Tracking Abbott’s Wrecking Ball and Broken Promises
Image by theaimn.com
Sally McManus is the Secretary of the Australian Services Union in NSW and the ACT.
She has been a campaigner and an organiser for more than 20 years and spends a lot of time doing and talking about organising and campaigning. Her blog is a comprehensive list of policy and other decisions taken by the Abbott Government. I cannot vouch for the veracity of the entire list (although I have no reason to doubt it) but I recommend it to those with an interest in how Tony Abbott intends changing Australia.
This is the list thus far and it is updated regularly:
86. Privatises the 104 year old Australian Valuation Office costing nearly 200 jobs – 24 January 2014
85. Seeks to wind back the World Heritage listing of Tasmania’s forests – 23 January 2014
84. Withdraws funding for an early intervention program to help vulnerable young people – 22 January 2014
83. Defunds all international environmental programs, the International Labour Organisation and cuts funding to a range of international aid programs run by NGOs such as Save the Children, Oxfam, CARE Australia and Caritas – 18 January 2014
82. Violates Indonesia’s territorial sovereignty while turning back asylum seeker boats – 17 January 2014
81. Scraps weekly media briefings on asylum seeker issues in an attempt to avoid public and media scrutiny – 14 January 2014
80. Politicises the national school curriculum by appointing a former Liberal staffer and a Coalition supporter, both critics of the current curriculum to conduct a review – 10 January 2014.
79. Directs that people already found to be refugees who arrived by boat be given the lowest priority for family reunion – 8 January 2014
78. Fails to contradict or take any action against a member of his government, Senator Cory Bernardi, who makes divisive statements about: abortion, “non-traditional” families and their children, same sex couples, couples who use IVF and calls for parts of WorkChoices to be reintroduced – 6 January 2014
77. Devastates Australia’s contribution to overseas aid by cutting $4.5 billion from the budget, causing vital programs supporting those in extreme poverty in our region to collapse – 1 January 2014
76. Drastically reduces tax breaks for small business and fails to publicise it – 1 January 2014
75. Refuses to support jobs at SPC at the cost of hundreds of jobs – 27 December 2013
74. Appoints Tim Wilson, a Liberal Party member and Policy Director of a right-wing think tank to the position of Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission even though this think tank argued for the Commission to be abolished – 23 December 2013
73. Approves private health fund premium increases of an average 6.2% a year – 23 December 2013
72. Fails to provide the promised customs vessel to monitor whaling operations in the Southern Ocean – 23 December 2013
71. Requests the delisting of World Heritage status for Tasmanian forests – 21 December 2013
70. Drastically dilutes consumer protections and transparency requirements for financial planners, including abolishing the requirement they put their clients interests first – 20 December 2013
69. Scraps the Home Energy Saver Scheme which helps struggling low income households cut their electricity bills – 17 December 2013
68. Defunds the Public Interest Advocacy Centre whose objectives are to work for a fair, just and democratic society by taking up legal cases public interest issues – 17 December 2013
67. Defunds the Environmental Defenders Office which is a network of community legal centres providing free advice on environmental law – 17 December 2013
66. Axes funding for animal welfare – 17 December 2013
65. Abolishes the AusAID graduate program costing 38 jobs – 17 December 2013
64. Cuts Indigenous legal services by $13.4 million. This includes $3.5 million from front line domestic violence support services, defunding the National legal service and abolishing all policy and law reform positions across the country – 17 December 2013
63. Abolishes the position of co-ordinator-general for remote indigenous services – 17 December 2013
62. Changes name of NDIS “launch sites” to “trial sites” and flags cuts to funding – 17 December 2013
61. Abolishes the National Office for Live Music along with the live music ambassadors – 17 December 2013
60. Cuts $2.5 million from community radio – 17 December 2013
59. Weakened the ministerial code of conduct to let ministers keep shares in companies – 16 December 2013
58. Disbands the independent Immigration Health Advisory Group for asylum seekers – 16 December 2013
57. Axes $4.5 million from charities and community groups for the Building Multicultural Communities Program – 13 December 2013
56. Starts dismantling Australia’s world leading marine protection system – 13 December 2013
55. Scraps the COAG Standing Council on Environment and Water – 13 December 2013
54. Breaks its NBN election promise of giving all Australians access to 25 megabits per second download speeds by 2016 – 12 December 2013
53. Overturns the “critically endangered” listing of the Murray Darling Basin – 11 December 2013
