102 comments

1. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 7, 2017 at 3:43 pm

   As an ex-ALP member, admittedly from many years ago, I would caution readers against expecting anything meaningful from this party in regard to job creation, tax reform, or inquiries, Royal Commissions, etc. into the nefarious activates of the finance sector. The ALP (Alternative Liberal Party) is nothing more than a pale imitation of the party that is currently led by Malcolm Turnbull. The ALP is in thrall to the capitalist robber barons that really dictate policy, just as much as the Liberal Party is. Do not expect Bill Shorten to do anything even remotely radical or even progressive and you will not be disappointed.

2. Kaye LeeAugust 7, 2017 at 3:48 pm

   He introduced the NDIS

3. Keitha GranvilleAugust 7, 2017 at 3:48 pm

   Very cynical Robert Reynolds – so just don’t bother then ? We have to keep on trying, even if the party isn’t what we want it to be, it’s 100% better than what we have now.
   I agree with you Kaye, I like the idea of every member coming up with a real idea for jobs in their electorate. This would ensure that were really hands on with the voters, and voters would feel empowered to expect more of their MPs. We vote them in and then the majority sits back and complains that nothing gets done. Only a handful make contact, and keep in touch with what is happening in Canberra.

   Write to Bill, he wont know unless we tell him.

4. Florence nee FedupAugust 7, 2017 at 3:54 pm

   SSM will create many jobs.

5. Kaye LeeAugust 7, 2017 at 3:59 pm

   I should specify, relocating jobs from another place doesn’t count. And can we leave off with the upgrades to the local footie stadium – that promise is as ubiquitous as the new CCTV cameras that get announced every election. Sadly, I think it would just turn into the same old pork-barreling rather than a genuine exercise in identifying potential. Politicians seem too busy being seen instead of spending time on research and coming up with ideas. I think being a member of a party makes some of them lazy

6. Andreas BimbaAugust 7, 2017 at 4:35 pm

   The issue of jobs is a vital social justice issue, can strengthen our economy and be a big vote winner. However announcing proposals that would create jobs counts for very little if no additional financial resources are to be allocated. As long as Labor seeks to have balanced federal budgets and reduce the so called debt then they can offer no more jobs in total than the appalling conservatives unless they are in some way more efficient with spending for example less importing of extremely expensive defence equipment and instead spending in labour intensive areas like education or the NDIS for example.

   Labor needs to escape the neoliberal monetarist straight jacket and use fiscal stimulus and a Job Guarantee to bring unemployment eventually to near zero. It is possible, it is economically beneficial, would produce major social benefits, the additional human and economic resources can help drive the urgent transition to environmental sustainability and will LEAVE A STRONGER AND MORE HUMANE ECONOMY to future generations.

   Economics Professor Bill Mitchell from Newcastle University and other noted Modern Monetary Theory economists have proven the case and Bernie Sanders in the US would have implemented such a program if he wasn’t blocked by a money and business interest dominated political system in the US.

   Unfortunately the money men currently control Australian politics as well and Robert Reynolds assessment of the ALP is unfortunately accurate. At least the Greens have a fiscal policy of ongoing federal deficits of 3% of GDP so as to drive the economic transition to environmental sustainability but this also falls short of being able to deliver full employment.

7. townsvilleblogAugust 7, 2017 at 4:39 pm

   Robert Reynolds has had a similar experience to me in that the ALP is very much a right wing union party not a left wing union party, but I do agree with Kaye Lee that they should get specific about their job creation plans, we in North Queensland need a great deal of nation building infrastructure such as the Burdekin Fall Dam Hydro Electricity Scheme of 1983 that was never completed thanks to our State Premier Bejelke-Peterson who refused to cough up his share of the money. We also need a gravity feed pipeline from the Burdekin Falls Dam direct to Townsville’s Ross River Dam which at present is only 18% full to serve a population of 200,000 people and needs urgency placed upon it.

   The other area where many jobs could be created is with solar energy fitted to each new home along with a water tank as used to be done in the old days, especially given that Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth.

8. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 7, 2017 at 5:26 pm

   Hi Keitha, Kaye, Andreas and townsvilleblog,

   Thank you for your replies.

   Yes Keitha, I am cynical. lt probably comes with age. I am 69 years old now and I resigned from the ALP about 35 years ago when it became obvious what Paul Keating and Bob Hawke had in mind for the party. I was not going to be complicit in seeing the ALP become another defacto Liberal Party. You are right Keitha, we do have to keep trying, but after more than 3 decades of achieving little it does become a little demoralizing.

   The Liberal Party under Robert Menzies was a veritable socialist party compared to either of the main parties now. For much of the time that Menzies ruled, we had around 1% unemployment. There were good, secure jobs available then along with a defined career path in many industries. We had publically owned gas, water, electricity and banks, etc. Mind you, I have never in my life voted for the Liberal Party.

   When you say Keitha, that the ALP is “100% better than what we have now”, I really must respectfully disagree with you. My assessment it that the ALP might be marginally better (or should that be ‘less worse’) than the Liberal Party. I no longer even vote for it.

   As far as writing to Bill Shorten goes Keitha, I sign dozens of on-line petitions to politicians of all colors, including the ALP. Bill Shorten is the leader of what purports to be a party that is supposed to look after the interests of working people and the less well-off in society. He is old enough and experienced enough to know what is required without being told by me. Also Keitha, the party is not solely influenced by Bill Shorten.

   I believe that we will simply never again have permanent jobs, good training and good working conditions until we ditch this hideous economic system of neoliberalism that Hawke and Keating were so instrumental in foisting upon this country. I do not really expect that there will be any major moves by any political party to take any serious action to reform this free-market Hobbesian madness until we experience the next major economic downturn. Then, one would hope, that out of the ashes will come something better.

   Kaye, it was Julia Gillard who introduced the NDIS. She is also to be congratulated on establishing the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. To me this, along with the NDIS, were the highlights of her Government.

9. crypt0August 7, 2017 at 5:48 pm

   Robert, I stopped putting ALP at the top of my ballot paper right about when you ceased being a member.
   R J Hawke did it for me , however nobody noticed and today he is no doubt some kind of icon in ALP land.
   Mind you, give him his due, he sure was a world class drinker !
   And yes, Julia deserves the nation’s gratitude for establishing the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse … abbott would never have done it.
   Having said that, nothing, but nothing is worse than the LieNP.

10. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 7, 2017 at 5:57 pm

    Thanks for the reply crypt0.

