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ScottyfromMarketing won’t be distracted by political games

ScottyfromMarketing is doing the media rounds to assure us that political games will not distract his laser-like focus from dealing with the very serious issues facing this nation.

Like voter fraud.  And the ABC.  And protecting the rights of religious people to be selectively nasty.

Then there’s the Solomon Islands to protect before someone else does.

Speaking of someone else, it’s so hard for Scotty to hopscotch around making us scared of a Chinese vessel sailing in international waters near us whilst vehemently defending and exercising our right to potter around the South China Sea for no particular reason.

How do you brag about a free trade agreement with China when they can ban imports and impose tariffs whenever you put your foot in your mouth?

How do you reconcile encouraging Chinese investment in business, property and infrastructure with Dutton’s beating drums of war?

Why are visas for sale to wealthy “investors” and why is money laundering through cash payments, gambling and property sales tolerated?

How do you demand more action from China on climate change whilst insisting on your right to sell more fossil fuels?

Inscrutable and vague seems more like a description of Australia’s policy direction than our Oriental neighbours.

Tim Wilson is frantically casting around to find some way to get attention – which reminded me of his ‘retiree tax’ con job last election.  Using your position on a Senate committee to collect investors for your cousin’s company, pretending changing Howard’s franking credits rort was stealing from poor pensioners, and getting away with it, ranks right up there in political games.

We are the only country in the world that provides tax refunds to shareholders who have not paid the income tax to start with and it costs us more than $5 billion a year.

If we want to talk opportunity cost – a concept that seems to be sneered at by the pork-barrel apologists – $5 billion pa would allow us to increase Newstart by $95 a week and rent assistance by $20 a week.  This would profoundly change the lives of millions of Australians and stimulate the economy but we all know that this government’s laser-like focus is on individual wealth creation rather than the travails of the poor.

Remember the days when the Coalition’s game plan was all about debt and deficit and how only they could manage money?  Back in black next year?

Well now that the debt is rapidly approaching $1 trillion, this bunch of financial wizards think it’s a great time to cut taxes for the wealthy, costing the budget more than $184 billion over the next decade.

And since we don’t care about being in debt anymore, they are increasing military spending for the 9th straight year to over $157 million per day.  The Defence Forces have so much money they can’t spend it even with the billions they are wasting on abandoned contracts.

Must we really waste hundreds of billions of dollars just so the Coalition can say Labor taxes more and is weak on national security?

If Scotty takes away the game-playing, what’s left?

 

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36 comments

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  1. Jack Cade

    I have a knockout slogan for the Coalition for the next federal election:
    SWINGING VOTERS; WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE YA?
    (Slightly modified for the shire:
    WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOUSE?
    Authorised by the people who brought youse the RUBY PRINCESS.)

  2. wam

    Brilliant, as usual, Kaye
    Hope Albo and tanya reads it!!!!!
    ‘And protecting the rights of religious people to be selectively nasty.’
    Add ‘and in secret without question’.
    “How do you brag about a free trade agreement with China” just use the name and hope nobody reads it compared to NZ. Wonder what the Robb errant is doing.
    “Remember the days when the Coalition’s game plan was all about debt and deficit and how only they could manage money?”
    Heard of christine’s prize turkey vote?
    “Well now that the debt is rapidly approaching $1 trillion, this bunch of financial wizards think it’s a great time to cut taxes for the wealthy, costing the budget more than $184 billion over the next decade.” heard of pork barrels? Who made it possible over the last 8 years?
    You ask ;what is left’
    Miracles are left for scummo and the bandit has 9 of them?

  3. Ill fares the land

    It seems to me that the one common thread linking all of the “urgent” legislation Promo Bargearse-McSmirky is extolling is that in each case, he thinks that 1) Labor will oppose his bills and 2) he will then shriek things like, “Labor is against freedom of religion” and “Labor is actually opposed to a Federal ICAC”. There’s no doubt in my mind that behind the religious freedom bill are the wishes of the right-wing religious nutjobs and behind the ICAC that Promo won’t introduce one, because one would be kept busy dealing with instances of corruption – by his LNP. But aside from that, the key aim in the context of Promo’s perpetual campaign, is wedging Labor. I can only hope that despite he like Bobo Johnson, being better at campaigning than actual government, that he got away with it in 2019 because he was mostly an unknown quantity (only those who knew his history of incompetence knew better, but they were in the minority), but now, we have had ample opportunity to see how thin-skinned, belligerent and mediocre he really is. If, knowing all of that and seeing him make a failure out of everything he touches for nigh on 3 years, “we” re-elect him for another term, “we” deserve him.