52. Dares Holden to leave Australia. Holden announces closure which costs Australian workers 50 000 jobs – 11 December 2013
51. Approves Clive Palmer’s mega coal mine in the Galilee Basin which opponents say will severely damage Great Barrier Reef – 11 December 2013
50. Demands that the few childcare workers who got pay rises “hand them back” – 10 December 2013
49. Approves the largest coal port in the world in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area – 10 December 2013
48. Removes the community’s right to challenge decisions where the government has ignored expert advice on threatened species impacts – 9 December 2013
47. Downgrades national environment laws by giving approval powers to state premiers – 9 December 2013
46. Undermines Australia’s democracy by signing a free trade agreement with South Korea allowing corporations to sue the Australian Government – 6 December 2013
45. Damages our diplomatic relationship with our nearest neighbour East Timor – 5 December 2013
44. Repeals the pokie reform legislation achieved in the last parliament to combat problem gambling – 4 December 2013
43. Suspends the Wage Connect program, despite it being proven to deliver good outcomes for unemployed people – 3 December 2013
42. Axes funding to the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia, forcing the 46 year old organisation to close – 27 November 2013
41. Back-flips twice on Gonski, reversing a commitment to a ‘unity ticket’ and failing to deliver equitable education funding – 25 November 2013
40. Shifts Australia’s position at the UN on Israeli settlements – 25 November 2013
39. Damages our diplomatic relationship with the Indonesian Government by refusing to apologise for tapping the phones of their President, his wife and senior Government officials – 23 November 2013
38. Converts crucial Start-Up Scholarships into loans, increasing the debt of 80,000 higher education students by $1.2 billion – 21 November 2013
37. Gifts two navy patrol boats to the Sri Lankan government to stop asylum seekers fleeing the Sri Lankan government – 17 November 2013
36. Introduces a Bill to impose on workers who are elected onto unpaid union committees huge financial penalties and jail terms for breeches of new compliance obligations – 14 November 2013
35. Condones torture by foreign governments by saying “sometimes in difficult circumstances, difficult things happen” – 14 November 2013
34. Hides information from the Parliament and the people about the government’s treatment of asylum seekers – 13 November 2013
33. Separates a refugee mother from her newborn baby – 10 November 2013
32. Cuts 600 jobs at the CSIRO – 8 November 2013
31. Abolishes Insurance Reform Advisory Group which provided a forum for industry and consumer bodies to discuss insurance industry reform – 8 November 2013
30. Abolishes the Maritime Workforce Development Forum which was an industry body working to build a sustainable skills base for the maritime industry – 8 November 2013
29. Abolishes the High Speed Rail Advisory Group whose job it was to advise Governments on the next steps on implementing high speed rail for eastern Australia – 8 November 2013
28. Abolishes the Advisory Panel on the Marketing in Australia of Infant Formula which for 21 years monitored compliance of industry to agreements on marketing infant formula – 8 November 2013
27. Abolishes the Antarctic Animal Ethics Committee who ensured research on animals in the Antarctic complies with Australian standards – 8 November 2013
26. Abolished the National Steering Committee on Corporate Wrongdoing that for 21 years worked to make sure the law was effectively enforced on corporate criminals – 8 November 2013
25. Abolishes the National Inter-country Adoption Advisory Council which provided expert advice on overseas adoption – 8 November 2013
24. Abolishes International Legal Services Advisory Council which was responsible for working to improve the international performance of Australia’s legal services – 8 November 2013
23. Abolishes the Commonwealth Firearms Advisory Council a group of experts in gun crime and firearms which was set up after the Port Arthur massacre – 8 November 2013
22. Abolishes Australian Animals Welfare Advisory Committee a diverse group of experts advising the Agriculture Minister on animal welfare issues – 8 November 2013
21. Abolishes the National Housing Supply Council which provided data and expert advice on housing demand, supply and affordability – 8 November 2013
20. Abolishes the Advisory Panel on Positive Ageing, established to help address the challenges the country faces as the number of older Australians grows – 8 November 2013
19. Refuses to offer support to manufacturing in Tasmania, despite requests and warnings. Caterpillar announces the move of 200 jobs from Burnie to Thailand, costing around 1000 local jobs – 5 November 2013
18. Provides $2.2 million legal aid for farmers and miners to fight native title claims – 1 November 2013
17. Abolishes the 40 year old AusAID costing hundreds of jobs – 1 November 2013
16. Launches a successful High Court which strikes down the ACT Marriage Equality laws invalidating the marriages of many people and ensuring discrimination against same-sex couples continues – 23 October 2013