    Yes it is tempting to think that nothing could be worse than the “LieNP” but I tend to try to take a more global view. When I cast my eyes across the Pacific and look at what the Republican Party is like in the U.S., I cannot help but come to the conclusion that they are much worse than even the Liberals here. The Republican Party (and some would argue that the Democrats are not far behind them) represent a major threat to peace and world order.

11. KyranAugust 7, 2017 at 5:58 pm

    Whilst it is undeniably a source of jobs, the fundamental and fatal flaw in the NDIS is the delivery of the training to reskill workers for the industry. The delivery of the competency certificates is through Registered Training Organisations (RTO’s).
    These are the private companies that provide ‘tick and flick’ programs. Private RTO’s are reliant on ‘bums on seats’ entry pricing formulas with government subsidies for the ‘bums on seats’. There is no requirement on the RTO’s to guarantee those they have qualified are actually competent to do the job the RTO have certified them for.
    If you just go back to 2015,

    “The deregulation of the VET FEE-HELP scheme has led to a massive increase in for-profit, private education providers and an industry-wide decline in quality.
    According to the Education Department, just over one quarter (26 per cent) of students who enrolled in VET FEE-HELP courses in 2011 finished within three years. Completion rates for online diplomas were abysmal, with just seven per cent of students completing their course.
    The government bill for VET FEE-HELP loans blew out by $315 million last year to $1.615 billion, representing 189,000 students at 254 training providers.”

    http://www.news.com.au/finance/money/costs/this-is-a-blatant-ripoff-of-the-taxpayer-training-colleges-facing-audit-of-predatory-pricing/news-story/b82f5b31b12ccc58755939fbfdb6d66d

    More than a decade ago, the Victorian government gained $7mill pa in licensing fees for what was generally called the ‘security industry’. Any applicant had to do a course through a RTO to apply for a license. There was no obligation on the part of the RTO to provide adequate training, other than ‘tick and flick’. Way back then, it was well known that the Victorian government got $7mill in license fees and the RTO’s got more than $27mill in fees. Most of the RTO fees were subsidised by the government. At the time, police numbers in Victoria were around 13,000 and the private security industry numbered over 33,000.
    The NDIS seems yet another case of;
    #1 Find a laudable cause (whether it be disability, security, NBN, medicare, education, whatever).
    #2. Bastardise the delivery.
    #3. Bemoan the result.

    Andre Haermeyer, a former police minister in the Bracks government, loved CCTV. In his tenure, the number of CCTV cameras in King Street, Melbourne, doubled. No matter how many times he was told a CCTV could only record what happened, he remained insistent it was a deterrent for the future.
    The number of industries that could be grown is unbelievable. That we have such shallow gits overseeing growth seems a history we are destined to repeat.
    Jobson Grothe. RIP.
    The NDIS, NBN, Medicare, Education, whatever, are realistic, achievable aspirations. It is such a pity that the overseers are such gits. Just like CCTV cameras, these gits record the past, just to relive it. Then they bemoan the future.

    Thank you Ms Lee and commenters. Take care

12. Kaye LeeAugust 7, 2017 at 6:24 pm

    Robert, Shorten was appointed the parliamentary secretary for disability services in 2007. He was instrumental to what ensued. He and Jenny Macklin got the NDIS up and running. Gillard certainly made it a government priority but Shorten and Macklin did the work to make it happen.

    I so miss Julia Gillard. I was proud of Australia when she was in charge.

13. John LordAugust 7, 2017 at 6:26 pm

    My tip is November next year when all the planets aline. 2019 is cluttered with state elections and the senate would be out of whack and football finals take up Sept Oct.

14. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 6:40 pm

    Robert Reynolds,

    I know why you left Labor and have stayed away. While the Right controls and the true Left is silence and subservient, who would bother?

    However, I also know that Labor alone is not going to achieve what we all here want from them unless there is cross-pollinisation of various left-leaning political parties and forces.

    Consequently, Labor needs to negotiate sensible left and centre-left alliances with any and every amicable political party or representative. I favour the Greens, and most importantly Lee Rhiannon and Jeremy Birmingham.

    Meanwhile, Shorten should be nicely told to prepare to stand aside for the next appropriate People’s Movement person who really can win hearts and minds. I’m happy to name Sally McManus for that esteemed role.

15. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 7, 2017 at 6:40 pm

    Fair enough Kaye. I accept that. Thanks for setting the record straight.

16. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 7, 2017 at 6:50 pm

    Hi Jennifer,

    When you say,

    “However, I also know that Labor alone is not going to achieve what we all here want from them unless there is cross-pollinisation of various left-leaning political parties and forces.”

    I could not agree with you more. And this has to be done without rancor and bickering. We must accept that there will be differing views among the various groups but the left has to remain focused on the real enemy. I remember in my youth we used to have ‘unity tickets’ between the ALP and the Communist Party members in union elections. This is the sort of thing that is required again.

    I know that there is one major issue that even I disagree with many on the left and it is disappointing that things are like this but those differences must not stop discussion and debate. We must remember that those with the most to gain from disunity on the left are the capitalist class.

17. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 6:56 pm

    Julia Gillard was good but she was nowhere near revolutionary.

    True, her gender was used against her by rabid Abbott-led LNP, backstabber Labor RWNJs and assorted other sociopaths.

    But to say Gillard was the Golden Girl, is to be re-writing AUS history especially when being seen through the prism of today’s most disadvantaged demographic and that is the unemployed, under-employed and single parents … ALL on WELfare.

    Gillard also proved she missed the meaning of the ‘well’ part of social security.

18. king1394August 7, 2017 at 6:58 pm

    Sorry, I suspect Labor was better off without the negativity of Robert Reynolds. I too have left the ALP but for quite different reasons which are irrelevant to this post. Let’s address the point that there will be jobs, just not jobs arising from the faux generosity of the capitalist system. We have allowed job creation to be a thing of profiteers. You make some thing, you employ people, the more things you make with less people the richer you are … It’s not going to work in the future. The people who make stuff are using automation and robots, and soon will use driverless technology, and many jobs will continue to disappear. Any government that wants to see people earn their living from a wage will have to create jobs that would not be of interest to the capitalists. But there are plenty of such jobs. Beyond the NDIS and aged care sectors which could use so many more people, anyone who wants to create jobs should look at the volunteers sector to see how much work there is that could be waged. Many fields use volunteers: arts, childcare, emergency services, animal welfare, local sports’ administration, environment, tutoring and education to name a few, Find a way to pay people for the real work they do in the community and recognise that work for capitalists is often soul-less and purposeless. (Or explain to me why minding a machine that fills soft drink bottles is worth paying for but playing the piano in an aged care facility is not?)

19. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 7:02 pm

    king1394 speaks much sense too.

20. Kaye LeeAugust 7, 2017 at 7:07 pm

    Victoria’s next state election is already set for Saturday 24 November 2018. November 2018 and March 2019 are messy due to state election complications. Despite once being common, December elections have gone out of style, while February elections are also rare.

    The Easter weekend in 2019 is 19-22 April followed by Anzac Day the same week, taking a mid-campaign slice out of any attempt at holding an election in May 2019.

    The early 1990s shift of budgets to May has added another difficulty to elections in the first half of the year. A May election would almost certainly need the passage of a supply bill before the election, while a March election would probably require the first budget of the new parliament to be deferred until August.

21. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 7:11 pm

    Your point being?

22. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 7, 2017 at 7:12 pm

    Hi Jennifer,

    Yes, once again I agree with your post.

    “Julia Gillard was good but she was nowhere near revolutionary.”

    You can certainly say that again! For instance, decisions such as this are hardly those of a socialist revolutionary:

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-16/gillard2c-obama-announce-darwin-troop-deployment/3675596

    and I am sure that we cannot blame Rudd’s backstabbing and treachery for that decision.

    Over the last few years I have come to the conclusion that no person and no party and no political faction gets it right all the time. I now have much more of an eclectic approach but by and large my leanings are still heavily toward the left. For what it is worth, I took the “Political Compass” test again earlier today for the second time in a year or so and I again came up with a “Libertarian Left” category. (Very left on the economic scale and slightly left on the social scale.)

    I read everyone from Andrew Bolt and Rita Panahi to John Pilger. I often get something from all of them.

23. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 7, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    And King, I know that I am certainly better off without the negativity of the ALP!

24. Andreas BimbaAugust 7, 2017 at 7:23 pm

    The Labor Party can only play the game with the cards it has been dealt. Unfortunately our democracy has been seriously compromised by powerful business interests both local and foreign, a partisan mass media, some foreign powers, other vested interests such as the intelligence/defence lobby, some churches, some unions and a generally apathetic or indoctrinated electorate.

    Under current circumstances any politican that strays from the neoliberal path will encounter overwhelming pressure that will probably destroy their government or careers. An example was the campaigns against Labor’s proposed mining tax and the ‘carbon tax’. Bernie Sanders saw the solution as building a large grass roots movement that can take on the various sections of the neoliberal establishment. GetUp are taking some steps down this path.

25. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 7:30 pm

    I don’t mean to make another social media enemy of you too, RR,

    but I fail to see how you or anybody else could call yourself a Libertarian Left person when it comes to the over-arching depiction of your priorities and motivations.

    We all have mixed genetics that could interpret us as one direction or another.

    But the ethical and moral overview is that what counts is working for the Common Good. When we agree to do so, there is not too much doubt where our allegiances lie.

26. Kaye LeeAugust 7, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    “Julia Gillard was good but she was nowhere near revolutionary.”

    NBN
    Carbon tax
    Tripling the tax free threshold
    Pension increases
    NDIS
    Needs based school funding
    Expanding tertiary education
    Paid parental leave
    Denticare
    Murray-Darling water buyback
    Plain packaging for cigarettes
    Mining tax (which would have ramped up as depreciation write-offs were used up and we moved to production phase)
    Removing over 80 forms of discrimination against same-sex couples
    Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse
    Transforming federal-state hospital funding arrangements
    Successfully negotiated over 500 pieces of legislation through a hung parliament
    Annual leadership talks with China

    I am sure I have left a lot out but considering she was there for only three years, I would call that pretty revolutionary

27. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    Hear, hear Andreas.

28. RossleighAugust 7, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    gee, thank god for russell’s revolution

29. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 7, 2017 at 7:44 pm

    Andreas, you say that,

    “Bernie Sanders saw the solution as building a large grass roots movement that can take on the various sections of the neoliberal establishment. GetUp are taking some steps down this path.”

    I am a member of GetUp and I am proud of what they are doing.

    It is just such a pity that we do not have a leader of the caliber of Bernie Sanders here in Australia. Real leadership from the Labor movement has been sadly lacking in this country for decades and there is no sign, perhaps apart from what GetUp is doing, of it reemerging.

30. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 7:45 pm

    So, forgive me for my annoying Leftist and Alternative to Labor Impertinence (LALI)

    please explain how that list shows how Gillard and her Labor support team were introducing significant societal and economic change for the Common Good …

31. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 7, 2017 at 7:52 pm

    You certainly have not made a social media enemy of me Jennifer. I am only repeating what this survey said about me, and I did add thankfully in my earlier post, the qualifier, “for what it is worth”. I do not take these things too seriously. You cannot afford to. If anyone wishes to look at this “Political Compass” thing, it can be found at,

    https://www.politicalcompass.org/analysis2?ec=-9.63&soc=-2.31

    The point that you make in your final paragraph Jennifer is by far the most important.

32. Matters NotAugust 7, 2017 at 7:55 pm

    king1394

    the more things you make with less people the richer you are … people who make stuff are using automation and robots, and soon will use driverless technology, and many jobs will continue to disappear. …

    Yep! Technology is designed to displace labour, and is achieving that goal with ever accelerating speed. In the home and around, it’s with dish washers, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, power mowers, whipper snippers, mulchers, chain saws, electric drills, and the like. So much easier than it once was. Anyone want to go back to a supposed earlier, golden age? Not many I suspect.

    Technological advances ought to be applauded because they displace labour. They destroy mind bending and back breaking jobs and they do it without time restrictions or imperilling human health and safety. In short, technological advances can create a much better future. What’s holding us back?

    Perhaps it’s talk about job creation? Because that’s not the future in a technological advanced society. Are we but Luddites one and all? I’m not.

33. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 7:55 pm

    Thanks RR,

    so true.

