Labour. It is also good that you are highlighting the relationship between the Greens and Labour. It is unbelievable how many people do not understand preferential voting.

John Mole 26/07/10 10:27 PM Report Abuse

The focus should be on the total debt. It is easy for Labor to promise a return to surplus in three years - all they have to do (and are doing) is to borrow excessively in the first two years then use the excess to fund a small surplus in the third year. Liberal's focus should be in reduction of the deficit in each of the first two years and a significant surplus in the third year. Show a graph of the total national debt under Labor and it will show $80bn now, $120bn in second year, $160bn in third year and zero in third year. Liberal shoul show $80bn now, $100bn in first year, $115bn in second year and $105BN in third year. Show up the Labor con.

Neil Crombie 27/07/10 02:50 PM Report Abuse

I agree with the above comment...



BUT.......

rod cuevas 28/07/10 03:30 AM Report Abuse

Good idea and please note that Arcadia School NSW does not have a hall, however two classrooms were replaced instead at the same cost of a hall. The superseded classrooms have been removed along with the junior kids playground and sand and open space parent meeting and kids play area. We P&C had to pay for extras and others.

No improvement academically or potential for attracting more kids.
A wasted opportunity in kids development, amenity and gatherings.
All this because the school was short by 23 students.

errol eadie 30/07/10 08:21 PM Report Abuse

Joe, Wayne Swan keeps telling us their stimulus saved 200,000 jobs but how much does that equate per job for their waste?

Mark Whitehair 01/08/10 10:53 AM Report Abuse

Most developed countries around the world have introduced huge stimulous packages but most of these other than Australia are still in financial difficulty. This in itself should indicate that Australia's positive economic position now is very much more related to what happened before the stimulous during the Liberal years than to Labor's economic management. They simply followed the pack!! The world crisis is still nowhere near over and it remains to be seen whether huge debt will be the answer.

This message could be stronger during the campaign - the country is always ready to believe that Liberal = better economic management! Labor appears to getting away with taking credit for their predecessor's good work.

Skeeta Newman 01/08/10 09:18 PM Report Abuse

Tony and Joe, only one thing is required to win this election - OPPOSE the internet filter.

End of story. Good luck boys.

may puttock 01/08/10 09:42 PM Report Abuse

The Political parties, especially the ALP needs to get up to speed with the current Social Theory:

Ilya Pri.go.gine won the Nobel prize for Che.mistry in 1977. So what you might say? Well, the point is it completely tra.nsfo.rmed all social theory, the tran.sformation is a work in progress. Whether you realise it or not, the slogan, "Moving Forward" is an exemplar of Prigogine's opus! "Moving Forward" is to Prigogine, what E=MC2 is to Einstein.

Prigogine's book, "The End of Certainty" explains that deter.minism is no longer a viable scientific belief. He re-introduces the arrow of time to physics and prog.resses to chaos theory and the concept that we are always making order out of chaos. This theory has had a huge impact on all social sciences, systems and theory.

Under this theory we know the ire.lev.ance of pointing to a person's beliefs in the old epoch, we are in tran.sition out of that epoch. Tony Abbott's religious beliefs 20 years ago, do not and can never define him in the current context. He has "moved on" to a new gestalt. We are all collectively in social evolution and it is absolutely "correct" that we change our minds and that we tran.sform over time.

The point that I have been making about the Dawkin's Education revolution is that, Prigogine's ideas were
" PEAKING" in fashion-ability then. The ALP set out to capture the future vote with the Dawkins plan, to destroy manufacturing and trade training and set in place the building blocks of univ.ersal University education, seeking to ride a wave into the future. But, as Prigogine war.ned the future cannot be deter.mined, just as Climate cannot be determined by models, the World is a chaotic system and any ordering is time dependant and will inevitably collapse.

anniebello 02/08/10 12:26 AM Report Abuse

BBloke 15/07/10 09:45 AM Report Abuse
Active participants will be hard to find here, after the Liberal party deleted the idea's and thoughts of more than 10,000 people before they decided to tell us their ideas in favour of the electorates ideas.

We are in an election campaign and the Liberal Party now has to tell us what they stand for and ask for our feedback on those policies. Reading through the policies being presented, I can see some of those ideas and thoughts that were originally posted on this site by the likes of you and me. Someone is obviously listening.

Annabella 02/08/10 06:21 PM Report Abuse

Abolish Superannuation caps please - we all need to save for retirement so that we are not a burden on the state in our old age and it's only when we're a bit older that we can afford to put money aside for retirement planning - which is foiled by the super concessional caps.

Brian Jepsen 02/08/10 09:20 PM Report Abuse

Embrace the Henry Taxation reform recommendations as a means of invigorating the election campaign and provide some additional direction in the economic future. This could stimulate the debate in favour of the LCP considering Labour only adoppted the disasterous mining tax out of 100+ recommendations.

Anthony Donmall 03/08/10 02:48 PM Report Abuse

Paul 04/08/10 08:21 AM Report Abuse

The Labour Party today are talking down the economic credentials of the coalition. I think there are two things that the Australian people need to hear. Firstly, that the Coalition does not have experience in wracking up an enormous debt - there is only one party that has experience in doing that. Secondly, if they want to talk about lack of experience, add up the total number of years of experience in government of the Labour Cabinet and compare that with the total number of years of experience in government of the Tony Abbott cabinet. You will soon see who is more experienced at doing things right, and therefore, better fitted to run the country.

MEW 04/08/10 11:34 AM Report Abuse

Even though I don't trust most of what any politician says, Joe Hockey seems to have his finger on the economic pulse. Shame about the rest of the cabinet - Abbott, Robb, Joyce - not the best when it comes to the numbers... The one good thing that labor has done in their reign - they acted quickly (maybe a little too quickly and maybe not in the best way), but at least they were decisive. Falling into a recession would not have been good. The Liberals don't seem competent enough this time round.
Bring back Costello please!!! And seriously, Barnaby...

Sirro 05/08/10 01:10 AM Report Abuse

Guys,

Labor are playing the Man now and not the game. Its Hawker-Briton and NSW ALP straight up.