15. Denies there is a link between climate change and more severe bush fires and accuses a senior UN official was “talking through their hat” – 23 October 2013
14. Appoints the head of the Business Council of Australia to a “Commission of Audit” to recommend cuts to public spending – 22 October 2013
13. Cuts compensation to the victims of bushfires – 21 October 2013
12. Instructs public servants and detention centre staff to call asylum seekers “illegals” – 20 October 2013
11. Appoints Howard era Australian Building & Construction Commission (ABCC) Director to help reinstate the ABCC with all its previous oppressive powers over construction workers – 17 October 2013
10. Axes the Major Cities Unit a Government agency with 10 staff which provided expert advice on urban issues in our 18 biggest cities – 24 September 2013
9. Fails to “stop the boats”. Hides the boats instead – 23 September 2013
8. Scraps the Social Inclusion Board, which had been established to guide policy on the reduction of poverty in Australia – 19 September 2013
7. Abolishes the Climate Commission – 19 September 2013
6. Appoints himself Minister for Women – 16 September 2013
5. Appoints only one woman into his cabinet and blames the women for his decision, saying he appoints “on merit”– 16 September 2013
4. Abolishes key ministerial positions of climate change and science – 16 September 2013
3. Breaks his promise to spend his first week with an Aboriginal community –
14 September 2012
2. Takes away pay rises for childcare workers – 13 September 2013
1. Takes away pay rises from aged care workers – 13 September 2013
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Return to home pageI’m trying to work out which one’s surprise me….. ummmm…. ahhhhhh…. suck boiled lolly… nope. None of them surprise me. It’s about as much as one can expect from a failure at everything he does except lap-dancing with George.
I can’t even bear to read the full list, this government is like a pack of irresponsible teenagers. What’s to become of us, I ask you?
Abbott will be used as a reason not to vote LNP for the next 30 years.
Like most conservatives he can’t play chess for nuts. Speaking of which Credlin appears to have him by his.
“You can’t spend what you haven’t got”- TONY ABBOTT
“Joe Hockey sets unprecedented debt limit for his own department”
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/joe-hockey-sets-unprecedented-debt-limit-for-his-own-department-20140127-31iuj.html#ixzz2rdzzupbw
“this country makes me sick” – Kirk Van Houten.
A sad and sorry list … and only at the beginning of this government. I am waiting with baited breath to see what is the outcome of the Griffith by-election in QLD in a few weeks. Will it be the first counter-stroke against the T.A.G. (Tony Abbott Government) or will too many of the population still be comatose or be continuing to vote against the perceived chaos of the Rudd/Gillard years?
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@Sally McManus
An outright lie to add to your List.
"We’ve established a once-in-a-generation Commission of Audit to re-consider the size, scope and efficiency of government.
[Prime Minister Tony Abbott in his Address To The World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, on 23 January 2014]
The Facts
Commissions of Audit ……………"
Read more at the wonderful North Coast Voices
http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/
Not in my name!
At least he can say he is governing (not for) all australians. There can’t be many left unaffected by this list.
Wow this is breathtaking. Perhaps we (aimn readers) should be sending copies to every Federal Liberal National Party members.
A depressing list.
Jesus wept.
In its infancy.
Surprise,surprise.Pressed like John,I don’t really like it but wanted to post to my blog for future reference.
If there is a future.Thanks very much mate.
No where in PM Abbotts preelection booklet does he specifically outline the course of action he has taken since the election.
Of course one may argue that the chapter headlines account for the post election dismissal from work of many workers.
Must be a couple of hundred thousand workers looking for a new future from the list in the article.
Howard famously said that the election vote is the time for ordinary people to have their say in participatory Democracy.
Abbott as PM takes Howard’s way to a new low by bypassing parliament and governing by executive control.
All the argue mento throughout recent modern political history of executive govt vs parliamentary govt has met its natural endgame in Abott the man who would when morals or ethics suggest not to.
Plausable deniability is longer valid inTony Time as the outcome retains precedence over any methodology or process.
78. is a bunch of nonsense, but aside from that it’s a truly horrible list that’s only going to get worse. The only thing left to hope for now is that the new Senate will not be one the Coalition can easily buy or manipulate. Given the status of many of them as political neophytes I don’t hold out much hope. We’re in for a bumpy ride.
