It’s not all about the economy, Mr Morrison. What about jobs?
1 Today, I would like to draw your attention to a campaign press conference the Prime Minister gave at around 10 am April 27, in which he was asked a question about taxes.
Now I must confess that my objectivity these days suffers when I listen to him. I have written much about his lying (and his proven guilt of lying) that I’m trying to pick out the pieces of truth when I listen to him now.
He had previously said that taxes would not rise under his government. This, of course, is an absurdity because:
“… the Low-Middle Income Tax Offset, LMITO, was boosted to a maximum of $1,500, but it has not been extended beyond this financial year.
In his Federal Budget speech, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said low to middle-income .
The increase is estimated to benefit more than 10 million income earners and applies to those earning incomes up to $126,000.economy
However, unlike what the rumour mill suggested, the LMITO – in place from 2018-to 19 – will not be extended past this financial year.
Harrison Ashbury at Savings.com reported that “Mark Chapman, director of H&R Block’s tax communications, said this is effectively a tax hike in disguise.”
Next year, the “low and middle-income tax offset” disappears completely – meaning that people earning up to $126,000 will see a tax rise of up to $1,080,” Mr Chapman said. A return to the Government of $14.8 billion. Not bad, said tricky dicky.
It’s hard to see how that will do anything to help cost of living pressures over the medium and long term.
Worse, just as most Australians will see this tax rise, the wealthiest Australians will be anticipating a tax cut of up to $9,075 in 2024-25.”
Meaning that, in effect, the Prime Minister was telling a lie. The question asked of the Prime Minister was a good one, but unfortunately, it wasn’t followed up by other journos, and that’s what they are supposed to do. Either they are too inexperienced, unresearched or just dumb.
https://twitter.com/vanOnselenP/status/1519252556949909505
Scott Morrison then said that Labor would implement a carbon tax by stealth within the Carbon Credits Scheme, which is bullshit, but you can’t stop him. Again, the journalists couldn’t find a question. Tony Abbott implemented the CCS they refer to.
Yet again, he put Matt Canavan in his place. Still, no one raised the possibility of history repeating itself in the case of a hung parliament and a group of National MPs threatening to cross the floor or bring the Government down if they didn’t like specific climate legislation.
And to prove that they are still deniers of the highest order, the Liberal candidate for the Melbourne seat of Macnamara Colleen Harkin reckons that describing global warming as a climate emergency is akin to child abuse.
Conservatives govern for those who have, while those on the left think more about those who have not.
2 The inflation rate came in at 5.1% – the highest in twenty years. This will guarantee that prices will rise further, and interest rates will follow. It also puts paid to a lot of Government economics forecasts.
Greg Jericho in The Guardian put this slant on it:
“The latest inflation figures showing a 5.1% increase in prices over the past 12 months mean three things: the budget figures are already wrong, an interest rate rise next week is very likely, and last, workers have seen their real wages absolutely smashed.
It is not unusual for budget figures to be wrong, but to be wrong after just one month takes some doing.”
With China shutting down and testing many of its citizens because of another Covid outbreak, sales of our commodities will obviously fall, resulting in a significant revenue decline.
Frydenberg is busily trying to save his backside, so the defence of the Governments’ economic performance will fall on a lying Prime Minister.
At 5.1 per cent, Morrison is right to point out that inflation is worse elsewhere. And the Treasurer, when he gets a word in, is correct to blame the war in Ukraine and COVID supply constraints. But these comparisons are unlikely to appease communities faced with colossal cost of living expenses. Especially the lower-paid cohorts.
As sure as night follows day, we will be consumed over the next few days with debate about who the best economic managers are.
Of course, the Reserve Bank, at the same time, will be thinking about not when but by how much interest rates will rise.
Blaming international events won’t cut it. Keeping wages low for so long has led to this inevitable result as it has in the US.
I am convinced conservatives believe that the effect of lying diminishes over time and forget that they leave behind a residue of broken trust.
Some quick thoughts:
3 Albo cannot afford to let go of an opportunity to attack Morrison’s style of blaming others, telling lies and degrading our democratic institutions.
4 Anyone who thinks that Morrison’s comment about he and Jen being blessed that they didn’t have kids with disabilities wasn’t part of his characteristics should read the book by Sean Kelly titled “The Game.”