You simply must recognise this and respond. Tonight I saw 5 Labor adds within 2 hours plus a couple from the Nurses Union attacking Tony Abbott personally.

This campagn is getting dirty and its about to get very very dirty as Labor can see they are really in danger of losing power and all the lurks that they derive from it.

Policy releases are great and add to the reasons why people should vote for us ...but this negative personal campaign, particularly from Swan and Gillard has started to give Labor some momentum.

Its time to hit back with some of the lemon adds. Its time for Tony and Joe to really get stuck into Swan as the inept buffoon with no economic cred who is stealing Costellos success and claiming it as his own. Its time to focus on what a thief Gillard is. Stealing from taxpayers to waste on pet projects like the BER under the guise of education when it was really just waste. Stealing from Krudd the Prime Ministership. Paying out $900 bonuses to anyone for nothing and calling this good economic management that created jobs. Its Rot but they are getting away with it right now!

Comon ...this will slip away from you by the end of this week if you dont get back on top of them now. As Tony said today ..This election is now VERY Winable .... but it could well be lost by inaction at this crucial stage.

JIM BAILEY 05/08/10 10:50 AM Report Abuse

IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION IN SPEAKING WITH MANY PEOPLE, THAT THERE IS A MISCONCEPTION IN THE ELECTORATE THAT WHEN LABOUR STATES THAT THEY WILL BE IN SURPLUS BY 2013, THAT THE ENTIRE $500 BILLION DEBT WILL HAVE BEEN PAID BACK.
WE KNOW THIS IS NOT TRUE AS ALL THAT SURPLUS MEANS WE ARE BACK IN PROFIT WITH DISPOSABLE FUNDS TO START AND PAY BACK THE DEBT.
THIS NEEDS TO BE EXPALINED AS LABOUR IS GETTING CREDITED IN PAYING THIS MASSIVE DEBT BACK IN 3 YEARS

PM 06/08/10 11:09 AM Report Abuse

when will the Liberal Ads creators learn that $100,000,000 looks great but very forgetfull but 'Labor is borrowing $5 on behalf of every Australian every day, who will pay it back' something in does lines, will make people think and talk about it.

PB 06/08/10 12:00 PM Report Abuse

I agree with Jim Bailey 05/08/2010. Much better to show Liberal/NP plan to bring the budget to surplus together with a proposed debt repayment plan and highlight the Labour trickery for what it is. I must admit that I thought they would be paying back the debt in 3 years which on consideration would be nearly impossible.

Joyce Yeomans 06/08/10 05:58 PM Report Abuse

Tony - have a debate your choice of topics during the week following Labour's launch
Yes part of the stimulus program has been helpful in providing jobs but it was like opening Aladdins cave to Kevin Rudd. New and needed buildings in our schools is good but not duplication and waste - there is no excuse.
The money that has been wasted on the BER and pink bats could be put to good use in the regions on our roads and infrastructure. It might be a small % of gnp but just one months $100,000,000 per day would so help us on the Yorke Peninsula in SA. It is not small money to us on the ground.

AJ 06/08/10 07:37 PM Report Abuse

I know that $100,000,000 it sounds like so much. But look at the big picture.

With a population of just over 21,400,000 its only $4.6 per person. The government is borrowing the equivalent on one starbuck latte a day. I know i am paying way more interest than that per day on my house mortgage.
If its fine for me to do it why are we yelling at the government about it.

Kathryn 07/08/10 05:15 PM Report Abuse

This whole fixation with debt is a great myth, our debt is not huge, it is so frustrating to watch this beat up. I think the coalition is so utterly irresponsible and does not have the nations best interests at heart.
It is a complete farce to think that the country should never carry any debt. It was necessary. Big debt for a government, big problem, but this is not a big debt.

read this articles, listen to experts, not political spin from EITHER party.

The Liberal government put this fear out there a long time ago with the Howard government and has conned the electorate into believing it and that is an absolute disgrace!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/06/2975865.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/06/2976161.htm

and these are just a couple of the many many opinions that have been given on the subject over the past couple of years. And yet we are told by the coalition, "don't listen to economists, they never get it right". Well it might be hard to predict what is going to happen, but it is not hard for an economist to see in retrospect what has been done right! I'm so angry with the lies, so angry!

Neil Crombie 08/08/10 11:46 PM Report Abuse

You have got to be kidding right????? There is such thing as good debt, yes, just as buying a house or any other appreciating asset for all of us hard working Aussies. But this is a bad debt, do a survey of what this money was spent on and you will see that 90% of it was pissed against the wall, this money was mostly spent on stimulating china's economy. It may be $5 per person per day but for how long?? And would you borrow money to buy a Starbucks Latte'. I have no problem spending money believe me I don't but the money that the LABOR idiots wasted did nothing but change a figure on paper it is a total misconception that any jobs were saved by this nonsense. What have we got in return for this gross incompetence by Rudd, Swan and Gillard? Apart from a massive amount of debt that will not be paid back for decades to come!! Seriously people what a bloody joke, The governments actions on this have a had a direct impact on my personal situation and forced me to move from Aus due to a new tax rip off that they imposed on us to re-coup money that they mis-managed. If any one should be angry it is all the hard working people trying to get ahead in life that have had everything compromised by a negligent government grabbing at cash left right and centre to try and get their books back inline. Like I said What a bloody Joke!
Vote for who ever you like, you are entitled to and nobody should tell you otherwise, but please, please realise the realities and consequences of your actions, You sleep in the bed you make!

may puttock 09/08/10 12:07 PM Report Abuse

This is a post I prepared for the ALP, but it is important that we remind ourselves that voting Coalition is more important than just for the economy.

How timely were my remarks on Globalization yesterday?

Well, you may not know that Bruce Grant, co-author of Gareth Evans book, AUSTRALIA'S FORIEGN RELATIONS, gets a guensey in the Faifax press today. ie This is the ALP view, front line and centre. This is the Kevin Rudd, Stephen Smith, Julia Gillard view: The crux of this article is here:------ “The cluster of global institutions such as the United Nations and its agencies do not have direct access to the world's people, who remain under the control of 200 or so national governments.”