Reblogged this on doctorrob54 and commented:
Never forget what this bastard and his team of true heathens,disguised as Christians,has done so far.This colostomy bag must go down.ASAP.
John I read the whole list out of respect to those who have been disenfranchised by this totalitarian government. I have gone from anger to extreme sadness at the cruelty and ignorance that drives religious ideologues to such unwarranted harm. If we sign the TPP then there will not be a list long enough for our grievances. Its like being under water and holding my breath hoping against hope to surface with the least harm done possible. Starting to feel a wee bit panicky.
You should also write an unbiased list of Tony Abbott’s positive “achievements”. I think this will have a greater effect to swing LNP supporters seeing as it will be a very small and meaningless list in a positive sense for most people. The next election day will be so glorious. Labor wont even need an election campaign to win.
Seriously, when is someone going to do a wrecking ball video aka Ron Jeremy with Tony Abbott.
86. Tough.
85. Yes, because some of the Heritage area includes an already existing mine and farm, that is how badly the map the decision was based on was drawn.
84. An intervention into what?
83. Government is broke, deal with it.
82. They only found out after we told them. No mention of their continued violation of our sovereignty by agents of their government actively assisting the passage of boats carrying asylum seekers.
81. No boats to report.
80. If you’d bother to read the original you would know how idiotic that statement is.
79. Continuation of former government policy.
78. Bernardi quoted Barrack Obama verbatim and apparently he’s the bad guy. And yes, abortion is infanticide, deal with it. (And apparently those on the left believe only they are entitled to an opinion)
77. Government is broke, deal with it.
76. Government is broke, deal with it.
75, Government is broke, deal with it.
74. And so it should be, it is a political entity pushing with a wheel-barrow to push.
73. That’s what happens, name a year Health Insurance Premiums haven’t gone up?
72. Unfortunate, the former government simply forget to issue a tender to re-equip the entire customs patrol boat fleet by 2010 when he ships were due to be scrapped.
71. Part there-of, because of poorly drawn maps.
70. If you go to a financial planner you’re an idiot.
69. Not the federal government’s job. (Also, duplicate of other schemes)
68. Name a successful important case it won? Again, yet another political entity with a wheel-barrow to push.
67. Can be managed by any number of other private and public bodies and practices.
66. Animal welfare? I am unaware of the federal government owning any animals that it would need a special funding regime for their protection.
65. Government is broke, deal with it.
64. Unfortunate, though largely a state issue. (And covered by a myriad of other service providers)
63. Because they were doing such a bang-up-job…
62. They were always trial sites, as the entire program would exist under a national organisation. Also, government is broke, deal with it. (And why didn’t the previous government fund it? Or were they worried about telling everyone it was likely to cost $20,000,000,000+ per annum once fully established?)
61. A nonsense position, easily handled by the Minster(s) for the Arts.
60. Unfortunate, but they can apply for grants from the states.
59. Makes no difference, the long standing tradition of transference of shares to family trusts with spouses as executives has always been a way of circumventing disclosure.
58. A completely unnecessary board, and the government still retains one of the original members as a sole advisory.
57. Good.
56. A system that wasn’t based on any science and didn’t compel anyone else to comply with making it a complete sham.
55. Again, mostly a state’s rights issue.
54. As opposed to never having the NBN completed? As, the former government capped its funding commitment at $30,000,000,000 which we now know wouldn’t cover even half the cost of the proposed FTTH network.
53. Unimportant.
52. Factually incorrect. Not only was General Motors head office in Detroit quite clear in giving its reasons for closing its Australian operation it had telegraphed that decision well in advance. It has also made it perfectly clear its rationale and stated unequivocally that no level of government assistance would have saved Holden. This became public knowledge within hours of the decision being public; to claim other-wise is not ignorance but blatant dishonesty.
51. Government is broke, deal with it.
50. No such demand was ever made, the government may have issued a request, a non-legally enforceable request.
49. Government is broke, deal with it.
48. Unfortunate, though how would you know the government ignored anything?
47. Environmental planning and protections are a state and local planning issue, and always have been.
46. An agreement negotiated by the previous government and would have signed had they won the election.
45. And? The damage was done a decade ago but not as much damage as was inflicted to our relationship when we turned a blind eye to Indonesia invading the place, and who was the Prime Minister then?
44. Made no difference. May have been better to listen to the conservative wowsers who opposed their blanket legalisation after all?