34. KyranAugust 7, 2017 at 7:57 pm

    Mr Lord at 6.26;
    “My tip is November next year when all the planets align.”
    My tip is much sooner. We are, after all, talking about the “DD” king. The emperor without clothes. The ‘man’ who cannot tell the difference between ‘Double dissolution’ and ‘Double disillusion’.
    My tip is based on marriage equality. It has been before the senate once. If he tries the pleby thingy one more time, he has a trigger for a “DD”. Of all of the subject’s that should distract the public discourse, this is the most meaningless. The vast majority of Australians have already spoken.
    Yet this is the subject that has engulfed his tenure. Nothing else matters, except for the occasional terrorist threat.
    The fact that his compatriots can’t, or won’t, listen to their constituents is emblematic of their problem.
    The fact that there are meaningful issues, as elicited by Ms Lee, ignored completely by a naked emperor, is merely fuel for a bonfire of the vanities.
    I am more than happy to accept November, 2018, as a default. That will be more than five years of non government, by default. I’m hopeful that this gits poor judgement is the arbiter of his future. The shorter (politically speaking) the better. Ironically, none of his unworthy wordy compatriots will challenge him. The chalice is well and truly poisoned. I’m tipping not even the empty chair will stand.
    Hopefully, the NDIS, NBN, Medicare, public education, and all of those other things that us mere mortals need, will survive his malfeasance.

    Thanks, again. Take care

35. Kaye LeeAugust 7, 2017 at 7:58 pm

    Ummmmm….if you can’t see it Jennifer then I think any explanation I gave would be pointless.

36. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 8:04 pm

    Matters Not,

    as assorted members of us have pointed out over several years the loss of menial jobs does not need to be catastrophic for employment prospects, IF other current and future jobs, which currently are given NO economic value, do become counted.

    Dusting window-sills, putting out the garbage, giving a cup of tea to your neighbour, feeding their pet, watering the tree on the nature strip and so on … all have value. Most of them are done by nice neighbours and unpaid volunteers now.

    That should NOT be the case if we want OUR ppl to be self-sufficient. We need to provide socio-economic equity to each person, their capacity and their available attitributes.

    The more we expand this new mindset, the greater possibiities become available.

37. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 8:07 pm

    Sadly KL,

    you again digress to insults instead of explanation. A list is not an explanation. 🙁

38. RoswellAugust 7, 2017 at 8:20 pm

    Jennifer, I’m searching for Kaye’s alleged insult to you. I can’t find it.

39. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 8:25 pm

    See KL @ 7.58pm and interpret intent.

40. Kaye LeeAugust 7, 2017 at 8:28 pm

    Insults? Where?

    Do you need me to point out the “significant societal and economic change for the Common Good” of paid parental leave or the NDIS?

    Do you need me to detail the potential benefits of the NBN?

    Do you need me to tell you about the healing and change brought about by the RC into child sexual abuse?

    Do you need me to point out that someone earning $18,200 pays no tax now as opposed to the $1830 they would have paid before?

    Do you need me to point out the benefits of free dental care for children?

    Do you need me to point out the benefit of increased hospital funding?

41. HarquebusAugust 7, 2017 at 8:33 pm

    “A former Facebook executive has quit his job and now lives as a recluse in the wilderness – because he is convinced that machines will take over the world.”
    “He reckons that machines will have taken half of humanity’s jobs within 30 years, sparking revolt and armed conflict.”
    “You may not believe it but it’s coming, and it’s coming in the form of a self-driving truck that’s going to run you over.”
    “But behind that beautifully designed app or that slick platform there’s a quite brutal form of capitalism unfolding and it’s leaving some of the poorest people in society behind.”
    https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/4170364/former-facebook-executive-says-society-will-collapse-within-30-years-as-robots-put-half-of-humans-out-of-work/

    A.I. does not scare me. All it takes is an off mechanism and electrical transmission lines are easy targets.

42. Matters NotAugust 7, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    the loss of menial jobs does not need to be catastrophic for employment prospects

    But the loss of menial jobs ought to be applauded. As for dusting window-sills and putting out the garbage, such menial tasks are not for me. I thought that’s what children were for.

    Seems to me that we are missing the ‘big picture’, because ‘technology’ isn’t the problem. It’s who benefits from same. Who benefits from technological advances? Who ought to benefit from advances, broadly defined, that have a long history of social development?

    Take the Tesla electric car for example. Musk couldn’t do what he now does without the advances and insights provided by Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) – who died in poverty.

    Perhaps we, in a democratic society, should consider a social and historical impost on ‘inventions’ that are rooted in ‘discoveries’ that went before? After all, Musk didn’t invent the wheel. He attended a university; used a stock of knowledge; was financed … And so on.

43. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 8:38 pm

    Now, now KL,

    don’t be selective with your listed benefits. Ofcourse dental care for the majority is great. So is an effective NBN. So is an effective RC into child sexual abuse.

    And all the rest you conveniently list just now where they are ACCESSIBLE to all of us.

    However, what frustrates me is that nowhere on your convenient list was there anything about fair treatment of people who need their rightful access to Social Security which could save them in these austere times.

    Likewise, nowhere is there any mention of alernative truths like Modern Monetary Theory Economics and its benefits for providing paid employment for Everybody with Job Guarantees.

    The Universal Basic INcome is another exciting concept sadly missing on that list.

44. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    H,

    I suspect this is where you can prove your ingenuity, as an agent against austerity.

45. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 7, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    Hi Kaye,

    My apologies for taking so long to reply but I was summoned by ‘she who must be obeyed’ to complete some tasks.

    In regard to the Gillard government achievements that you list I would say immediately that they are all most laudable and in all likelihood, would not have been introduced by the Liberal Party. However I do not see any of those achievements as being really ‘revolutionary’. If we want anything that even approaches being ‘revolutionary’ then perhaps we could mention Gough Whitlam bringing Australian soldiers home from Vietnam immediately upon being elected to office. Then there was the abolition of tertiary tuition fees. Then there was the creation of Medibank. To me these steps were more in a revolutionary direction than anything undertaken by Julia Gillard. I am sure that the capitalist class felt more threatened by the Whitlam government than they did by the Gillard Government.

    Then there were the truly revolutionary policies that Bob Hawke and Paul Keating were responsible for introducing. I speak of course of the introduction of free-market economics onto Australian society in line with what was happening in the United Kingdom under Margaret Thatcher and in America under Ronald Reagan. This move toward the economics of Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek by the leaders of the ALP was easily the most regressive policy change to be introduced into this country in perhaps a century or more.

    Your main article Kaye is about the role that the ALP and Bill Shorten should play in creating jobs. Well Kaye, there will never be any meaningful progress made in this country toward achieving that aim while we are still have the millstone of economic rationalism around our necks. The two things are totally incompatible.

46. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 7, 2017 at 8:48 pm

    Well said, RR.