The significance of this, is that the UN Rights cabal want to displace STATES, altogether, they want to Institute, by Treaty, Legislation and sanctions, UN Rights over everything.

-----We the people don’t want universalist, one size fits all, UN Rights displacing our responsibility to be descent people, descent human beings. We do not want to be treated as children------The more Human RIGHTS, as Legislation displaces the Individual’s personal responsibility to do the RIGHT THING, the more the community will breakdown.

Personal responsibility is at the heart of what it is to be human, it is at the source of all great Literature and Art, take that away and the creative spirit of humanity is broken, it dies. You have taken away, what it means to be human-----We cannot let this happen.

------We must fight against these universalist and Absolutist bodies like the UN. We must fight against hollow people like Kevin Rudd et al. We have been fighting the simple, one size fits all mentality, throughout the whole 20th Century. We fought off communism and we must continue the fight. The Absolutist tendencies, of Communism are alive and well in the new UN inspired Rights Bodies.



http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/turning-our-backs-on-the-world-20100808-11q5z.html

R Mulder 09/08/10 08:35 PM Report Abuse

why has liberal failed to mention in all this election advertising that the Labor Gov sent millions of $ to backpackers overseas on working holiday visas during their stimulus payments, simply because they lodged a tax return. This is a damaging stuff up by the labor gov. Also, as an employer of hundreds of backpackers every year, why do we need to continue paying them superannuation that is then allowed to leave the country when they fly home? A waste of money for the employers of seasonal workers and a waste of money for the country, as this money will never be spent here.

WTF 09/08/10 10:47 PM Report Abuse

If you as a major party are so very confident about your economic credentials, why are you placing paid advertising into google against every candidate in opposition to your party policy so that this website comes up as number one ie Emma Kate Rose - Green rep in Griffith or Bob Katter - Ind for Kennedy? Let me guess... they have better policy and direction and you thought it best to associate the LNP with them.

Large potential for it to back fire. People will either think straight off that it's a 'dirty' bit of political tactics and confirm why they have been put off the LNP OR they will search around your site for anyone of the miss-represented candidate LNP paid google links only to find out they have been pointed to the wrong place and then likely to decide that it's a 'dirty' bit of political tactics. Either way - what a waste of LNP funds?

donald williams 10/08/10 10:15 AM Report Abuse

I have been advised by the RSL that the Minister stated that the current method for indexing Defence Force superannuation is correct and, therefore, one must expect that under a Labour Government there will be no change. In view of the pronoucment by Mr Abbott addressing this problem, now may be the time to let all serving and ex service personnel know of this situation.

Richard Topham 10/08/10 11:54 AM Report Abuse

We need to recognise two things. 1. The stimulus spending in the middle of the GFC was just what was required, but 2. Labor Governments love spending money and could not stop. So we had the batts and the BER etc etc long after the need for such spending had passed.

So the Libs should concentrate on asking whether the electorate wants three more years of uncontrolled spending.

Some government debt is essential for the smooth operation of money markets - ask Peter Costello - so we should not get too hung up on eliminating all debt.

acrane 10/08/10 06:45 PM Report Abuse

I have to wonder.... given the fact the country has a budget deficit... why do we need to be back in surplus within 3 years?

Let's for a moment ignore how each party plans to do this and accept it as fact that in 3 years a budget surplus will have been achieved. This will be at the cost of (depending on which government is elected) the loss of income and investment in our mining sector or the loss of what are essentially excellent plans executed poorly. I.e. BER, pink bats, laptops for students etc.

Why not aim for surplus in the initial time frame proposed of 6 years while continuing to support said programs, sustainably... as the coalition would, and without the need to tax the mining industry, if not entirely, as much as is currently proposed? Not only does this provide the necessary improvements to school infrastructure needed but it shows a government planning for a further term in office and fiscal responsibility.

AK Myrtus 11/08/10 10:12 AM Report Abuse

How long before the Libs increase the already-regressive GST to 12.5% or 15%!?

I suspect, that: at the first opportunity, the Libs will use the GFC and confected outrage over they mythical Federal debt and deficit, as excuses to increase the GST - and to counterbalance the further cutting of taxes paid by the elite and incorporated!

It is time to force the Libs to disclose their real agenda on the GST!

AK Myrtus 11/08/10 10:31 AM Report Abuse

If the Libs were GENUINELY concerned about Govt Deficit and Debt - and costs-benefits (an economic tool that they seem to have miraculously discovered post-2007) - then they would not have recklessly-created the MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR Budget black holes of: high-end tax cuts and effectively-pre-paid pensions for the already-well-off (euphemistically known as Superannuation Tax Concessions)!

I, for one, am growing increasingly sick of the elitist, draconian and divisive Libs and their flagrant lies and voodoo economics spin. So, please will the electorate wise up and put the dominant religious righteous Abbott & Co, out of our misery at the 2010 election!

Give us a break, peoples - and put Abbott & Co out on their bigoted backsides!

Maybe then, the remnant Libs will salvage a semblance of traditional Lib decency, integrity and responsibility!

Neil Crombie 11/08/10 01:59 PM Report Abuse

I for one am all for a higher GST rate. Abolish income tax altogether and make and expenditure based tax system in place of the income based system. This is fair on those of us who do not p#ss our money against the wall!!

Rob Bosch 12/08/10 09:38 AM Report Abuse

Given the recent annoncement by the CBA of record profit, it is a huge slap in the face to consumers that they should also indicate that they may neeed to put up interest rates ahead of the reserve at the same time. It shows they are not afraid of any competition as there is bugger all.
Will the Libs look at policy to put pressure on the banks and make the banking industry more competative. As a small buisness owner, I would love the opportunity to be able to slug my clients interest if they are 24hrs late in paying an invoice. This is unheard of in any other industry except for banks.
I believe that some policy move in this direction could be a big vote winner as I have not met anyone who does not have a grudge against the banks.

Go Tony, "You can do it"!!!!

Neil Crombie 13/08/10 04:47 AM Report Abuse

http://aussieexpattax.webs.com/

Get onboard, show your support.