43. Unfortunate.
42. Unfortunate, though I suggest an entity that has done very little to decrease Australian society’s growing addiction rates.
41. You wait till you get the bill.
40. Sometimes you have to choose who your friends are. Anyways, why do those on the left hate Jews so much?
39. Why should he? They bug ours and we’ve caught them doing it more than once. Why didn’t Messiah Rudd apologise, it was his thick-headed program.
38. Government is broke, deal with it.
37. The two vessels have never been owned or operated by the Royal Australian Navy, and belong to the same batch of Customs vessels that the previous government simply forgot to replace in 2010. The previous government also gave military equipment to Indonesia (a long standing tradition) even though that nation’s involvement in an ongoing program of genocide.
36. And having unions abide by the same rules as companies is bad why?
35. He did not condone anything, he accepted a reality that can’t be changed. That boat sailed 30 years ago.
34. How would it benefit you to know?
33. Factually inaccurate.
32. Government is broke, deal with it.
31. A duplicate of other agencies and bodies that can quite easily provide that service.
30. That industry is long dead.
29. Government is broke, deal with it. (It is never going to happen, get over it)
28. A duplicate of other agencies and bodies that can quite easily provide that service.
27. If scientists in the Antarctic don’t know ethics by the time they’re scientists that says more about scientists than the government.
26. A duplication of other agencies and bodies that can quite easily provide that service.
25. Try adopting a child and then tell us how well that body is working?
24. Something that anyone in that field can do for themselves as they progress in their careers.
23. A state criminal responsibility.
22. A duplicate of other agencies and bodies that can quite easily provide that service.
21. A state and local planning issue.
20. Unfortunate, but also a service that can be provided elsewhere.
19. Government is broke, deal with it.
18. So legal aid can only be given for the politically appropriate things you decide?
17. DFAT has always been a far more capable entity.
16. It upheld its sworn and legal duty to defend the integrity of the constitution, it had no other option. The law passed by the ACT could of and would have been challenged by any number of entities successfully, and could have left the government with serious legal battles to fight.
15. The IPCC reports also do the same thing.
14. And who else would you ask? A trade unionist or a trade union lawyer perhaps?
13. Introduced the same changes the previous government flagged and curtailed the same items former treasurer criticised people for claiming. (He then went on to direct $750,000,000 worth of the Flood Levy be withheld from Queensland and redirected to consolidated revenue)
12. Because they are.
11. Given the number of unions currently under investigation by the FWC/FWA and with fresh allegations now levelled, bringing back the ABCC is a good thing.
10. A state and local planning issue.
9. Has the longest period of time without any boat arrivals since the Messiah Kevin Rudd scrapped the Pacific Solution, and invited 4,000 people to their deaths according to his very own claims that 1 in 12 asylum seekers die making the voyage.
8. Australia has spent more than $1,000,000,000,000 in direct welfare payments in the past decade, poverty increased, and trended upward sharply under the previous government, even after it increased direct welfare spending by $30,000,000,000. The board was a failure, a proven failure.
7. Good. Was criticised for damaging the AGW cause by all sides.
6. Are you suggesting that one must have a genital prerequisite for employment?
5. Hawke, Keating and Thatcher only had one woman in their cabinets and no-one is calling them a misogynist. Also, are you suggesting that one must have a genital prerequisite for employment?
4. Both of those ministries were easily incorporated in other portfolios. Also, we don’t have a minister for either Mathematics or English, and given our declining rankings in both of those fields they may actually be of more importance. Also, any university in Australia can provide the government with whatever scientific advice it requires.
3. Unfortunate, though, name a political leader in Australia who has spent more time in aboriginal communities?
2. Only 25% of Child Care workers were eligible, and those that were only eligible if they entered into new Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (union negotiated). And after reports that employees in the sector were contacted and informed that they would have to join a union in order to receive the monies the program was restructured. The money was not withdrawn from the sector, it was re-allocated and those that are up-qualified are likely to earn more as a result.
1. Only 1% of Aged Care Workers were eligible and only eligible if they entered into Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (union negotiated). This was seen as nothing more than a union membership drive on the public purse and was rightfully terminated. The money will be re-allocated.
Anybody can write a list, and far more accurately.
Could you give me a starting point D11k.
@Richard – can you please addend to your post the names of 3 LNP members in or out of Government, who would understand more than 6 of the items?
Tah.
Godfrey.
There is nothing wrong with this blog being left wing, it isn’t hiding that fact. I am a conservative and I enjoy reading left wing blogs to the same if not greater degree I do blogs I’d ideologically agree with.