  4. Consume Less

    Thumb’s up Kaye. This retrograde Morrison government must be voted out !

  5. Geoff Andrews

    ” …… pretending changing Howard’s franking credits rort was stealing from poor pensioners, and getting away with it,”

    …. and what was Labor’s response? I can’t remember one.
    Surely, all they had to do was present a few examples of how the proposed changes would affect investors in a variety of taxable income brackets …and keep repeating that every time a microphone was shoved in their face.
    I thought that Labor’s proposal was that Sir Samuel Sharpelbows on a marginal tax rate of 45% would have his tax bill increased by 15% of his share earnings from franked dividends while Mr & Mrs Pensioner on a marginal tax rate of 25% would their tax bill reduced by 5% of the income from franked dividends.
    But I could be wrong and Labor’s proposal was flawed.

  6. HENRY Gilbert RODRIGUES

    Geoff Andrews….. No matter how Labor decides to counter the coalition’s tax proposals, Murdoch and his maggots and Stokes Ch 7, and arsewipe Costello’s media conglomerate, will always present Labor as the bad guys who want to steal your money, give it to the lazy unemployed. They did that in 2019 and they will do it again. The real problem is the braindead Australian voter who cannot or will not think for themselves, but just swallow all the BS that comes from the media.

    Kaye Lee mentions giving tax refunds to those greedy ‘investors’ who didn’t pay any tax to begin with, and numerous other contradictions in what the coalition say and what they do, but it doesn’t seem to resonate with voters. They just don’t give a damn or just don’t understand anymore, what’s happening around them.

  7. RomeoCharlie29

    Well done again Kaye Lee, another nail squarely hit.
    Geoff Andrew’s.I am pretty sure Labor said the Franking credits changes would be grandfathered. (which incidentally I didn’t and don’t agree with) but their message was either ignored by the Murdochracy, lied about by the AFR or got swamped in the grubby campaign by spawn of the IPA Tim Wilson who (prays atheistically) might get his comeuppance from an Independent:ex ABC Foreign Corro, Zoe Daniel and I wonder how many of the ABC haters noticed she said she actually, (foolishly in my view) voted for him in a previous election? ABC den of lefties anyone?

  8. Kate Ahearne

    Thanks, Kaye.

    It’s still the old trickle-down effect, isn’t it? Although how anyone could think that finance should be affected by the Law of Gravity, I just don’t understand.

    Anyway, if you really want to stimulate the economy, why on earth would you subsidise the wealthy, who are unlikely to spend the excess? Why not give it to the poor, who are likely to spend it all?

  9. GL

    Henry,

    “…present Labor as the bad guys who want to steal your money, give it to the lazy unemployed.”

    Where Scummo and Crony Co. Inc. want to steal your money and give it to their rich mates, big miners, Rupert, et al, and corporate donors and masters. So much better for ‘straya than little people and “leaners” who will use it just to survive.

  10. David Baird

    Darn right, Henry! The Murdocracy (Merde-ocracy, in French) in which we live rather stacks the odds. Dumb down the voters and you get dumb decisions. I’m tired of being trickled down upon by the plutocrats and their political puppets ‘cos it sure ain’t any part of the growing profits of the ruling corporations that’s falling upon us.

  11. Vikingduk

    What of fucking Labor, just sided with the traitors to hand over $50 million to frack the Beetaloo Basin. Well fucking done. A fucking choice between the liar from the shire or the fucking spineless me too albanese. What a bunch of low life arselickers, principles? Yeah, no fucking worries, I’ve got a pocket full of em for all occasions. When you think how much worse this can this fucking tragic farce become, rest assured, the answer will soon arrive. Fuck this. A choice between arselick and arsewipe.

  12. Michael Taylor

    Scott Morrison certainly has a weird set of priorities.

    Every government I’ve worked for – including Howard’s, surprisingly – introduced at least one piece of legislation that made life better for all Australians.

    But Morrison? Nothing.

    Please let me know if I’m wrong.

  13. GL

    Scummo is purely about Scummo and nothing else.

  14. Michael Taylor

    GL, he certainly does see himself as the centre of the universe. All that is in it revolves around him.

    He’s the kind of guy who’d consider geniuses such as Copernicus and Galileo as nothing but heretics.