Brad Wacker 16/08/10 04:17 PM Report Abuse

We keep hearing from Labor what a great job they have done with the economy. My family have been in business for over 90 years and things have seldom been slower than they are presently. Talking to a wide range of business associates across many different industries, it's pretty much the same for everyone else, but we keep hearing from Labor what great economic shape the country is in.
Shouldn't you be tackling them more on this? If you suggested that things in business (except in mining maybe) are no where near where Labor and the RBA says they are I am sure most business owners and their employees would strongly agree with you, since you would be saying what they know to be the real state of the economy. I say the country went into recession when the rest of the world did and we're still in recession.
I suggest taking a much more aggressive line against Labor on this.

John M Lanning 16/08/10 06:39 PM Report Abuse

I am not an economist, not particularly smart, but certainly not silly either, so I would love to hear how Labor intend to return the economy to surplus in 2012 when they are losing more than $100.000.000.00 a day (is that interest, spending, or both)! Nobody seems to have asked publicly yet, and I would love to hear an answer, as would, I'm sure many other Aussies. Would somebody ask Julia for me please?

Golfman 17/08/10 10:41 AM Report Abuse

I’ve been involved in IT as a software engineer since 1988 and have spent many years working in the telecommunications industry. Recent developments in the USA mean that the coalition's more fiscally responsible high speed broadband could be a real screamer in terms of speed, making the NBN look like a very expensive mistake.

Developments as recent as April in the USA are showing that 100Mbps over existing copper wires up to a distance of 1000 metres have been achieved in the USA and will be commercialized next year.

This means that the coalition’s cheaper and more sensible high speed broadband solution can get 100Mbps to the masses much earlier than the NBN can because it doesn’t have to wire up individual premises with fibre – it uses the existing copper pair cables, connecting them to a node on a pole or in a pillar that is situated within 1000 metres of each home. This is called Fibre to the Node (FTTN) – a much cheaper alternative to the NBN's expensive Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) strategy - and one which can be rolled out years earlier.

Speed on par with the NBN, more than most people will need, many, many years earlier and much cheaper than the NBN… now that’s a network most people would vote for!

For details:

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/042110-alcatel-lucent-boosts-broadband-over-copper.html

My interpretation of it:

http://sites.google.com/site/didjuliafoolya/nbn-already-redundant

Neil 18/08/10 04:13 PM Report Abuse

Brad,

"I say the country went into recession when the rest of the world did and we're still in recession" .

Of course mate, they changed a figure on a piece of paper that is it. There is no way possible that the small amount of money per capita injected in the way it was could possible do anything. The real spending is being clamped down by LABOR tax introductions like their Resource Super Profit Tax (MRRT same animal different Cloak) and their foreign income tax ammendments. Where we had a huge constant stimulus from the mineral and foreign income earners prior to the GFC, we will no longer have either once the full effects of their mismanagement comes to fruition.

Kathie 20/08/10 04:42 PM Report Abuse

Character Counts! (from Mindszenty Report)
Chief among the elements that define character are: honesty,
humility, responsibility, self-discipline, self-reliance, optimism, a
long-term focus, and a determination for learning.
(The Freeman-July 2008)
“Fame is vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wings. Only
one thing endures, and that is Character.”
Abraham Lincoln
YES, TONY ABBOTT YOU HAVE THE CHARACTER TO ENDURE!! Hehehe! All the best!!

Simone 24/08/10 11:46 AM Report Abuse

On Julia's side, Tony's no.

Jason Webb 25/08/10 10:56 AM Report Abuse

Joe's plan is responable, fair and good for our Children. I know as a generaition x that it would have been alot better to of not had Labor & Dept growing up in the 80s, and now we find our selfs right back where we started. I have alot of faith in Joe Hocking as tressure to get the job done, "No Question" so we all can make sure our Childeren have the future they deserve to have in Australia.

Mervyn Jacobi 06/10/10 03:49 PM Report Abuse

You are kidding yourselves, Howald Holt has been the only decent Treasurer and Prime Minister, the rest would not have been underpaid if their salary was cut by 80%. There have been complaints about CEO's etc taking a whopping bonuses even when their company makes a big loss, and yet when Politicians retire or get kicked out, and their performance has been cronic, the payout with super and all those perks, make those errant CEO's, look like gentlemen. By their operformance, they wouldn't be worth even the dole. You would have to be a party fanatic to believe otherwise, and I mean this to include the Labor party also.

Mervyn Jacobi 03/11/10 08:24 AM Report Abuse

I consider it laughable but despicable that Wayne Swan rages about the high salaries and other aspects of bank charges, and many other incidents relating to overcharging of goods and services, after all, over the last five years, he is the one who is responsible for this being able to happen, he and the party have determined the conditions which allow the high salaries and the high cost of goods and services, and when the Liberal party or any other party is in power, they are responsible. They cannot blame “Global” for every fault that the party comes up with, they have to be man enough – or women – and have the integrity and decency to accept their own blame, when it applies.

Centurion 18/11/10 12:13 PM Report Abuse

Yes Please....Labour has only ever been about waste. They have ruined the hard work of John Howard and his Ministry. They set Australia up and because of their hard work we we're able to get through the GFC. Labour continues to squander what was achieved before them. Gillard and her motley crew can never aspire to achieve what John Howard did during his magnificent PM 'ship.

Mervyn Jacobi 18/11/10 12:28 PM Report Abuse

If the people would get it into their head that Harold Holt was right, and a top tax of 66.6% was replaced on incomes in excess of $450,000 or $500'000, and no tax on incomes below about $30,000, our economy would be booming, the costs of everything would fall, living costs would be lowered and there would be a totally different outlook on our economy. The only stopping such a thing to happen, is the weird outlook of our politicians with the mining exports, the reciprocal imports are destroying / have destroyed too many of our manufacturing industries. The asked price of our coal, is so low that the importing countries can afford to reduce the price of their goods that our companies buy them in preference to supporting our own industries and their workers. The unemployment here shows as very low because the companies are giving 2 and 3 days a week employment, so we don't show an unemployment blowout.