I do indeed have a lot of time on my hands, a product of having an aversion to television.
Joe did not increase the borrowings, increased the ability to borrow, because the previous treasurer failed to do so in his budget which clearly had borrowings that would exceed the then $300B limit. Debt will peak around $400B and all of it will be to cover spending programs passed by the previous government. That is unless the Abbott government thinks up something new and exciting, which I doubt very much will happen.
NDIS is likely to add the largest portion of the planned debt.
@ revolutionarycitizen 7.17 p.m. You have way too much time on your hands .That , and many of your replies were ‘ the governments broke , deal with it ‘-not very informative , some facts would be nice .Given that Joe has just [quietly ]upped the borrowings to half a trillion dollars .Servicing that size of a debt requires a sizable income stream , BUT according to you , we are broke ! So , if all those areas and services have been cut , why the new increased debt level ?
Left wing blog is almost certainly going to be left wing….. It’s just a shame it is soooo left wing.
Stephen, we have invited right-wing writers to contribute to this blog, and apart from one who was rather radical and extremely unpopular . . . . nobody else has come forward. They are most welcome to.
Stephen why don’t you write something and open yourself up to criticism as we do?
65. Graduates appeal this through Fair Work and gov now has to secure positions in the public service for all 38. Wooh. Thanks to hard work and support of the CPSU to win this!!!
“Debt will peak around $400B and all of it will be to cover spending programs passed by the previous government.”
ummm that’s not true.
When a sweating Joe Hockey, accompanied by a very eager Matthias Cormann, delivered their Mid Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) three months into their term, the forecast deficit had deteriorated by a further $17 billion or about $1.2 billion a week since the Coalition took office. The total deterioration over the current budget year and the forward estimates is $68.1 billion.
$54.4 billion of the budget deterioration is due to economic circumstances outside the government’s direct control. Government revenue has been particularly hit hard by a downward revision in forecast Nominal GDP.
The remaining $13.7 billion is directly is due to government policy decisions that reduced revenue and increased spending.
Since winning the September 7 election, the Coalition has made a series of policy decisions that have hit the bottom line.
Treasurer Joe Hockey punched big hole in the budget when he gave the Reserve Bank $8.8 billion to strengthen its reserve fund in October. A further $1.2 billion has been allocated to Operation Sovereign Borders and offshore processing. Education funding for the states that hadn’t signed up for Gonski cost another $1.2 billion, and shelving planned cuts to the public service hit the bottom line by $5.2 billion. .
Repealing the carbon tax but keeping some of the compensation payments will cost $7.4 billion, and removing 100 announced but unlegislated tax and superannuation measures will cost a further $2.9 billion.
Spot on Kay Lee. Print more money? Great idea. Um something does not seem right, right here.
GDP is still expected to grow at its nominal trend rate of around 2% to 2.5% as it has done for the last 6 years, and who-ever keeps predicting otherwise is an idiot and should be fired from Treasury for getting every forecast wrong in 6 years.
“OSB” is a continuation policy that the previous government left completely unfunded beyond halfway through the budget period. In-fact, its costs are likely to be in-line with the expected costs of K Rudd’s Pacific Solution Mk II, only now it is included in the budget, as Swan forgot to fund the Immigration Dep’t for a full year. And as “OSB” is apparently working it won’t require the AU$9B or so the previous government spent on trying to fix a problem it created. So, it has not cost AU$1.2B it has saved AU$7.8B.
A one off funding payment is not a structural matter, also, it will make an income and the government can at anytime withdraw that money.
Much of the additional Gonski funding was allocated and offered in the last budget. Also, is nothing compared to the true Gonski funding requirement that will be in the budget next year. And won’t be anything near the funding requirement of the NDIS as it rolls out over the coming years.
And much of the remaining carbon tax compensation will be eroded in coming budgets. Which still leaves Swan responsible for almost all of the additional debt.
Actually, for the last 24 quarters, two-thirds of them have had GDP growth of 2.5% or above. Don’t forget that includes 2009 where growth was about 1%. GDP growth in 2012 was 3.4%.
Re the RBA gift, at the current five-year commonwealth bond yield of nearly 3.4 per cent, the borrowed $8.8 billion will cost taxpayers about $300 million a year. Joe is playing the forex market with borrowed money. Fingers crossed on that one.