47. Matters NotAugust 7, 2017 at 9:02 pm

    of alernative truths like Modern Monetary Theory Economics

    Yes these alternative truths (give me a break) which are not widely accepted should provide the new direction?

    RR, could you please elaborate on your definition of economic rationalism or provide the odd link or two?

48. HarquebusAugust 7, 2017 at 9:09 pm

    Jennifer Meyer-Smith

    Repair or find other uses is the focus of my ingenuity at this stage. We can’t fight nature without killing ourselves so, let’s protect her and let her provide.

    “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” — Boyd K. Packer

49. Andreas BimbaAugust 7, 2017 at 10:00 pm

    This compelling 1hr44min documentary – “New Zealand – In a Land of Plenty” shows how the neoliberal sociopaths destroyed many of New Zealand’s social democratic attributes over the last 40 years including increasing unemployment and cruelly mistreating the unemployed.

    It also shows how deeply involved the NZ Labour Party was involved in implementing the neoliberal disaster making changes that even the National Party at the time were unwilling to implement such as removing tariff protection for their manufacturing sector, privatising or downsizing state owned industries like the railways and deliberately raising unemployment levels to break the union movement to enable wage cuts and thereby reduce inflation. The same path more or less was followed by our Labor and conservative governments.

50. Kaye LeeAugust 7, 2017 at 10:20 pm

    “Now, now KL, don’t be selective with your listed benefits.”

    What does that mean? The only selection involved was legislation passed by the Gillard government.

    “And all the rest you conveniently list just now where they are ACCESSIBLE to all of us.”

    Huh? I was addressing the listed examples of revolutionary legislation passed by a minority Gillard government.

    “nowhere on your convenient list was there anything about fair treatment of people who need their rightful access to Social Security which could save them in these austere times.”

    Convenient? Paid parental leave is surely social security? Increases to base pension rates paid twice yearly each year had delivered an extra $207 per fortnight for single pensioners and $236 for pensioner couples by March 2013. They allowed pensioners to earn up to $6,500 before it affected their payment. They implemented Household Assistance Payments as compensation for the carbon tax.

    The reason I didn’t mention job guarantees etc is because Gillard didn’t implememnt them so it would have been silly to name things on a list of Gillard’s achievements that she didn’t do. It wasn’t a list of what people want or things that may be worth considering in the future.

51. Zoltan BalintAugust 7, 2017 at 10:39 pm

    All these ‘NEW’ jobs created because of NDIS … so these things don’t get done now and the disabled and the people that have been doing all this like gardening if they had a garden will now be able to get one and pay someone to look after it. Yes there might be some created but not 1 in 5. There is a big assumption here and that is if you put in certain amount and devide that by amount a job costs minimum wage this is how many jobs will be created. Think the first thing the disabled will be able to pay for is food and then rent and then for their health cost. F $#ck the garden. Two comments I read above, one is watertanks and the other is dams. Watertanks = mosquitos and this is why they were restricted in cities besides the fear by health authorities of rain wash off concentrating pollution into water used by the population. Dams = not as ‘GREEN’ as you thing as organic material washed in gets broken down and it creates Methane and this is about 60 times worse than CO2. Google it and read how ‘green’ a dam is.

52. Matters NotAugust 7, 2017 at 11:23 pm

    KL, being serious for a moment. Tonight on The Drum, Crabb raised a serious issue along the lines of why do we have an expensive public service, possessive of so much expertise – and yet not available to the citizens? Why should ‘advice’ only be available to Ministers? Why can’t we, as citizens, have access to that expertise?

    Yes there are ‘political’ considerations, but surely, in a democratic society, that’s not the main consideration?

    Why can’t all advice be made available? Why are those who have policy expertise be prevented from disclosing same? And so on …

53. Jai RitterAugust 7, 2017 at 11:25 pm

    I work as a disability support worker and while the NDIS will create jobs, the sector is very casualised and does nt provide alot of stability for workers or for the people we support. The ndis is an absolute cluster fluck to put it in so many words. I’ve been to NDIS events, sat in on planning meetings and seen plans put together for clients that are absolutely pathetic and extremely insulting. I work for an agency and for the self managed and no one knows what the hell is going on due to very poor communication from the NDIA. There are LACs leaving left right and centre due to stress and work overload, not too mention complete incompetence from LACs who have no experince in the sector and have no idea what theyre doing or writing down.

    Meanwhile carers and parents are appealing almost every one of their plans and the ndia wont even let carers see or give a copy out of their plans after their planning meetings.

    I think the most disturbing thing out of all this is you know longer need a cert 3 in disability, the proper criminal checks and first aid to work in the industry. It’s a scary thought that when it’s full rolled out and we are in desperate need of workers, anyone can apply and get a job.

    I don’t want to play the blame game, my number one concern are my clients and the rest of the disability community. I love my job and the amazing people I get to support. I was hoping the NDIS was going to be this new life changing experience but, it’s not.

54. Jai RitterAugust 7, 2017 at 11:32 pm

    @ zoltan, yeah that’s not how individualised funding works. You’re way off the mark.

55. Kaye LeeAugust 7, 2017 at 11:36 pm

    Jai, in a roll out of this magnitude there are going to be implementation issues, many of which were identified in the productivity commission report. I would encourage all involved to give feedback to the NDIA as I believe they are genuinely trying to fine tune the system. There will always be rorts – I don’t mean by the customers – and regulation and assessment of the scheme must be ongoing.

    Work to improve it. It is a crucial service which we will increasingly need.

56. Jai RitterAugust 7, 2017 at 11:48 pm

    I agree but these are quite simple issues that are on going and aren’t being fixed, just ignored. From what I’ve heard from someone who works at the NDIA, who has one massive pile of complaints on one side of their desk and a massive pile of appeals on the other, the government is ignoring any of the NDIAs issues and practically washing their hands of it.

    I fear it could be another destruction of Labor policy by stealth again.

57. Kaye LeeAugust 8, 2017 at 12:07 am

    I agree there are concerns but it is too important to write off. If you have time, have a look at the productivity commission report via the link in the article. I really think those on the coal face have a lot to offer in suggestions on how things should be improved. The customers and the workers should be leading the providers and government towards improvements. We can all try to help. Tell us the problems. We need to get this right.