Mervyn Jacobi 30/11/10 02:36 PM Report Abuse

When anyone goes to join a political party today, they have to sign a form “I promise to agree with the decisions of the majority”. No business of “I promise to obey the principles contained in the constitution of the party”, or any other demand to show that the applicants will have the required integrity, intelligence and allegiance to Australia, because all the decisions that have been made over the last 40 years, have been destructive to our economy, irrespective of whether the Labor Party or the Liberal Party is in power, and it is noticeable that almost all of the Prime Ministers and Treasurers have been Lawyers. It is unbelievable that any person with any intelligence can be so stupid and devoid of integrity as to drive our economy down to the depths that has happened so often over the last 40 years. And that includes John Howard and Peter Costello, along with Labors misfits, Harold Holt has been the only person with intelligence, integrity and allegiance to Australia and its people.

Mervyn Jacobi 02/12/10 09:00 AM Report Abuse

Our economy relies on a number of things,
(1) The control on the prevention of obscene salaries and other incomes which adversely affect the costs of goods and services. - The responsible of the Government and its treasurer.
(2) Imports and exports - we are exporting - and over exporting non value added, non renewable resources, and allowing our large companies to import manufactured goods that our own factories had been manufacturing (before they were destroyed by the big companies buying only imported cheap goods). The responsible of our elected government.
(3) The News media must be responsible in its reporting for our economies sake, They are just another big company more concerned with their own increasing wealth, They are a foreign company from the US, just here to gouge wealth out of our country like they do in their own country.
These problems have been carried on for at least forty years, and have involved too many governments consisting of mainly Liberal/National and Labor parties, and they have failed. We need more than just a change of government, we need a change in the requirements of persons allowed to nominate for the position to be in Government.

Mervyn Jacobi 11/12/10 11:00 AM Report Abuse

Amen and all the rest.

Mervyn Jacobi 19/01/11 08:23 AM Report Abuse

The requirements of a constitution.
A constitution is, or should, be the conscience and plans for the continuation of a successful operation of the intention of the committee or political party. Any committee or party who does not have a constitution, has no plans to follow and any of these who have a constitution and fails to honour it, cannot be trusted. All persons wishing to join a party, should have to promise to honour and obey the constitution of the party, so it can be assured that they have no excuse to wander off the ideals of that party. Unfortunately, not one of our political parties obey their own constitution, and have shown that they cannot be trusted.

Peter Holland 21/01/11 10:23 PM Report Abuse

Mr Abbott's response to the PM's water-testing (excuse the unintended pun) suggestion that a levy (excuse the PM's pun) may be required to assist flood victims at the outset of ABC news tonight 21 Jan was absolutely correct. That is, funding can be easily found from wasteful Labour costs. I said as much in an email to Mr Abbott on 20 Jan "...why not ... can the NBN, and properly nationally fund natural disaster recovery from some of the savings...". 

Penny Wong's subsequent attack on Mr Abbott on the same news bulletin by saying that the "...if it was good enough for Mr Howard to raise a levy to fund a gun buyback then it is good enough for us too ..." [my words] was political, predictable, silly but also clever. Mr Abbott's response to Penny Wong was safe but may need more work in the future.

Why is Penny Wong's statement clever?

1. The buyback was not cheap, say, AUD500 million in yesterday's dollars [see http://previousleigh.wordpress.com/2007/04/24/what-the-gun-buyback-cost/
2. The Nationals had trouble with the issue then, and therefore should not be drawn into this particular discussion now. The Nationals are crucial for the Coalition to win the next election.

What might be part of Mr Abbot's future response?

A potentially safe response if this gets politically ugly, which it will, is "... The guns buyback has saved 200 Australian lives a year and boosted the economy by AUD500 million a year since 1996. That is, total savings of 2,600 Australian lives and over AUD6 billion added to the Australian economy ..." [once again, my quotes]. It probably would not be politically smart to also state the following ''... this [that is, the guns buyback] is clearly one of John Howard's greatest legacies - perhaps even one of his greatest economic legacies ...". I personally absolutely agree with this quote. Both of the quotes in this paragraph are referenced in http://www.smh.com.au/national/howards-gun-legacy--200-lives-saved-a-year-20100829-13xne.html

Best wishes Peter

Mervyn Jacobi 28/01/11 03:32 PM Report Abuse

Obviously, the fanatics will sing praises for good things that do not happen, and complain if something is done and turns out bad as long as they can blaime the opposing party. Our political parties are all crap, and will continue to destroy our economy, and claim that their governing has been a success, and all those idiot fanatics will jump up and wave their hands and scream how wonderful "My party" is.

Mrvyn Jacobi 04/02/11 11:09 AM Report Abuse

I am totally against the exporting of Australia's mined resources, as the only returns we get for them is foreign manufactured goods we had been manufacturing ourselves. Unfortunately our “So intelligent party politicians” seem to consider that the mining consortium are more important than our own people engaged in manufacturing, those people who – after spending their early life in building up the industries for their own livelihood and the economy of all Australia, are now condemned to the scrap heap along with their dependants. The Parties which have been in power – particularly since 1970, have consistently showed they have no intelligence or integrity, and through their ignorance – or is it corruption, have constantly maintained that our export of these non-renewable, non value resources are the mainstay of our economy. They are continuing to destroy our economy, and to protect themselves against legitimate intelligent attacks, are claiming a faulty “Global economy”, and yes it is, but only because the politicians in all the countries in the world are too ignorant to learn the lessons from their earlier venture of a high top tax. Look up “ History of US taxes”, “History of Australia's taxes” and “History of taxes in UK”, then “Taxes around the world”. When taxes are above 66.6%, excessively high salaries are avoided and prices of goods and services are lowered. When the top tax gets be low 45% or even 50%, a recession is likely and when it is below 40% and as in the US 34% has allowed salaries as high as $US 100 million, but also causes extremely high unemployment and associated crime, when the economy of a country gets bad, crime flourishes, more often as a matter of urgency to fight to provide existence for self and family.

Mervyn Jacobi
13 Marlborough St
Sherwood. 4075
0733793418

centurion 04/02/11 11:24 AM Report Abuse

Unfortunately, Labour has produced weak leaders, look at the the resignations of Victorian and Tasmanian leaders in recent times, we understand that life is a lot different these days and we all need to consider an appropriate work life balance but they just don't seem to have any where near the same tenacity of those who have filled the positions before them. This worries me as it suggests they find it difficult to complete their term whilst standing by the more difficult decisions they've made for their respective States.

