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Liberals stuffing up Australia

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Mugwump 



Joined: 28 Jul 2007
Location: Between London and Melbourne

PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 4:51 am
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Tannin wrote:
Mugwump wrote:
I'm a long way away from this, but Tannin, if the deficit is being so savagely cut, and it remans $60 Bil in 4 years time - doesn;t that suggest that either (i) the cuts are not as savage as they are reputed to be ; or (ii) the trail of public spending commitments is so high that it takes these deep cuts even to keep the deficit level (in MOD terms, ie declining in real terms) ?


A worthwhile question, Mugwump!

No, neither of these things. Hockey has been spending like a drunken sailor and has more than doubled the projected deficit in just six months. The damage has been twofold: first, he relaxed the tight overall spending controls in place when he took office, second - and probably the more important of the two - Abbott and Hockey took the axe to revenue in a big way. A great long list of tax reforms and anti-rort measures was canceled; for example the lucrative car leasing tax rort was restored, the 100% tax break for very wealthy people with huge amounts of super was similarly brought back. I forget the rest of the list, but it was long. (Was it 56 different things? Some large number, anyway.)

Next up, they plan to slash revenue further by abolishing both the mining tax and the carbon tax, and cutting company tax so that people wealthy enough to have their assets in a company and not in their own name can pay less than you and I do.

Not only that, there are some massively wasteful, massively expensive new expenditures: the $50,000 baby payment (for rich mothers only - poor ones get nothing) will cost a bomb; the absurd and useless Direct Inaction climate change scheme - which will achieve practically nothing and all the economists agree on this - is set to hand over huge sums to big polluters. There are many smaller ones as well, and they all add up.

And then there are the already-in-train costs you mention. These are expensive things which both parties were already committed to: the new fighters for the Air Force, the NDIS, and the Gonski education reforms are very, very expensive. Abbott is weaseling his way out of as much of them as he dares - Pyne has been slashing away at education and they have already delayed the NDIS to save a bit, but these are big things to pay for just the same.

Finally, all this is taking place against a background of long-term decline in government revenue. There are three main reasons for this:

(1) Howard's over-generous series of income tax cuts (that poltroon Rudd added one more, which was equally stupid).

(2) The sustained failure of Liberal and Labor governments to address tax avoidance on a grand scale through many different and often technically legal strategies - for example,


(3) The shift in the economy as a whole away from general goods and services towards other goods and services which are GST-exempt. A much smaller proportion of the average household budget now goes to things (which generally attract GST and are much, much cheaper than they used to be, partly because of our absurdly high dollar but for other reasons also) and a much larger proportion goes on GST-exempt services such as private education and health care, both of which are much dearer than they used to be and still going up.

Government expenditure, as a proportion of GDP, is now much lower than at any time in living memory, and it's now significantly lower here than it is is almost all comparable advanced nations. Simply, we don't have a spending problem; we have a revenue problem, and Hockey isn't doing anything about it. Neither did Rudd - in fact, like Howard, he helped create the problem. Gillard and Swan did a little better - a very little - but they were merely the best of a very bad lot.


A good and informative answer, thanks. I like fiscal rectitude, on the whole, but it involves an income line as well as a spending line, and it makes most sense when times are good, not when times are tough - and it needs a balanced contribution. It doesn't sound like much of a budget, even from this distance.... cheers

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stui magpie Gemini

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.


Joined: 03 May 2005
Location: In flagrante delicto

PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2014 8:30 pm
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What is this superannuation rort for rich people that people keep referring to? I must have missed this one somewhere or forgotten it. IIRC you can only put $25k pa into super at the low tax rate and after that the tax goes way up.

Is it that or something else?

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1061 



Joined: 06 Sep 2013


PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 6:20 am
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Now we have the state Libs screwing 000.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/russian-roulette-trial-of-triple0-roster-cuts-20140811-10225i.html
Quote:
Triple-0 call centres will have fewer operators on hand to receive emergency requests for the police and fire brigade under a new cost-cutting trial.

Leaked documents reveal the trial, running from July to September, trims the minimum number of fire brigade call-takers from eight to six during the day, and from seven to five staff at night.

Minimum staffing levels of Victoria Police call-takers drop from six to four between 5pm and 1am on weekdays and all times during the weekends, and from four to two staff between 1am and 5am on week nights.

An internal email from the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority, which runs the triple-0 service, said it was closely monitoring the trial and would scrap the program if an "unacceptable level of risk" was identified.