“And as “OSB” is apparently working it won’t require the AU$9B or so the previous government spent on trying to fix a problem it created. So, it has not cost AU$1.2B it has saved AU$7.8B.”
We shall see whether OSB is working after the monsoon season is over (provided we are not at war with Indonesia).
And the $1.2 billion extra was to maintain the detention camps with those already in them. Are you going to stop feeding them now?
If you are worried about the money it would be far cheaper to fly asylum seekers here – the ticket would be much cheaper than what they give people smugglers so they would have a small amount to help support themselves initially. That would “break the business model” of the people smugglers. Process them onshore, and employ sufficient public servants to speed up the decision making so these people can become contributing members of the community. Those boats patrolling around up there cost a lot of money as do the “security” people running the camps, not to mention the endless tents. But we can’t upset the tent people, they are Scott’s mates and invested in flying him to Nauru to win the contract.
Oh and I forgot the additional $8.2 billion over 6 years to finance land transport infrastructure.
In MYEFO the new government has disclosed at least $30 billion in additional expenditure of its own that it will also need to offset against future estimates, which is in addition to the ‘unsustainable’ budget inherited from the ALP.
Mr Hockey promises the budget will be back in surplus by the 2023/2024 year – in 10 years’ time. Gross debt on issue is projected to increase to $667 billion.
That’s not quite what they promised.
Reblogged this on Nick Thiwerspoon.
Did anyone else notice that regional offices of the child support agency ceased operation at
the beginning of the year? Where was that advertised? Another “cut” that restricts access to services for regional people, quietly pushed through with no information put out publicly?
When will you stop the rot,Tayler,you are a real funny bugger aren’t you.
1, Didn’t say the advised trend GDP growth rate isn’t possible, but pointed out you shouldn’t rely on it, Treasury have got every budget forecast wrong since the beginning of the GFC.
2, One can only be confident that the RBA continues the same strategies that has seen it return good dividends to government.
3, If the boats remain “stopped” the detention camps will empty soon enough. Also, the monsoon season didn’t halt arrivals under the previous government, it merely thinned the arrival rate. So far “OSB” has achieved a cessation of arrivals. Sure, flying them here may be cheaper, be cheaper still to place them on the first commercial flight back to their nation of departure too. Also, that would avoid the high costs of having detainees being detained in hotels in metropolitan Brisbane as an example.
4, I am sure with some number moving they could “spend” the new infrastructure expenditure from elsewhere in the budget. I am not saying that is what will happen, only that it could and should happen.
5, The underlying problem with the debt projection is and or was that at no time were NDIS and Gonski or even the NBN added to the previous budgets, which made promising the keep them the dumbest promise ever made in the history of promises. The NDIS is itself a wonderful welfare initiative but someone is going to have to pay for it, and it likely to be an enormous amount of money. Coupled with a 30% increase in direct welfare payments under the previous government and the doubling of Medicare costs over the previous decade, and having both of those programs become more expensive in coming years it was just a nonsense to have the side that says they’re the fiscally responsible agree to things that they must have known they wouldn’t be able to fund without breaking the bank.
You just have to ask yourself, what would the ALP be doing now had they been re-elected? My guess is they’d be wishing they hadn’t been as their debt projections given Kevin Rudd’s back of a napkin approach to fiscal policy could easily exceed the Trillion mark.
“at no time were NDIS and Gonski or even the NBN added to the previous budgets”
KEY INITIATIVES OF THE 2013–14 BUDGET
Historic investment in Australian schooling
##$9.8 billion over six years in once-in-a-generation school reforms to enhance Australia’s future productivity and wellbeing, ensuring that every student in every school gets the help they need.
##Undertaking a record $1.1 billion investment in early childhood education.
DisabilityCare Australia
##Investment in DisabilityCare Australia of $14.9 billion over seven years – Australia’s most fundamental social policy reform since Medicare.
##Raising the Medicare levy by half a percentage point to provide a strong and enduring funding stream for DisabilityCare Australia.
You really do say the most outrageous things revolutionary citizen. And the reason the NBN was off-budget is because it is a loan which is expected to bring a return.
Please add this to your list and circulate as widely as possible:
Feb 27th thereabouts: Robert Cornall has been commissioned by the Department of Immigration to review the Feb. 16-18 violence on Manus Island where a young Iranian man was beaten to a senseless death. Last year, Cornall investigated rape allegations on Manus Island and said that sexually abused detainees on the island receive better treatment than Australian rape victims, and he questioned whether rape isn’t just a part of Iranian culture. He was paid $94,200 to conduct that review and has reportedly received $1.49 million for government reviews and services in the last three years.