Mervyn Jacobi 04/02/11 04:31 PM Report Abuse

A Worthy Challenge For Political Parties And Other Australians.

The Political Parties seem to be lost in conflict about which Party is the best, and the difference in value between the parties is fought out every three years, but still leaving the population in doubts about which one will be the best. And we still do not achieve any real improvement.
I have a suggestion, we know that generally Australia is a dry continent and yet periodically it gets flooded with a quantity of rain that inundates large areas of our land. Can these flood waters be redirected and stored? Just imagine the potential open to us if irrigation can be carried out and food and fodder can be grown, and instead of floods of disaster, we have floods of protection against famine, Is the effort worth it, or do our political parties want to keep fighting with each other, proving only that they are both gangs of unreliable useless such and such.

Mervyn Jacobi 11/02/11 03:30 PM Report Abuse

Obviously, Tony is suffering from foot in the mouth disease, I know that he is set up a lot, but he does respond too often in a manner which indicates that he is not prime Minister material.

Mervyn Jacobi 07/03/11 05:55 AM Report Abuse

Relying on the parliamentarians and putting up with them over the last forty years have made us losers, and it is our own fault. We may want to prevent global warming, but you'd have to be an optimist to believe that the presentation offered, will do anything except increase costs of everything, without achieving anything else. If you have seen anything over the last forty years that have improved our living conditions or the economy, I would like to hear it. Irrespective of which of the two parties is in government, they have both proved to be failures, and it is time they were dumped, surely a party with integrity can be organised and got into power. Unfortunately there are a number of fanatics who will keep screaming that “My party is great”, even when it dumps the economy back into recession for about the fourth or fifth time.

Mervyn Jacobi 30/03/11 08:55 AM Report Abuse

I have been waiting for some years to see some indication of intelligence and integrity from the both parties, but it has been in vain. All I can see is stupidity and possibility corruption. The consistent insistence of Wayne Swan and the team to continue with this low top personal tax and low corporate tax has been destroying the economy for the last forty or so years, and was shown by the dive into the “recession we had to have” with Paul Keating about 1985. It has been followed by recessions by John Howard and Peter Costello in the '90's etc, and by Wayne Swan several times since his term as treasurer. Both the parties – Liberal and Labor have been quick to claim “Global economy” for their incompetence, inability to even recognise what and where the problem is, even though Wayne has been told several times. The Global warming issue, is another instance where even if it is actual, I cannot see where the tax intended to be applied, is going to affect any improvement at all, maybe one of your “intelligent” gang can advise me and the rest of Australia. Admittedly, the Liberal party seems to be equally ignorant of the necessities to return Australia to an economical success. We can no longer live in this hopeless tangle of stupidity, and have to look forward for a party with intelligence and integrity, and allegiance to Australia and our people. The obsession of both parties in the export of our non-renewable, non-value added resources with the reciprocal imports of all the goods we used to manufacture in Australia, clothing, tools, cars, even trains, shows that these incompetents are wholly determined in destroying the economy and whatever else still exists in our country. As you might get from this message, I and most likely many more will not be voting any more for either the Labor or the Liberal parties in future elections. I have to wonder how a gang of so called professionals can be so stupid or is it corrupt, maybe it is something they are eating or drinking, but they had better get off it quick, it might be fatal the way it is affecting them. The obvious moron remarks that both parties have in their fanatics, shows there is not much hope in either.

Mervyn Jacobi 13/04/11 09:28 AM Report Abuse

Bruce, Your party has been in power many times over the last forty years, If it wasn't important enough for your party then to ensure that small business survived and really did become a prosperous industry, why should these businesses believe that your party would do such a thing now. You have no pride and small businesses and our workers have poverty, John Howard saw to it that the number of unemployed was concealed by ensuring that as long as people were working at least regular one hour a week, they were listed as not unemployed. Such is the dishonesty of our members of political parties.

Jones 09/05/11 10:59 PM Report Abuse

Joe: Can't you just sum it up with the phrase "Labor Largesse"?

Nguyen 13/05/11 03:46 PM Report Abuse

Labour party is imposing on Carbon Tax in order to have the budget returned to surplus in 2013

Mervyn Jacobi 17/06/11 02:44 PM Report Abuse

You people obviously do not have a single clue how tax levels work, a flat tax of 20% would allow the higher salary group to take higher and higher levels of income as in the US, where the top tax is 35% and thousands or maybe millions of workers are out of a job, and broke while the CEO’s of the big companies have taken $ millions. The US government had to give Leymans ( I think that’s the correct spelling) $2 billion so they would have enough in hand to finance housing, but the CEO of Leymans kept taking $ one million salary. We have had several types of tax, and the best tax so far was organised by Harold Holt who put the top tax up to 66.6% and had no tax on what would have been about $10,000 today, but that was not enough, the treasurers have found that the amount of taxes taken has to be about 30% of GDP and the only way that can be done, is to also have no tax on about the first $30,000, it might even need to be more. Unfortunately, the intelligence of those people who get into parliament is not what you could call very wonderful.

Peter Gelme 24/06/11 04:02 PM Report Abuse

Please don't forget middle Australia, despite what the 'Greens/Labor coalition' say joint incomes of 150k do not make you wealthy, it just means you can pay your bills, I can't afford prestige cars, we turn our lights out at night and heater off and just put more clothes on, the power bills are crazy, and are going to get worse, we are losing rebates, FBT benefits, medicare benefits etc. I see low to no income families obtaining welfare payments, discounts and benefits to bring them almost to middle class without the effort. I work hard and get penalised for it, the higher I move in my career the harder financially it is for my wife and I and I am completely puzzled as to how this is occuring. I was always tought that if you work hard you will succeed, under Labor this is not the case. They are actively trying to penalise middle Australia.