5 The Coalition’s latest scare campaign over Labor’s climate policy highlights the real mess surrounding adequate planning for a shift towards renewables. Half of the experts cited say they were misquoted.
6 A second leader’s debate has been proposed for Sunday, May 8, in the 60 Minutes timeslot. That timeslot would ensure a vast audience. Labor is awaiting the outcome of Albanese’s bout of Covid before committing.
That’s all for now.
My previous diary entry: Who can scare you the most?
My thought for the day
For the life of me I fail to understand how anyone could vote for a party who thinks the existing education and health systems are adequately funded and addresses the needs of the disadvantaged.
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13 comments
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Return to home pageJL, Objectivity is not your shortcoming, Rather it is an intolerance to bullshit! Another excellent piece! Well said.
i look forward to saturday after the pool to reading your causeries.
A good read today, lord,
Couldn’t follow your canavan bit but, as we don’t have a hung parliament. Unlike 2010 with the bandit threats being real. Any floor crossers would not bring scummo down like the threat to gillard. Perhaps they should put the 3rd debate on the ABC? 60 minute bomb was karl baby’s interview with scummo at 547 000: nick bond-“..It meant 60 Minutes was beaten in its timeslot by British crime drama Vera on the ABC, which drew 587,000 viewers. It was also a steep drop-off from Married At First Sight, which was watched by 961,000 viewers in the five metro capitals in the timeslot before 60 Minutes on Nine.” The debates can only be negative for labor who always lose the aftermath and if albo errs he may lose the election. He does have the chance to bring up: DBC(debt, before covid) the LMITO tax rise and he could throw in F35s (https://theconversation.com/australia-spent-billions-on-jet-fighters-off-the-plan-now-were-having-trouble-even-flying-them-177156#:~:text=The%20US%20and%20several%20European,of%20around%20A%2416%20billion.) subs with macron’s “I don’t think, I know! Army Bushmasters stripped of technology after spending cuts A major national security project designing and maintaining ‘world first’ defence technology has been gutted to save money in the federal budget. courier mail 11/4/22. He could go the man on many lies and a few innuendos but he will remain trusting that enough people will see through the LNP bullshit, on their own and not be frightened by the bandit’s threat to labor that appears so prominently in the LNP adverts.
Keep strong, lord, and don’t scratch.
In budget week, “Two senior ministers have revealed a planned $10 cut in the price of prescription medicine was dropped by the Government.”
“Financial Services Minister Jane Hume’s office asked Hansard staff to delete references to a planned $10 cut to the price of medicines that did not make it into the budget after she mistakenly referred to it in Parliament.”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/mystery-shrouds-hansard-change-to-hide-budget-s-missing-10-drug-price-cut-20220404-p5aaqd.html
Oops. They announced it too early, then dropped it, then reannounced it today because they need a cost of living announcement that conveniently doesn’t start until next year making the hit to the budget bottom line a problem down the track – not included in Joshy’s budget.
What a pack of conmen.
I cannot for the life of me understand why Scummo is still preferred PM. Who are those people? Do they live in Palaces where they can’t see the peasants ??
I am worried. I am seeing a real possibility of a further term for Scummo and his band of thieves.
Morrison has been asked repeatedly why the government did not include the medications cut as a measure in this year’s budget, rather than saving it as an election promise. Asked a second time, he says:
“There are temporary measures that we put on the budget, longer term measures in the mid-year statement. It is a fairly common way that we do budgets …
This is a longer term measure and it will start next calendar year. So the reason that we’re talking about it now, normally we would make an announcement like that later in the year.”
Bullshit from the liar from the shire. He wanted a big campaign announcement without having to account for the cost in his budget.
re. the header for this essay, you can’t expect vision from people who are incapable of vision. The same with truth. And sincerity. And also with compassion, empathy, seriousness, obligation, appropriateness.
It’s been said many times within these pages and elsewhere; the current face of the federal LNP, along with state-based versions, represents a political phenomenon that essentially exists for its own benefit, a grouping peopled by junketeers & carpetbaggers, liars, crooks, spivs & denialists; people fundamentally and completely out of touch with their electorates and the pulse of the broader Australian community; a grouping that relies on suits and corporate shills to prop them up and massage their fragile egos and pretend along with the elected that they’re on the right side of history when all evidence indicates the opposite.