58. nurses1968August 8, 2017 at 3:59 am

    Jennifer Meyer-Smith
    Have you thought of Uberising yourself and getting into baby sitting or legal advice etc to offset Centrelink or even create your own little Uber enterprise
    It has been observed recently that Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles, and Airbnb, the world’s
    largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate…..
    It is already transforming sectors like accommodation and transport, and services like equipment rental,energy supply
    labour hire, moneylending and even child care will be next. It brings down prices, it cuts out middle people, it encourages innovation and, crucially, it s environmentally friendly because it avoids greenhouse emissions through the more efficient use of existing resources. It is the free market working like it should for the benefit of people and the benefit of the environment.

59. michael laceyAugust 8, 2017 at 7:28 am

    “Bill Shorten needs to be better prepared with some specifics when asked about Labor’s plan for job creation.”

    In 2012 Employment Minister Bill Shorten spoke of 5 per cent unemployment as being the new “full employment”. At the same time, he presided over a system that denies dignity to unemployed workers who struggle to survive on a government pittance that is designed to punish and shame.

    So he has changed from that view now!

    The whole neoliberal trend in macroeconomic policy. Try to reduce the power of government and social forces that might exercise some power within the political economy—workers and others—and put the power primarily in the hands of those dominating in the markets. That’s often the financial system, the banks, but also other elites.

    The idea of neoliberal economists and policymakers being that you don’t want the government getting too involved in macroeconomic policy. You don’t want them promoting too much employment because that might lead to a raise in wages and, in turn, to a reduction in the profit share of the national income.

60. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 8, 2017 at 8:05 am

    Quite right MN, MMT is not the “alternative” truth. It is The truth about how our economy works. How silly of me to confuse you.

61. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 8, 2017 at 8:12 am

    nurses1968,

    your uberising idea is a good one and in theory should work in a myriad of ways. However, the so-called free market is only ‘free’ for people with money, connections, access to resources and other box-ticking procedures that suit some but can be restrictive to others. However, I am not dismissing what you say because it has a lot of merit.

62. HarquebusAugust 8, 2017 at 8:50 am

    “You’ll have to shift your energies into a trade or vocation that makes you useful to other people. This probably precludes jobs like developing phone apps, day-trading, and teaching gender studies. Think: carpentry, blacksmithing, basic medicine, mule-breeding, simplified small retail, and especially farming, along with the value-added activities entailed in farm production.”

    Just Wait a Little While

63. nurses1968August 8, 2017 at 8:55 am

    Jennifer Meyer-Smith
    Yes, the good thing is you can undercut anyone in Award or above award paying jobs doing similar work.and without other benefits of sick days and p/hols and Super you could be way more competitive than those on Union Awards so the potential for growth is high.If you live in an area with pubs with lots of poker machines moneylending and even child care would be a goer

64. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 8, 2017 at 9:06 am

    Actually nurses dear,

    I was projecting my micro-business concepts onto the uber idea of providing more employment opportunities for those thousands and thousands of people who don’t have the luxury of paid employment.

    The last thing I want to do is to withdraw or reduce the work conditions or benefits of people in the workforce. I am always open to ideas that will provide opportunities for those shut out of the workforce.

    Tell your Union mates to open their ears to the needs of the unemployed workers before you start accusing me about trashing other people’s rights.

65. nurses1968August 8, 2017 at 9:16 am

    You have me wrong JMS, I am a member of a Union and value the hard fought gains that have been won after struggle and I have a strong and abiding urge to protect them. The danger to hard won gains for workers could well be undermined by the Uberisation of jobs
    I point out ” It is the free market working like it should for the benefit of people and the benefit of the environment.” when Uberisation come to the fore,
    Nowhere did the comment say Awards and conditions must be met as Ubies are sub contractors so you could surely pick up work at say half the Award rate, That would provide employment opportunites for many {albiet at the cost of some}

66. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 8, 2017 at 9:44 am

    Ok, uberisation is a rat of an idea.

    Instead, you can tell your Labor and Union mates to promote greater opportunities for low and no income people to operate their own micro-businesses with robust government-backed supports.

    This will mean providing self-sustaining self-employment for the microbiz operators in their many, various fields of enterprise and then have the added benefits of providing extra employment opportunities for other workers too.

    That would be a Win/Win all round. More homegrown Australian industries and more jobs with decent conditions.

67. nurses1968August 8, 2017 at 9:53 am

    Jennifer Meyer-Smith
    “Ok, uberisation is a rat of an idea”
    I agree, however the comment you initially agreed to August 8, 2017 at 3:59 am

    “It has been observed recently that Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles, and Airbnb, the world’s
    largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate…..
    It is already transforming sectors like accommodation and transport, and services like equipment rental,energy supply
    labour hire, moneylending and even child care will be next. It brings down prices, it cuts out middle people, it encourages innovation and, crucially, it s environmentally friendly because it avoids greenhouse emissions through the more efficient use of existing resources. It is the free market working like it should for the benefit of people and the benefit of the environment.”

    was directly from that idiot Greens Senator Nick Mckims maiden Speech in the Senate

    I think you should tell your Party that Union jobs and decent Award wages are the go not McKims hairbrain scheme
    Sally McManus is fighting hard for that and this fool wan’ts to Uberise

68. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 8, 2017 at 10:01 am

    So you tell your blinker vision Labor and Union mates to widen their scope to include everybody as the winners and not just their selective few.

69. Kaye LeeAugust 8, 2017 at 10:29 am

    JMS,

    If you have a business plan there are already interest free loans for microbusinesses in some states.

    https://www.nilstasmania.org.au/microbusiness

    There are also many programmes where you can apply for grants or assistance, particularly if you live in a regional area.

    https://www.business.gov.au/assistance/results?q=

70. nurses1968August 8, 2017 at 10:29 am

    Jennifer, Labor and Unions are fighting for fair pay.
    Time you talked to your Party, not that I think it would help, to get them to support some basic workers rights
    Green on board with business
    GREENS senator Peter Whish-Wilson believes his party can double its vote by courting small business and has backed a “bigger national discussion” about weekend penalty rates, suggesting they are outdated
    Whish-Wilson said penalty rates were part of a “white Anglo-Saxon cultural” inheritance no longer relevant for many workers.

    Although Nick McKim might be a Uber disciple
    The Fair Work Ombudsman is ­investigating ride-share giant Uber for allegedly failing to comply with federal workplace laws amid claims of sham contracting.

    Asked why the Greens Party failed to lodge a Submission on penalty rates to the Fair Work Commission the best Di Natale could do was respond “I’ll get back to you on that’
    He never did .

    Time you talked to your Party first Jennifer

71. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 8, 2017 at 10:51 am

    Thanks KL,

    I’ve had recent discussions with local government officials regarding promoting my ideas for microbusiness opportunities and support frameworks for low and no income people.

