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.
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Conservatives govern for those who have, while those on the left think more about those who have not.
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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.
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I am convinced conservatives believe that the effect of lying diminishes over time and forget that they leave behind a residue of broken trust.
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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.
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My previous diary entry: Who can scare you the most?
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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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