A spokeswoman for the authority has confirmed the trial has been running for several weeks.
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Dave The Man Scorpio



Joined: 01 Apr 2005
Location: Someville, Victoria, Australia

PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 10:39 am
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With raising the Price of going to the Doctors just showing how much we are getting Screwed over from the Bloody Libs Evil or Very Mad
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Culprit Cancer



Joined: 06 Feb 2003
Location: Port Melbourne

PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:33 pm
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I would hate to work at a Public Hospital as they will get people heading there instead of the Doctors. The LNP have been trying to destroy Medicare for years and this is their best attempt yet.

Divide and Conquer mantra will actually deal them one term Government.
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HAL 

Please don't shout at me - I can't help it.


Joined: 17 Mar 2003


PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:34 pm
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What would make you hate to work at a Public Hospital as they will get people heading there of the Doctors?
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David Libra

I dare you to try


Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda

PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 4:04 pm
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http://m.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/new-20-gp-fee-abbott-governments-health-charge-changes-explained-20150113-12n32h.html

Disgraceful. I hope some clinics are brave enough to stand up against this daylight robbery. And to think Abbott promised no cuts to health!

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Skids Cancer

Quitting drinking will be one of the best choices you make in your life.


Joined: 11 Sep 2007
Location: Joined 3/6/02 . Member #175

PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 4:31 pm
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The last bit from that link.....

But isn't GP care free in Australia?

Not for everybody. In 2013-14, about 83 per cent of all GP visits were bulk billed, meaning the patient paid nothing.

That's a lot of people paying nothing Shocked (is that fair?)

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David Libra

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 4:40 pm
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I don't think free healthcare is a matter of "fair" or "unfair". It should be a basic human right.

How fair is it that people's access to medicine and check-ups should depend on their bank balance?

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Dave The Man Scorpio



Joined: 01 Apr 2005
Location: Someville, Victoria, Australia

PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 4:55 pm
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David wrote:
http://m.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/new-20-gp-fee-abbott-governments-health-charge-changes-explained-20150113-12n32h.html

Disgraceful. I hope some clinics are brave enough to stand up against this daylight robbery. And to think Abbott promised no cuts to health!


Abbott is the Worst PM for a Very Long time IF not Ever.

He would rather people live on the Streets then try and help them

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1061 



Joined: 06 Sep 2013


PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 5:17 pm
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David wrote:
I don't think free healthcare is a matter of "fair" or "unfair". It should be a basic human right.

How fair is it that people's access to medicine and check-ups should depend on their bank balance?


I think you should localise it to Basic Australian Human Right!
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stui magpie Gemini

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.


Joined: 03 May 2005
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 6:14 pm
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David wrote:
I don't think free healthcare is a matter of "fair" or "unfair". It should be a basic human right.

How fair is it that people's access to medicine and check-ups should depend on their bank balance?


I haven't been bulk billed for years. The only Bulk Billing clinic i know of anywhere nearby is the Superclinic at mill park. So I pay to see the GP and get back the Medicare portion which is a bit over half.

The clinic bilk bills those people who have a Health Care card only.

I have no problem with that in fact, I think that's fair and reasonable.

On the otherhand, if you need to be treated at an Emergency department at a Public Hospital you get treated the same regardless of how much money you have. Again, that's fair and reasonable IMHO.

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Tannin Capricorn

Can't remember


Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Location: Huon Valley Tasmania

PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 6:37 pm
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So now that Abbott's unfair $7 doctor tax has been knocked back by the Senate, they sneak in a new $20 doctor tax through the back door.

"No changes to Medicare". What a lying, devious cnut that Abbott creature is.

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Dave The Man Scorpio



Joined: 01 Apr 2005
Location: Someville, Victoria, Australia

PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 6:54 pm
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Tannin wrote:
So now that Abbott's unfair $7 doctor tax has been knocked back by the Senate, they sneak in a new $20 doctor tax through the back door.

"No changes to Medicare". What a lying, devious cnut that Abbott creature is.


IF Abbott stays in after next election. They must be a lot of Idiots in Australia.

I bet he and his Lib Mates get’s a Payrise after he take as much money away from the Australian Public as Possible

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Tannin Capricorn

Can't remember


Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Location: Huon Valley Tasmania

PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 7:55 pm
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There already are, Dave, sad to say. They put him in at the last election even though Blind Freddie could tell it was a certainty that he'd be the same divisive, dishonest extremist fruitcake he'd been in opposition, they just chose to suspend their disbelief for reasons still difficult to explain. If he'd had any common sense at all he'd have soft-pedaled his unfair, anti-Australian policies and been Prime Minister for ten years. But because he was stupid enough to go balls-out on a wreck-everything policy from day one. As a result, even the conservative cross-bench senators have blocked his legislation and he's got Buckley's chance of getting another term.

We are pretty stupid here in Australia, I agree, but we are not that stupid. Roll on the election. Abbott is GAWN.

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