72. diannaartAugust 8, 2017 at 6:11 pm

    Kaye Lee – keeping the bastards honest no matter which side of politics they claim to be on.

    Kudos – Jennifer

    Jobs in new technology from start-ups to small/moderate business are there for anyone who can think beyond the stranglehold of monopolies.

73. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 8, 2017 at 6:59 pm

    Exactly diannaart.

    We need Big minds with Big ideas.

74. nurses1968August 8, 2017 at 7:05 pm

    Jennifer Meyer-Smith

    “Leftist and Alternative to Labor Impertinence (LALI)”
    That’s not ANOTHER party you have hoisted your flag on is it?

75. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 8, 2017 at 7:31 pm

    Do your homework, Micky Mouse

76. HarquebusAugust 8, 2017 at 7:49 pm

    I don’t think that the jobs are not going to be there and instead, we should be planning on how to take care of large numbers of unemployed.
    Jus’ from what little I know and jus’ sayin’, you know. I mean, it wouldn’t hurt to plan a little just in case.

77. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 8, 2017 at 7:50 pm

    Come on comrades, remember, we are all on the same side!! Let’s not forget just who the real enemy is here.

78. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 8, 2017 at 7:57 pm

    Yes H, you’re correct. Whatever our viewpoint, we need to plan for survival and betterment.

79. Michael TaylorAugust 8, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    … instead, we should be planning on how to take care of large numbers of unemployed.

    That’s a reality we’ll have to face. It’s such a pity that we have a government (and a media) that is quick to label the unemployed as ‘bludgers’ with claims that “there are jobs out there if you want them”.

    I can’t help but wonder what the $55 billion being given away to big business could do for a few hundred thousand unemployed people.

80. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 8, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    RR,

    beside the real enemies of the Dinosaur Duopoly, the bigger real enemy is Neoliberalism.

    Where there is any real effort to shift our socio-economic system away from its claws, I will be the first to support.

81. Michael TaylorAugust 8, 2017 at 8:06 pm

    Let’s not forget just who the real enemy is here.

    And we must never lose sight of that, Robert.

82. Michael TaylorAugust 8, 2017 at 8:12 pm

    My ‘enemy’ is the LNP government.

83. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 8, 2017 at 8:13 pm

    Yes, Michael, I know that we can all get a bit carried away from time-to-time (and me included!) but it is critical for us not to be sidetracked from the real battle.

84. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 8, 2017 at 8:26 pm

    Jen, you are ‘right on the money’ as far as I am concerned. Neoliberalism is a cancer that has metastasized around the western world over the last 3-4 decades. And the spread of this poison has been aided and abetted by the main political parties of all complexions in most, if not all, western countries.

    However Jennifer, this sort of economic approach contains the seeds of its own destruction. It is toxic economically, socially and politically. I think that finally more and more people are beginning to wake up to how they have been conned by the lies told to them by the economic free-market zealots and the few who stood to benefit from this economic heist.

    We are reminded of how economic rationalism has changed our society every time we receive a gas, water or electricity bill, a bill for using a toll road, and a list of our bank charges, just to name a few. Also the sight of dozens, if not hundred of homeless and destitute people sleeping on the streets every night is another further reminder.

    When you say Jennifer,

    “Where there is any real effort to shift our socio-economic system away from its claws, I will be the first to support.”

    I will be there too. It is a pity that most of the leftist/socialist parties at the moment seem to be distracted by other issues and that includes fighting with each other, which while they may be important, are sometimes secondary to this main issue.

85. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 8, 2017 at 8:41 pm

    So you RR and I are of the same mind.

    Good.

    Power grabs by any subsidiary bodies don’t count in the bigger scheme of things.

    (No doubt some neolib DD w**ker will try to find fault with this definition of fineness.)

86. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 8, 2017 at 8:47 pm

    Yes, Jen, I think that it does seem that, so far, we are of the same mind. That is always encouraging.

    However, it will be interesting to see what happens when the subject turns to the hot topic of a certain religion. But that is a discussion for another day. Whatever happens though Jen, whatever the differences of opinion that might arise, it is terribly important to keep it all in perspective and as we have said, to not lose sight of the main goal.

87. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 8, 2017 at 8:56 pm

    RR,

    it would also be wise for you not to preach to the converted.

88. HarquebusAugust 8, 2017 at 9:00 pm

    Perhaps all sharing the work and the reward equally rather than some working and some not and rather than a minimum wage, have a maximum income. Jus’ wundrin. A cut to living standards but, more time off.

89. Zoltan BalintAugust 8, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    Please explain Jai, I am all ears. Can you tell me how it will and is working OR can you tell me how YOU IMAGIN AND WISH TO GOD it will work. Don’t tell me you still believe in the tooth fairy and you think if you knock out one of your teeth and put it under your pillow there will be f&/$@ING MONEY there the next day. I have a business plan – with all this money going into NDIS what do THEY do now that I can charge them to do and not do it my self. Call it a service. Simple !!!

90. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 8, 2017 at 10:07 pm

    Spot on, Mr H

91. Zoltan BalintAugust 8, 2017 at 10:17 pm

    How about when passing another person in the street and they say hello we do not automatically think ‘what the f $#k do you want’ and how about each of us do what we can to help another without saying ‘f $#k you, this is mine.

92. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 9, 2017 at 8:36 am

    An interesting rejoinder, Jen. I often get myself into trouble by preaching against the preachers!

93. iggy648August 11, 2017 at 8:42 am

    A potential jobs creation move is applying the negative gearing lurks only to new housing. This should lead to an increase in the construction of spec. houses to meet this market need, creating jobs in the construction industry. As Mr. Turnbull suggests, this should lead to stabilization (or even possibly a slight decrease) in house prices. It will also lead to an increase in the SUPPLY of housing stock, which some see as the solution to the current absurdly high house prices. If house prices stabilize, and wages go up, people will have more money left over to after paying the mortgage, or the rent, to spend on other stuff. So businesses will employ more people to make the stuff. As more people are required to make the stuff, wages should creep up over time, so the Government will benefit from greater revenue. Because of the grandfather clause, people who have already invested in negatively geared houses won’t lose anything. Young people who want affordable house prices and jobs should be voting Labor in droves.

