In response to the federal Coalition’s proposal for $100 billion in cuts to housing, transport, education, and climate solutions, the 30 undersigned organisations released the following statement:
Peter Dutton and the Coalition made their priorities clear today with a proposal to gut social services and roll back Australian renewables – all to fund their expensive nuclear fantasy.
The radical proposal would slash everything from housing and public transport to renewable energy and manufacturing jobs in an attempt to find the $100 billion they’d need to bankroll their unpopular nuclear scheme – a scheme that would drive up energy bills in the short, medium, and long-term.
By attacking both bedrock social programs and the renewable energy already providing 40% of Australia’s electricity, the Coalition would undercut Australia’s economic prosperity, undermine investor certainty, and make life harder for Australians already doing it tough.
By scrapping Future Made in Australia, Powering the Regions Fund and Rewiring the Nation, Peter Dutton would also abandon the key initiatives designed to reduce carbon pollution and reform the economy to ensure we remain prosperous and internationally competitive in a decarbonising world.
Peter Dutton’s attacks on a Future Made in Australia are especially telling, a rehash of the tired arguments Donald Trump and the Republicans used in their attempt to kill the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
Contrary to their ‘sky-is-falling’ rhetoric, however, U.S. inflation has decreased substantially since the U.S. passed its signature clean industry policy. Meanwhile, the policy has crowded in private investment equivalent to six times the support it provides, driven the creation of 210 new clean projects, created 400,000 new jobs and added $155B to the U.S. GDP annually.
The Coalition wants Australians to forego that same opportunity and sacrifice their own social services so they can prop up a nuclear industry expected to raise household energy bills an average of $1000 annually. If elected, Peter Dutton risks taking Australia back to the decade of chaos that characterised the Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison years on climate and energy policy.
This proposal is a transparent stunt, not a serious plan. Where the Coalition should be proposing real solutions on cost of living, the economy, and climate, they continue to offer only denial, delay, and disinformation. The Australian people deserve far more.
[textblock style=”7″]
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be greatly appreciated.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
[/textblock]
It’s good news really. As long as the thing from the swamp thinks this stupid idea will win him an election he will remain in opposition and we can all continue laughing at him/them until somebody with at least a modicum of common sense boots him out and brings the fossilised LNP in to our current century rather than their present path returning to the dark ages.
John C:
That was my first thought, too. And for the same reason: these proposals are so absurd as to defy any modicum of good sense and sensibility, and couldn’t possibly garner any public support.
And then I reminded myself of H.L. Mencken’s pithy admonition that nobody has ever lost either money or high office because of underestimating the intelligence of the voting public.
I mean, SOMEBODY voted for Scotty from marketing. And for the Donald, and in favour of Brexit …
A useful reminder, Arnd. The tired old adage that the voters generally get it right is, er, wrong. My faith in the wider electorate is not great. The recent referendum is an indicator of its susceptibility to dodgy campaigns and big money influence.
Dutton is all about division and chaos because he will do anything for the power of being in government, literally anything, just like Chump. For that reason it is my opinion that he has no intention of actually building any nuclear reactors. I don’t think anyone (even him) can be that stupid to actually spend that much money for something that will provide minimal impact on the electricity grid. I think his actual plan is the continued use of coal and gas. He will disrupt further development in renewables so his rich mates can continue to make mega profits from coal and gas, although he will have to do something about building new power stations given so many are nearing end of life.
I also think he will continue to cancel all of Labor’s big initiatives mentioned in the article because to him they are a waste of money and provide little to his rich mates. He will come up with new stuff to benefit them no doubt.
But ATM anything that comes out of his mouth is solely focused on getting back into government. They don’t care about Australia, the citizens, the economy, reputation, or anything else. They want the power. Witness the nine long years they were in government and basically alll they did was destroy everything.
And he thinks the public will go along with this strategy? Despite all the costings on nuclear energy showing that it is far more expensive than wind or solar?
This is almost an Trumpian level of delusion.
Peter Duckwit-Futton is a perverted, political, peanutbrained, pustular, predatory plop of pillockles and pathetic policies for donors, a tip of the shaft of filth to get, grab and gouge, without the national interest or the people considered. Traitor.
The fact that this is even a serious discussion illustrates the backing of media bias/propaganda/stupidity , especially by the Murdoch/Sky simpletons,the gullibility of certain sections of the public and inbred hatred of everything Labor.So Dutton gets a boost to ideas that should be dismissed for the horseshit they are.Unfortunately,the craven responses of Labor have helped pave the way for a bloke who was gifted dog food on his flight from the Queensland coppers.It’s not difficult to understand why.
He’s never going to get enough votes to form government,and Labor is only going to get enough to form a minority next time,but in the meantime he’s filling his last days causing as much trouble as he can.Why is he so despised?
Harry Lime asks a pertinent question. Why is Duckwit-Futton so despised? Maybe drill down into this head-scratcher. The people within the electorate of Dickson have elected & reelected Duckwit-Futton eight times since 2001. Labor held the seat from April 93 to March 96, and again from October 98 to November 2001. DF has been the incumbent ever since. Clearly the punters think he’s the best candidate, but hey, it’s Queensland, where a corrupt peanut farmer ruled the roost for nearly twenty years.
So, another paradox. Duckwit-Futton is rightly despised across a large swathe of this land, but is given largess by the good burghers of north Brisbane. Perhaps they don’t listen to the news, or follow politics; preferring instead to go huntin’, fishin’, rootin’, and so on, hang with the mates over a few beers at the barby while waiting for the Broncos next match. Duckwit-Futton’s homeys, no doubt. Along with the importer of American maxi-utes who likes to do a few lines with his crew to loosen up after a hard day’s yakka.
Dutton’s margin in Dickson is under 3%, and it went backwards last time.He tried to bail out to the Gold Coast a couple of votes back(safer seat),but was rejected.He has zero hope of cracking the top job,firstly, because the LNP are fucking hopeless, and secondly, he could lose his seat anyway.Like so many in his party,reality is a foreign concept,but his delusion is all consuming.Assisted by his fuckwit cronies in the trash media.Normal people wouldn’t want to be within a hundred miles of the cretin.
Like I said before,his only game is to cause as much shit as possible for the government,facts(like Trump) don’t get a look in.
Him and his whole mob are shitting themselves, that they might loose their sinecure. Recognizing that they’ve got absolutely nothing cogent or constructive swirling around in their hampster wheels, they’ve moved to the extreme brutal bogan numbskull right, hoping they can bugle a war-cry into them.
Worse still is the numbskull mainstream media and Atlas / Advance et al pushing for them in the hope they’ll have a govt to do the dirty deeds for them, and their corrupt tax-dodging, wasteful polluting mates.