Mervyn Jacobi 29/06/11 10:25 AM Report Abuse

Peter, both labor and Liberal have been doing that, and you can put it down to the fact that Lawyers just don't have a clue on the affects that tax can have, it can be of great use for restraint of excessive obscene incomes, but Lawyers don't know and don't want to know. The Parties seem to seek out Lawyers and Rhode Scholars with the belief that they are more intelligent than normal, but their knowledge is only artificial information, out of a book with no real practical personal knowledge. You can see the antics of Tony at almost any time, and the moron decisions that Wayne Swan has been making. The parties set out to intice who would be the best option at an election, and those people are too often fatal to the economy. Everybody wants a good economy, but both the Labor and Liberal have let us down.

Peter 29/06/11 07:35 PM Report Abuse

So what's the solution? I know at this point the Greens are anti humans, and the labor party is so desperate to stay in power they will sell out completely to the greens to stay there...The independants held the country to ransom at the last election...personally that leaves me with only one option.

Mervyn Jacobi 06/07/11 07:55 AM Report Abuse

AK Myrtus , Is certainly throwing the ball back at the obsessive fanatic wimps. Too many people have quickly forgotten why the Liberal Party lost the 2007 election, and the memory of its poor attacks against the Australian workers has certainly diminished in their mind, if they have one. There is no argument that the Labor party is totally devoid of concern for the Australian industries and their workers, Just the same as the Liberal. I agree with him that the Politicians, who have been in Parliament, should never have been allowed in there in the first place, and those who have been getting in should have to survive on the unemployment income, or show that they can hold onto a real job where they have to show their true value. To join any party, it seems that all you have to do is to sign a promise “that you will agree with the decisions of the majority”. Why the Majority, they are not and never ever have been the most intelligent of any community, and looking at the apparent level of intelligence of both the majority of the remarks on this site, and that of those in the political parties, they have proved my point.

Mervyn Jacobi 26/07/11 02:17 PM Report Abuse

If the parties are as intelligent as you people believe, why do they keep driving the economy down into a recession, it has happened four or five times over the last thirty years.

The recession happens when the top tax is lowered far enough to allow people with uncontrolled incomes to increase their incomes causing higher prices of goods and services and creating bad conditions for many workers and those on a pension, and prevents them buying a home, which is different to back in the 1950’s and ‘60’s.

The high tax should be tempered with a Zero tax on about $30,000 today to suit the treasurer’s requirement of that 30% of GDP.

The cheap prices put on our resource exports has further expanded the problem, and the reciprocal imports are brought in cheaper and sold cheaper and this is destroying our own manufacturing industries and the income for our workers. The unemployment figure is a farce, because the unemployment figure is only counted on those who have no permanent employment, and certainly does count those who can only get two or three days work a week, a problem which has been happening more and more over the last thirty years.

It is a fact that what bad economy is made by the Federal Government, also affects the State government, and they make bad decisions in attempting to correct the situation, I suggest that this is what has happened with Anna Bligh, and it would also have happened to NLP, LNP or any other party that was in power in any state.

Mervyn Jacobi

13 Marlborough St

Sherwood. 4075

0733793418

Spike B 26/07/11 02:26 PM Report Abuse

We have to get Labor out.

There is a you tube video called "Carbon Tax - Do the Labor dance", lie to Australian Voters, Bribe Australian voters, Tax Australian Voters etc....it's funny and unfortunately true.

The link is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzLjI9dUWBU

We have to get Labor out - this can't go on.

carolyn 07/08/11 01:10 PM Report Abuse

Carbon TAX
puts costs of living up
puts strain on peoples health in the workplace because the work place was making people sick .
and there is no support for people with depression
there is no support for people with disabilities such as mine which is an intellectual one IM deaf I just dont tell people .
BIllions in unclaimed super left sitting on the funds
little support for pensioners im talking elderly and disabled
technology is expensive and costs the earth
better health care but services people can access
AND LABOURS MIS MANAGEMENT PUT THE COUNTRY INTO DEBT RECESSION

Nicholas 03/09/11 08:43 PM Report Abuse

I agree this is extremely important.

I have found that many left-wing socialist governments believe that the only way to return to surplus (after a defecit they caused themselves) is to raise taxes to compensate for high levels of spending.

Labor always run us into debt. They did it during the Whitlam era, Hawke-Keating era and the Rudd-Gillard era, and the media portrays all these individuals as pioneers and great prime ministers.

Even without any political bias, if someone looks objectively towards Labor's management against the Liberal party, you would see that Labor spends way too much and ends up in a situation with debt. The Liberals always need to make the hard decisions and reduce spending to pay off the massive debt Labor had accumulated as the previous government.

It is indeed possible for Mr. Hockey to do this because he was part of the Howard years which had seen a surplus based government and he has a good mind for economics.

Good luck Mr. Hockey!

Mervyn Jacobi 15/09/11 10:45 AM Report Abuse

I certainly have no confidence with the carbon tax, particularly if one is needed, the Labor party have shown they have no ability to properly control one, they haven't had the ability to control themselves or anything else they have touched,
The Politicians and Journalists seem to have the same problem with conjoining their remarks with the history of events. For instance:-
Greece has a very poor economy at the moment. It has corporate tax of 22/25%, Personal tax 0-40% with 19% VAT.
USA is in financial trouble, Corporate tax of 15-35%, Personal tax 10-35%.
UK is not too bright, Corporate tax 30%, Personal tax 0-40%, VAT 17.5%
Australia workers suffering, Corporate tax 30%, Personal tax 17%-45% GST 10%.
When you consider that USA had a top personal tax of 94% in the 1950’s with a good economy and remained with a good economy until the personal tax was reduced. It is unbelievable that people with intelligence do not see the problem.
The UK had a top personal tax of 80% in 1946, with a penalty of 146% if the income was over 8,000 pounds.
Greece has been in serious financial trouble and has called on other countries for help, if a higher top tax was implemented, it would be able to finance its own way and give its own workers the benefit of a better employment and economy. The same can be said about every country in the world, and they cannot contend that it is not of the making of their own members of their parliament.
The motto that could be and should be seen from this is that as the top tax comes down, the uncontrolled incomes go up and so does the cost of goods and services, and the economy goes down.
It seems that the top personal tax should be 65-70% with zero tax on approximate $30,000, Corporate tax should be about 55-60% as in the 1960’s, and the GST should be wiped out to give an impetus to wage earners in our Country.
Mervyn Jacobi
13 Marlborough St.
Sherwood. 4075.

