It may have escaped the Coalition’s attention, as they concentrate on yet another swearing in, that their term in government is close to expiring and all we hear is that we will be told in good time what they intend to do.
Are we to understand that they had no plan on entering government other than rip it up and tear it down? Is the entire three years to be spent on devising their election campaign?
They got rid of the carbon tax and anyone who still thinks that was a good idea is in denial.
They have spent billions stopping asylum seekers from arriving here, even to the point of employing people smugglers to take them somewhere else or setting them adrift in very expensive one-use-only life rafts. Billions more is spent on torturing those who had already sought our help as a reminder to others of our bastardry.
They have signed Free Trade Agreements with undue haste. You have to worry when negotiations that had been going on for years all of a sudden came to agreement, resulting in budget write downs in the billions, and the man responsible refuses to submit them for a cost benefit analysis, and then quits. Our new Treasurer is likewise resistant to any independent scrutiny saying he’s focused on going forward and doesn’t want to look in the rear view mirror, unless it’s to blame Labor of course.
They have reannounced a lot of roads that had already been budgeted for and have wasted billions on an NBN that is inadequate before it is even built. Public transport was off the agenda completely until a day or two ago.
They claim to have created hundreds of thousands of jobs when, in reality, they have decimated the public service and the CSIRO, destroyed the car manufacturing and renewable energy industries, and caused the closure of many advisory, advocacy, and community groups. Any jobs created have certainly not been by the government. Part time jobs have replaced full time jobs and the increase in the number employed has not kept pace with population growth.
As we are told about the supposedly widespread corruption in unions and fraud by welfare cheats, corporate fraud and questionable/corrupt behaviour by politicians continue basically unchecked.
The removal of the mining tax and the carbon tax was supposed to see a surge in mining jobs and investment instead of which we saw the opposite with thousands of jobs lost and investment plummeting. Whyalla survived the carbon tax but will it survive the Coalition’s term?
They’ve approved many new coal mines which, if they go ahead, can only contribute to the glut thus forcing down the price even further in a time of falling demand.
We are told we are on “a credible path to surplus” but each budget has put it further over the horizon.
In Tony Abbott’s victory speech, he said “The time for campaigning has passed, the time for governing has arrived.”
Two years later, Malcolm Turnbull gave his damning assessment, “the Prime Minister has not been capable of providing the economic leadership our nation needs.”
Mr Turnbull promised to provide a style of leadership that “explains the challenges and opportunities and then sets out the course of action we believe we should take and makes a case for it.”
As he reminded us, “The fact is we are maybe 10 months, 11 months away from the next election. Every month lost is a month of lost opportunities.”
Half that time has now elapsed and we are no closer to a course of action. In fact, every day it becomes more unclear what this new iteration of government intends to do, let alone actually achieving anything.
Tony Abbott said the government accepted “that it will be judged more by its deeds than by its mere words.”
Malcolm might have a nice smile and a pretty turn of phrase but, with an election rumoured to be less than 5 months away, he is captain of a rudderless ship on a voyage to nowhere.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g83IfdUzcg