  15. ajogrady

    Once you strip away the blatant ingrained insidious and treasonous corruption, the obvious and absolutely consistent poor judgement, the culpable and dangerous incompetence, the continual deception and the constant distortion, the endless creations of laws and opportunities to suppress and stifle contrary debate, the flagrant sneaky and self serving promotion of religious faith at the expense of political integrity, the erroneous attempts to hamper voting, the anger and disgust generated by cutting and running leaving our Afghani comrades in arms to their fate, the crippling of living standards, the devious and unfettered betrayal of Australias sovereignty, the trashing of Australias good international reputation, the shambolic and totally inept governance standards, the deceitful marketing spin and hypocritical sloganeering plus being a constant and continuous impediment to Australia and Australians reaching their true potential what does the L/NP actually stand for? What is left? What is left is a snide, sneering, sniping, selfish, smug and contemptuous ideology that nurtures, coddles and promotes corrupt to the core thugs, swindlers, chiselers, fraudsters, shysters, cheats and con artists, solicitors of anonymous brown paper bag donations, pathetic debauched degenerates and perverted misogynistic misfits, pseudo Christian cult wack jobs, fanatical religious lunatics, QAnon advocates, cowardly saber rattling war mongering hawks, sadistic and selfish economic vandals, problamatic climate skeptic fundamentalists, environmental saboteurs and desecrators, first nations people apathetic Judases, handicappers to the handicapped, oppressors of the needy and the disadvantaged, enablers of the obscenely wealthy parasitic profiteers, drunken lecherous fornecators and provocateurs plus egotistical born to rule privilaged sociopaths and psychopaths that are devoid of standards, principles, values, morals, ethics, honesty, and basic empathy always rorting, stealing, fiddling, fudging, obfuscating and basically out and out blatant lying while being protected by a maliciously biased, pathetic sycophantic and delusional media.
    Influenced by professional predatory lobbyists whores and directed by crooked callous conservative think tanks whose shadowy underbelly of criminality makes Ned Kelly look like a gentleman. The L/NP not only do not represent most Australians but do not respect them.
    The L/NP have managed to create a massive trust deficit not only domestically but internationally that has left Australias once good reputation in tatters and Australia is now bordering on pariah state status. “Private and confidential” is a misnomer to Scott Morrison. Diplomacy, critical thinking and cause and effect are foreign concepts to the L/NP. These failings will have or result in dire consequences and outcomes for Australia and Australians. The L/NP not only rewards lethargic sneaks, cheats and sly back stabbers but consider mediocrity as their gold standard.
    The L/NP are an insult to equitable governance standards and egalitarian rule. The L/NP are not fit to hold any form of public office in a functioning, vibrant nation that is a cohesive humane society. Australia was built on the egalitarian theme of “a fair go” for all where “the greater good” is paramount to its fundamental beliefs. These values created strong and proud foundations that builds better futures for the many not just the few. These strong ethical values are an anomaly and an aberration to the L/NP.
    Lest we forget.

  16. Florence Howarth

    Nothing good legislated for the last three terms. Abbott was about demolition. Turnbull was unable to do either. Morrison about staying in power. Nothing more. In the meantime, without most noticing, they have worked their way down the IPA agenda. Most stealth, not taking bills to parliament. Has anyone compared the legislation Gillard got through both houses, where she was in the minority compared with Abbott, Turnbull & Morrison?

  17. Vikingduk

    ajogrady, what a horribly beautiful inspired comment. That deserves a much wider readership, so tragically true, the reality we are living with the possibility of these things winning the vote.
    Is there not a woman a man a child a dog that believes in an honest reality, a being prepared to stand up on their hind legs and say enough, a being that actually truly believes in a more positive reality, un afraid of wedges and repulsive rupert and of course knowing that social media and not dried up scrotes are where the message needs to be. You, albanese and the labor party are a great disappointment. Fucking pissweak.

  18. Fred

    Vikingduk… Albo might in your eyes be weak, but you know that NOT voting for him means we will be in for another 3 years of the same “don’t do government” and worse. Considering the two value propositions, in my eyes, “Fcking piss-weak” trumps lies, blatant rorting, corrupt dealings, below zero morality… almost endless list of flaws – see above, so vote 1 your favorite Independent, Green, etc. but vote 2 for the “piss-weak” candidate.

  19. Barry Thompson

    A succinct and accurate summary of where we are at.

    you are a bottler Kaye Lee.

  20. Kaye Lee

    UTS’s Australia-China Relations Institute has released figures that show the value of 12 Australian exports to China affected by sanctions fell by $US12.6 billion ($17.3b) in the first nine months of this year compared with 2019.

    During the same period, the value of US exports of the same commodities increased by $US4.6 billion ($6.3 billion), while those of Canada and New Zealand jumped by $US1.1b and $US786 million, respectively.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2021-11-30/us-allies-benefit-from-china-trade-row-with-australia/100659480

    I don’t often agree with Jennifer Hewitt but she nailed it on Insiders when she described us as speaking very loudly and carrying a very small stick.