Mervyn Jacobi 21/09/11 12:59 PM Report Abuse

I am far from impressed with the poor performance of our political parties, the reduction of the top rate of the personal tax has allowed CEO’s and others whose incomes are under no control to increase their salaries. This increases the costs of goods and services such as food, clothing and housing and makes it hard or impossible for workers to buy or even rent a home. The economy has all but shut down, and these parties have resorted to exporting our mined resources with the expectation of pulling the country out if a recession. Unfortunately, the reciprocal imports are the goods we had been manufacturing and these imports are destroying our own industries. The further problem is that our coal is being priced at less than 30% of what the same coal was being sold for in Pohang in South Korea and this is was still cheaper than the value mooted by the Commonwealth minister of Mines in Hansard 1957, and opening the gate for our importers to receive goods at that 30% cheaper than we could manufacture them in Australia..
Because the Government is unable to obtain a good economy and keep our workers employed and our factories functioning OK, they keep changing their direction to keep their incompetence out of your mind, and resort to attacking the boat refugees and a also global warming. They have not shown that they have any competence in any of the projects they have attempted, and it is doubtful that they will succeed in either of these.

Mervyn Jacobi 13/11/11 11:11 AM Report Abuse

I wonder what the present members and past members of parliament and political parties think of their mothers and fathers, I believe that most of them would have been either a Clerk, boilermaker, carpenter, nurse, electrican, school teacher, medical practitioner or some other such occupation that they are treating now with contempt. Is there a school teacher? Because a school teacher could tell them that they could get an average of 30% of the GDP by increasing the zero tax rate up to $30,000 or $40,000, instead of decreasing the top tax rate from the 66.6% that it was during the 1950-1970 period, and allow the economy to regain its prosperity. Unfortunately to join a political party, it seems that all you have to do is sign to promise to agree with the decisions of the majority of the party. AS the majority are not the most intelligent of them – if they are intelligent at all, it does not build up much of an intelligent group in the parties.
They could try changing the requirement to join by demanding that members have to sign to promise to honour and obey the decisions in the party’s constitution.

Mervyn Jacobi 19/11/11 05:45 AM Report Abuse

The disastrous decisions made by both the Labor and Liberal/National parties over the last forty years, has destroyed our economy, destroyed our manufacturing industries, destroyed any incentive of our workers to even attempt to establish themselves into an industry, because they can see that with the unintelligent decisions of the members of the various parties in power, there is no hope of gaining the ability to carry on living a normal life with a spouse and family. With the wages unable to support the purchase of the essential home and still supply food and clothing plus those other things that makes living a pleasure. The “Occupy Melbourne”, and other such groups demonstrating around the world, shows – and proves that the people who obtain the positions to be in Parliament, do not have any knowledge of the disastrous effects of their decisions in Parliament.
The wages are controlled by a fairly responsible judge, but the taxes are determined by what can only be described as by some rabble who was able to get into Parliament by some unintelligent method of choosing members to take an important position in Parliament. All the people who get into Parliament are only chosen by their party affiliation, not by any other manner to indicate the intelligence or ability.

Mervyn Jacobi 20/11/11 06:54 AM Report Abuse

Over the last forty years, despite Harold Holt’s project of increasing the top personal tax to 66.6% and being moderately successful, the later treasurers have steadily reduced the tax back to 45% and returned the economy to bordering on a recession. The fact that all the Liberal parties and most of the Labor parties have had Lawyers as both Prime Ministers and Treasurers, might not have anything to do with the fact that most of our manufacturing industries have been destroyed and our other industries mainly farming, are not too healthy.
How long can the export of our non-renewable resources last, from what I can see, there is an unholy rush to export all of these resources before someone realises that without these resources, we cannot manufacture any goods ourselves, and in the meantime our industries and the expert experience involved is being lost. I want to see the return of the 66.6% tax but with zero tax on the first $30,000, because I believe that is what is needed to return the prosperity of Australia. The reciprocal imports from our resource exports including the coal seam gas exports cannot revive the spirit of our trades men and our young people who have gone through schooling over the last ten or so years. Try to tell them otherwise. It would be an improvement if the politicians also read these remarks.

Rob K Gold Coast 22/11/11 03:45 PM Report Abuse

We live in the year 2011 and we have a patched up shambles of a tax system that all tax practitioners such as myself agree needs serious change. In the era of mega profits of not only miners but also banks, large retailers, property developers and the like it is time to revisit higher, not lower tax rates. Why are company profits taxed at a flat rate of 30%. I would propose a sliding scale with net profit thresholds of say $2M, $5M, $10M, and the rest to pay a higher rate of tax as do individuals. It could be 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%. Imputation will look after shareholders and profits could also be invested in locally aquired Depreciable Assets with accelerated write-off provisions or here's a novel idea, infrastucture bonds.
For god sake all parties need to stop lying and stuffing around the edges with temporary band aid fixes and actually do something to reform the outrageous bureaucratic crap we call the tax act. Try dealing with it from our side, not yours!

Mervyn Jacobi 25/11/11 04:06 AM Report Abuse

Labor and Liberal parties under the Lawyer administration, have lost all the principles that were inherent since conception of the parties, the workers have been lost in the new world of the “lawyer” administration, and the workers, wage earners have lost their voice in negotiations within the Law. Lawyers have been running the parties, and have no intention of bothering about fairly representing the working society in any context within the Parliament. I suspect that the members representing the unions are continuing to pay for the presenting of the “Labor” party for elections, and this should stop immediately. I will certainly not be supporting any party again. Neither party adhere to the constitution they used to gain admission to have their party’s name on the ballot paper for elections. It’s a pity that they don’t have the integrity to follow and obey the part’s constitution!.
I agree with entirely with Robk of the gold coast, unfortunately we have had intellectual idiots in political parties for too long, They can't even obey their own constitution. there is the same bios between political parties as there is or was in the religous groups, and that is just a sign of a low mental intelligence.