That they continue to garner the support of around half of the Australian electorate is a mystery that is difficult to get one’s head around. Is it the power of propaganda? Is it residual fear that there was historical association of the ALP with socialism and that socialism in itself raised the ‘spectre’ of communism?
I was impressed by Adam Bandt’s National Press Club effort; He’s correct in saying politics ought to be a contest of ideas, and not a man-o-man macho contest based on biggest dicks or meanest words. It’s depressing that we have so little fine discourse on these critical matters of economic & social importance, the more so given the times we live in and will increasingly inhabit.
On a brighter note, I live in the electorate of Bennelong, once represented by The Rodent, but lost to Maxine McKew in 2007. The Rodent held the seat for 33 years. McKew for three. The retiring Liberal incumbent, John Alexander, has held the seat since then. I spoke this morning with a Labor supporter at the local shopping centre, he said it seems as though the ALP have a good chance at regaining Bennelong. Fingers crossed!
The real tragedy in all this, is that the unbelievable trashing of government by nine years of unspeakable fuckwittery ,corruption and incompetence will have to be dealt with by an incoming Labor/Independent coalition.There will, of necessity be a mountain of deeply unpopular decisions to be made,doubtless against the roaring stupidity of the garbage media.We can afford no more time wasting bullshit…it’ll have to be attacked head on from day one.Albanese may yet turn out to be a hero, because it’s going to require an heroic effort.
I wish the election was today.
Now I’m becoming increasingly annoyed; I keep getting electoral crap from the bloody Libs, on behalf of Bridget Archer. The other two people that live here are also on the electoral roll and neither of them have been receiving the same garbage. The latest bullshit that showed up addressed to me uses my first name three times on the flyer and I find that offensive. The only reason, and I may well be wrong, I can think of is that I’m a male in my mid-60’s and in the magic fairy kingdom of the Libs that to them must mean that I am one of their sheep.
Lucy Wicks blocked me from her facebook page years ago but she still sends me a birthday card every year. What a waste of our taxes.
When she was doing one of her travelling media pack stunts, the advance party came into our business to ask if we had anything we would like to discuss and could they bring the cameras. We said yes, we have had enormous trouble with the FttN broadband connection. Lucy decided to bypass us.
Everything is staged with stooges – real people with real problems are not welcome.
During the pandemic lockdown, someone rang me from Ms Wicks office to “check on my welfare”. When I pointed out that it was extremely difficult living in a mobile blackspot and asked why Lucy hadn’t delivered on her promise from the last three elections to fix it, they said it was the council’s fault. What a surprise. Make promises, fail to deliver, blame someone else. Token concern.
I want to know how they got my number.
Carol gets a birthday card from Helen Haines, but I don’t. ☹️
Kaye, I’d like to know how Craig Kelly got my number.
Oh, for effs sake! “Mate” now appears to be offensive?
“Banter and gossip were deemed a no-no, while ministers were also told to invite everyone in the office if heading out for lunch or after-work drinks.” What the firetruck?
https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/politics/dominic-perrottet-ministers-unhappy-with-new-pc-office-advice/news-story/926835959ecc81d3e1ab61a86e6fce8c
On the matter of banning drinking in ministerial offices I think I would have to agree although it seems to have pissed off David Elliott, “Veterans Minister David Elliott took issue with the alcohol ban, saying he keeps a bottle of whiskey in his office to “placate (his) parliamentary colleagues”” I call bullshit on that, he looks like a man who likes his drinkies a bit too much.
GL, I think that today’s political crop of unimaginative deadheads, lacking any skills apart from framing ever more legislation designed to drain the vitality of the communities they are supposed to be serving, fall into something approaching sentimentality, pining futilely for the ‘good old days’, whatever they may have been.
Churchill, for example, was a renowned pisshead, with his bottle or more of brandy a day, no doubt a soother for his manic-depressive temperament and a soul-deadener for his rank & odious racist attitudes.
The likes of Elliott & his ilk would, I expect, see the thankfully dead Winston as some sort of a conservative hero and guzzle their booze in ignorant remembrance of a man they never knew.