94. OPPOSE THE MAJOUR PARTIESAugust 11, 2017 at 9:51 am

    Kaye Lee. ‘He introduced the NDIS’. Can someone actually point me in the direction of a detailed and comprehensive explanation of the NDIS? I know generally it is a program for improving the care given to disabled people but i dont know the specifics. i have read somewhere, but can’t remember where, that it involves the payment of an additional amount of $100K to a disabled person on top of their pension and medical expenses etc. can anyone confirm these details?

95. Kaye LeeAugust 11, 2017 at 10:14 am

    I don’t think there is a specific amount attached to disability services for the individual – it depends on need as far as I am aware. The NDIS allows those who are assessed as eligible to, with the assistance of a planner, decide what assistance they need and who should provide it Previously, the funding would be given to one organisation to provide whatever services they had available at the time. The funding will be about double current spending on disability services.

    It is similar to the services provided through ACAT for the aged but the NDIS is for people under 65 who are living with a disability.

96. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 11, 2017 at 7:08 pm

    Andreas, thank you for posting the link to that documentary, “New Zealand – In a Land of Plenty”. I have just finished watching it. It is quite depressing but the story is similar in many places around the western world.

97. Andreas BimbaAugust 11, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    Cheers Robert it is certainly a depressing documentary in many ways.

    The neoliberal disaster is set to continue in New Zealand with the Labour Greens alliance recently announcing they will be aiming to reduce national government debt and eventually return to surpluses. This means they will leave a weaker economy with even greater inequality, more cuts to government services, social injustice and unemployment to future generations. The ruling National Party are of course even worse.

    Anyone who understands macroeconomics knows that the so called national government ‘debt’ is really just a record of additional money spent into the economy which is essential for economic growth and does not need to be repaid and does not need to attract interest.

    http://i.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/business/90775621/Labour-Greens-have-signed-up-to-a-joint-position-on-surpluses-cutting-debt

98. Matters NotAugust 11, 2017 at 10:35 pm

    Here’s a ‘view’ of a ‘power player’ – then and now:

    taxation is raised for a purpose. It is raised as the means of financing services and transfers that we as a community are demanding. Without taxation there would be no such services and transfers. How much revenue should be collected, should therefore not be determined by some arbitrary limit such as that set by the present government. Instead, logically the amount of taxation revenue to be collected needs to be based on a consideration of what services and transfers we want government to support.

    Maybe Keating doesn’t understands that: national government ‘debt’ is really just a record of additional money ..

    MICHAEL KEATING. Tax Reform and the Need to Raise More Revenue- A REPOST from August 2017

    Worth a read – because that’s where the debate needs to be confronted.

    Maybe ‘understanding’ is at the heart of the problem? Constructions of reality and all that?

99. Andreas BimbaAugust 11, 2017 at 11:55 pm

    I skimmed through Michael Keating’s article and agree that tax revenues need to be increased, much of which can be achieved by removing many tax concessions and reducing the current chronic levels of tax evasion. More tax revenue will enable government expenditure on worthy programs to be increased and will redistribute more money to the less well off which will then enter the ‘consumption’ part of the economy rather than the ‘wealth investment’ part of the economy, and thus will generate more jobs.

    30+ years of monetarist-neoliberal-trickle down economics has led to increased corporate profits, far more wealth concentration at the top end and suppressed consumption, higher unemployment and lower or stagnant disposable incomes for the vast bulk of the population. Businesses will not invest in additional capacity if low consumption demand suppresses sales. Capitalism needs redistribution so as to retain a market for sales otherwise it will disappear up its own orifice.

    However to tackle unemployment and underemployment, taxation on its own will not suffice and it is instead necessary to increase the quantity of money flowing around in the economy and this can only be achieved by increasing federal government net spending, in other words increasing the federal deficit on an ongoing basis until near to full employment is achieved. A properly implemented job guarantee program should be a fundamental part of this strategy.

    The MMT economists will agree with all of this except they will explain the process differently as they realise taxation doesn’t actually pay for government spending, taxation instead creates the needed economic space for the government sector. In fact all national government spending creates money and all taxation extinguishes money. Without taxation the current levels of government spending would be very inflationary. The biggest insight of the MMT economists is that national government spending in excess of taxation is not inflationary (apart from some one off inflationary effects as the economy adjusts) up to the point full employment is achieved as the economy grows in proportion to the additional government spending. Further the amount that federal government spending exceeds taxation (called the federal deficit) is not borrowed, it does not add to any government debt, it is simply created on a computer screen at the RBA at no cost.

    Many feel thus is something for nothing and indeed it is but such created money is real and is used to fund major wars, bailout the banks when they go bust after a market crash and is used for ‘quantitative easing’ as has occurred in the US. The bankers know our central bank the RBA can create Australian dollars whenever it wants. But as I mentioned all federal government deficits are in reality paid for with created money and the issuance of government bonds is a separate and unnecessary parallel activity.

100. Robert REYNOLDSAugust 12, 2017 at 7:18 am

     Hi Andreas,

     Many thanks for that reply. This whole issue of neo-liberalism has had my ‘blood boiling’ for nearly 40 years now. David Lange and Roger Douglas really hammered New Zealand and of course the story was similar here thanks to Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. The forces of free-market capitalism were ‘on a winner’ using this approach as they had “Labor Party” stooges doing the dirty work for them.

     I could go on but I have to go to work this morning so I will finish there.

     Have a great weekend Andreas.

     Rob

101. Jennifer Meyer-SmithAugust 12, 2017 at 9:03 am

     Thanks also from me, Andreas @ 11.55pm last night, for that great explanation of how the real macroeconomy works.

     I would also add that we need a Universal Basic Income plus the Job Guarantee, so that every citizen can be a workforce participant with a decent, livable, dignified income and meaningful work so that their human talents are well utilised.

     It puts more emphasis on a balance between quality and quantity of work opportunities through existing and new industries.

102. Zoltan BalintAugust 12, 2017 at 11:55 pm

     there is only one problem with this, the LNP. As articulated by Tony the wages in Australia are too high. Every move the LNP makes is to drive wages down. The LNP has worked out a way to do this and the tax payer will pay for it, subsidised work experience. Pay companies to hire people on the dole, thus get them off the benefit of the unemplyed and also get the paxpayer to pay for it. The companies that employ will get not only free labor but also get money for it. Is there a real job after this – NO. They do not care as the company that takes on an unemployed person will not hire a real job seaker person and the rest of their workforce do not have a reason to ask for a pay rise as the “intern” not only costs them less but they get money for doing the same job. As i said THE TAX PAYER will foot the bill do drive the wages down.