  21. Michael Taylor

    Here’s an idea on how to boost the economy.

    If a pensioner or welfare recipient on $18,850 a year is – as being proposed – going to be put on a cashless welfare card (which costs $1,200 a year to administer) so that he or she can’t spend their pension on things of their choice, why not just give them that $1,200 so they can spend their pension as they wish.

    The big winners here would be small businesses.

  22. Kate Ahearne

    Michael,

    Great idea! The only trouble is that the cashless welfare card is all about paternalism and control, not about the well-being of the people concerned.

  23. Max Gross

    The thing is, these LNP parasites really do believe they are entitled to it ALL: government, the power, the influence, the benefits, the sly money and easy living at taxpayer expense. And they will do whatever it takes to hang on to it.

  24. Michael Taylor

    Max, I’ve never known a Coalition government to look past the next election.

  25. Mark Shields

    Forgive my lack of attention, but noone seems to be that concerned about the Religious Anti-Discrimination Bill… I am sorry if I haven’t read everything written here but what bothers me most is not that there should be a bill about Anti-Religious-Discrimination but that there should be no conversation about it!

    I am fed up with Religious bigotry destroying our scientific knowledge. When we all know that Religion is the most dangerous vector affecting our global humanitarian rights to conserve Nature, why aren’t we tackling this major social/environmental issue???

  26. Mark Shields

    Is it any wonder that we Homo-Sapiens are so lazy, so greedy and so ready to protect social/Legal corruption; that we end up living in Boxes of corrupt, antisocial tribes of hatred?

  27. Mark Shields

    We all have to live a corrupt life: But some of us choose to live differently!!!

  28. Douglas Pritchard

    Now that our Federal Parliament is declared as a toxic work place, then does this excuse the toxic decisions from this LNP toxic group?
    Does this excuse our right to pour scorn on those who work there, are are we to be condemned for not permitting such boorish behavior. Freedom of the right to commit in a disrespectful manner will soon be debated, so thats another waste of time and resourses.
    An election can
    t come soon enough but we need to be assured ( No lies now Scummo) that the work place culture is going to change

  29. leefe

    Michael

    Where did you get “costs $1,200 a year to administer”? I thought the admin costs were more like $10,000 per card per annum.

    Whatever the cost, it makes more sense both socially and economically to give those funds where they are most needed and will do the most good: to the pensioners (including the unemployed). Which is why Morriscum and his mob are so opposed to it. Do genuine good? For POOR people? Actually HELP those who need it? quelle horreur …

  30. Michael Taylor

    Hi, leefe.

    The initial administration costs in the trial areas was about $11,000.

    Fact checkers have put the current costs as $1,200, so I used that figure.

    However, there are concerns that the fact checkers didn’t include many hidden costs and as such believe it to be closer to $10,000.

    I was playing it safe. 😀

  31. leefe

    Thanks. I’m probably not up to date on this one.
    Although you’d think that it would be a matter of record. There must be a contract and there must be accounts which should be subject to verification by the Auditor General, and there should be public access to that info.
    This, of course, is where the words “commercial in confidence” get trotted out …

  32. Kaye Lee

    “The scheme was extended for another two years.

    Department of Social Services officials have on Thursday revealed Indue, the private company in charge of the cards, will received $26 million for the extension.

    It takes the total cost of the scheme to $70 million, covering 2015 to 2022.”

    https://thewest.com.au/politics/welfare-policy-remains-in-pandemic-mode-c-2432767

    What a waste

  33. leefe

    Thanks Kaye.

    And now I’ve managed to chase down the official costing. $1,200 is a bit more reasonable although it’s still twenty times what my bank charges to administer the credit card. Including original organisation and implementation costs – which is why the early figures were so high – it still averages out closer to $4,500 each per year.

    A voluntary scheme for those in vulnerable situations could be very useful. Mandatory and punitive use of it will cost a lot of people their health or even lives.

  34. Michael Taylor

    Imagine if that $70 million was put to better use, such as minor irritants (to the government) like going towards lifting people out of poverty – the very same people who would put that money into the economy.

    And imagine having a government that would do that.

    When I worked for the Howard government we had a standard reply to constituents who had written to the Minister asking about rises to Newstart. The reply was something like this:

    “If we gave you a raise then you won’t bother getting off your bum and look for a job, you lazy dole-bludger. And because you’re not interested in a job – even though 99% of income-support recipients are looking for work – we’ll make an example out of you. Because of you, everyone will suffer and continue to live in poverty. Shame on you.

    Thank you for your letter, loser.”

    Obviously that wasn’t the exact wording, but it was the intended message.

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