Number 4 for 2022: What a complete waste of time the last nine years have been
We continue the countdown to our Top 5 most viewed articles in 2022. Number 4 goes to perennial Top 5 finisher Kaye Lee for this article from February:
What a complete waste of time the last nine years have been
Cast your mind back to 2013.
Unlike the rest of the world, Australia had come through the GFC without suffering a recession. At the end of August, net debt was a bit over $161 billion and monthly hours worked per employed person averaged 141.42.
After three terms of a Coalition government, we have endured our first recession in thirty years, net debt is $606 billion, and monthly hours worked per employed person have plummeted to 125.16. Wages are stagnant- adjusted for inflation, Australian wages actually declined in 2021 by 0.3% – the worst outcome in 7.5 years. Penalty rates have been abolished for many low paid workers, and casual and contract work is increasingly the norm.
In 2013, the rollout of the nation-building fibre to the premises national broadband network was underway. Then along came Tony Abbott who thought the interwebby thingy was an expensive white elephant only used for playing games and watching videos – and trashed it.
On Thursday, the Minister for the Digital Economy, the hapless Jane Hume, announced in an address to CEDA, “The Morrison Government has set a goal and is unrolling a plan for Australia to be a top 10 digital economy and society by 2030.”
Good luck with that – we currently rank 61st in the world for fixed broadband speeds. (Though I hear Barnaby can organise something for those in the know – seems we are paying a lazy $520k to hook one of his mates up to FttP.)
In 2013, we had a price on carbon that was causing polluters to innovate to cut emissions, a renewable energy target that was driving investment, and we were considered a world leader in action against climate change.
Now we are known as the Colossal Fossil. Our arrogant disregard brings Pacific leaders to tears, literally. We pay people who promise not to cut down trees they were never going to cut down. We pay farmers not to run stock when they had cut herds anyway because of the drought. Polluters continue on their merry way making up numbers about emissions that bear no resemblance to the truth and electricity prices are higher than when we had carbon pricing.
Back in 2013, we had a car industry. But the Coalition hate unionised workplaces so they told them to piss off. They pretended it was about subsidies but that is obviously not the case as they find plenty to subsidise the fossil fuel, agriculture and armaments industries.
Imagine if we had retained that infrastructure and expertise to build the vehicles of the future so we weren’t so reliant on what happens elsewhere or our oil reserves that, for some obscure reason, Angus Taylor chose to store in the US.
We used to have a mining superprofits tax too which was just about to start paying dividends as mines moved from construction to production. Not only did we abolish that and all the redistributive measures attached to it, it seems many of the mining companies now get away with paying no tax at all.
In 2013 there was some optimism that we were on the path towards Reconciliation, that we were finally accepting some responsibility for causing the problems and listening about how to work towards fixing them. Until we were thrown brutally back into the world of terra nullius and Captain Cook and white supremacy.
We used to have a good reputation on the international stage. Now we are known as liars and our crazy Minister for Offence seems determined to start a war with China.
In 2013, we had a female Prime Minister and we subjected her to the very worst our misogynistic patriarchal society could offer for all the world to see. And the treatment of women has only gone downhill from there.
The only positive thing to come out of the Coalition’s term in office was when the voters dragged the government kicking and screaming to marriage equality and the conservatives have been looking for revenge ever since.
It’s time to call quits on what has been the most inept, most incompetent, most offensive, most dishonest, least intelligent, least compassionate, least prepared government this country has ever had the misfortune to endure.
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 gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
6 comments
Login here Register here-
margcal -
GL -
New England Cocky -
wam -
ajogrady -
Terence Mills
Return to home pageThat bad… without even mentioning Robodebt.
This article should be re-published before every election to remind people of exactly what the Liberal Party can do ‘to’ us. There is nothing ‘for’ us, only for themselves and their mates.
And the ambitious and aspirational need to be told the Libs aren’t looking to expand their number if mates… not unless they’re ‘already’ rolling in it. The Libs will look to receive more benefits. Playing fair and sharing, let alone giving anything away, isn’t in their DNA.
Waah…waah…sob..boohoo…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/27/tech-billionaires-lose-wealth-418-million/
Mmm, hot fresh cooked pork and jalapeño sausages from King’s Feast in Ulverstone. Mmm…
Kaye Lee you are too kind when you describe the LIABRAL Nazional$ COALition misgovernment that wasted the natural resources and opportunities that processing those resources on the Australian shore could have provided.
A party of self-serving psychopaths jostling for the benefit of thier own pecuniary interests and subsequent corporate careers post-politics.
Kaye,
With so many salient points making a great read, you have shown how you are but a colour away truth and honesty.
You always know what you will get with the L/NP. Consistency! Lots of consistency. Consistent corruption at all levels of government, consistent poor and inept leadership,
consistent laws and legislation to stifle contrary debate, consistent leadership changes to fool the public, consistent avoidance of scrutiny, consistent abandonment of ” the greater good”, consistent lack of accountability like ” I dont hold a hose, mate”, consistent lies, consistent obfuscation, consistent pillaging of the environment, consistent stacking of boards committees commissions and delegations with L/NP stooges, consistent branch stacking, consistent religious nutters, consistent incompetent and corrupt members, consistent rorts, consistent slush funds, consistent jobs for the boys, consistent failed members kept on the taxpayer gravy train, consistent complacency like ” its not a race”, consistent blame shifting, consistent photo ops; consistent do nothing and ineffectual policies, consistent attacks on unions, consistent lack of support for workers, consistent demonising of those on social security, consistent divisiveness, consistent poor governance, consistent support of sex predators, consistently setting women’s rights backward in our nation; consistent rejecting the formation of an integrity commission that can investigate alleged incidents and maintain our MPs’ high ethical and moral standards. consistent bad judgement, consistent rewarding of political donors at the expense of the needy, consistent scotosis to implement policies that take Australia forward rather then impeding its progress to benefit donors plus consistently more and more corruption and theft of taxpayers money.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7360809/the-morrison-government-has-failed-the-test-of-leadership/
Now here’s a candidate that the LNP would relish.
George Santos was recently elected to the US Congress as a Republican nominee.
It has since been revealed that he lied about his family history pretending that he is Jewish (he’s a Catholic) of immigrant stock who left Ukraine to escape the Nazis – that wasn’t true but resonated with the Jewish electors in his area of New York (Nassau County).
He lied about his education and his degrees – he didn’t actually go to College. He has since conceded that “I didn’t graduate from any institution of higher learning.” he has said since being elected. “I’m embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my résumé.”
He lied about his job record saying that he had worked with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup : he made that up as neither company has any record of employing him.
He even lied about the source of his campaign finances.
He has refused to stand down and the Republican party will not sack him : their reason appears to be…………they need his vote in Congress !
Mr Santos denounced “elitist” institutions seeking to hold him to account and suggested that he is no more duplicitous than your average member of Congress.
The LNP would be applauding this with high fives all round : https://www.nytimes.com/article/george-santos-republican-explainer.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=New%20York