The commission of this man together with the terms of reference add up to a non-investigation, this much is very clear. As whistle-blower Rod St. George says : “What the government is doing here is making the inferred statement that [the Department of] Immigration is not to blame, the policy itself is not the issue, the government has no fault in this — it is all security’s fault and the contractor needs to pay the price,”
“Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott know that a truly independent review would lay bare the real causes for trouble on Manus ..”
https://newmatilda.com/2014/02/27/detainees-treated-better-australians-cornall
terms of reference: http://www.immi.gov.au/pub-res/Pages/reviews-and-inquiries/manus-tor-feb2014.aspx
Personally I applaud Abbott for actually doing something about the ‘illegal immigrants’. Labours massive costs to the Australian tax payer for allowing as many boats to enter our waters and worse yet, take so many free-loaders into our country with open arms was terrible. Yes I get there are people worse off than Australians, but the point is ‘THERE NOT AUSTRALIANS’, therefore not our problem. So that would scrap about 30 of the alleged statements in this list.
Next the environmental scraps are not a bad thing. Personally again, this country took things way too far with the carbon tax etc. The reason is that Australia is a country that relies on it’s transport system for our entire society to function. This simply imparted another cost to the community at large and has crippled industries such as the Aviation industry. Essentially if it brings back dollars to spend on other things(eg fostering industry support programs) that’s a good thing. There are still many government departments for the monitoring and protection of the environment. Labour took things to extreme which is not a solution.
The superfluous legal departments I couldn’t care less about.
The main issues I have with the current government are industry based. Essentially Australia is simple a quarry these days and eventually everything will be imported unless the following action is taken:
1. Reducing the Australian dollar down to 50cents or less some how. (This will make Australia popular again with industry giants).
2. Fostering programs to support and promote sustainable industries with realistic growth policies
3. Ensuring the public health system is maintained.
4. Buying back all utilities with the number 1, being power. The government of days gone by, paid for new power stations. Private industry will never do this as it’s simply not a profitable enough action to take. Patching up existing stations till they make there money, then selling them off to the next patcher is about all that will happen with the current setup.
5. Making local governments accountable for something(anyone else fed up with getting rates bills etc but no support from the government when there’s an issue with your water. In QLD, it’s ‘call Urban utilities’, to which they reply ‘call the council’. So neither party wishes to take responsibility for services).
6. Alas this one is now too late for the time being. This would be to put huge taxes on imported cars, while locally manufactured cars with companies that employ all Australian workers(who pay tax anyway), pay absolutely no tax. Watch our car industry soar again.
7. Remove fuel tax for the local Aviation industries that employ only Australian workers.
8. Make employing off shore workers unviable.
Alas, the current government has not achieved any of these goals yet.
Yes, the current government has broken a lot of promises but it has achieved some good things. If nothing else it will setup a system ready for the next government.
‘THERE NOT AUSTRALIANS’, therefore not our problem”
And there is a nutshell is what I hate about some Australians. I’m alright Jack and the rest of you can bugger off. It is that sort of attitude that has allowed this very dangerous government to take power and it is that sort of attitude that will allow them to wreak their corporate havoc.
It took me awhile but I have worked out space researcher. LOL at the grammar by the way. A well done attempt to hide your true identity. I have read quite a few pieces that Gina Rinehart has written and though they have never been long they have always made the same points.
The only immigrants we want are African blacks imported to work in the Kimberly for 3 years at a time on a special visa which only works with miners and allows them to work 12 hour days 6 days per week at around $3 per day.
Of course it revisits something your American friends had for quite some time. It was called slavery.
Also can you please try harder with spelling of you want to be taken seriously. Otherwise we just assume you are Sir PointyHead the prime mincer.
Some years ago I worked with a Vietnam War conscript. There was a phrase he’d learned during Army training that he still used. It was deployed as his ultimate insult… a way to dismiss the lowest form of human scum…. he would call them a “jack man“. It was someone who had the “I’m alright jack attitude” and looked on as others suffered.
Sadly, it’s not rare to run into a “jack man” these days. Australia is crawling with them. Toads who show no empathy and ignore injustice because “it’s not affecting me”. Note the present progressive tense… these people assume that they are either exempt from (or will overcome) any misfortune. Also note the clumsy way the word “progressive” sits in my previous sentence…