Debt and deficit disaster! They are spending like drunken sailors! It’s in their DNA!
So outraged were they by Labor’s waste and mismanagement, the Coalition published The Little Book of Big Labor Waste in which they list 50 examples which make for very interesting comparative reading now. A few months ago I wrote a short sequel – an exhaustive comparison would run to volumes.
Tony Abbott came to power promising to stop the waste. The age of entitlement is over. We need lifters not leaners.
And then promptly bought himself a fleet of nine BMW 7 Series High Security cars worth around $550,000 each and bigger planes to transport his burgeoning camera crew around in luxury (provided they don’t mention the cost).
Who, other than our Prime Minister, charges tens of thousands of dollars to take part in a charity event? Who claims money to take part in fun runs or ironman events? Who keeps the entire party room waiting while he has his photo taken so he can claim the cost of attending a private party? Who flies from Canberra to Sydney to give a press conference and then flies back again to start work for the day? Is it any wonder that Bronwyn Bishop thinks nothing of using helicopters and $1000/day limos to get around?
Two days before the 2013 Federal election Joe Hockey and Andrew Robb published a media release titled ‘Final update on Federal Coalition Election Policy Commitments’. In it they state that the Coalition will achieve “a further 0.25 per cent efficiency dividend on the public service ($428 million) through prudent limitations on Government advertising and consultancies as well as on Government travel.”
From January to June 2012, Speaker Peter Slipper claimed $97,989.81 for overseas travel. By comparison, from January to June 2014, Speaker Bronwyn Bishop claimed $178, 071.34 for overseas travel. In 2014 she claimed $811,857 in expenses on top of her hefty salary.
It has become such common practice for politicians to claim anything they possibly can get away with that they no longer understand that paying off the mortgage on your investment property by claiming entitlements is just wrong. Hosting $50,000 dinners in Washington also does not pass the “sniff” test.
Politicians, who are in the top one per cent of income earners, not only accept free tickets to major sporting events, they then charge us for not only their transport and accommodation, but that of their family as well. We pay for them to attend weddings and to check on their investment properties if they can get away with it. We pay for the books they want to read (or give away) and the shelves to house them. Is there nothing that they feel they should pay for themselves?
How much would we save if we built an accommodation wing at Parliament House? No more paying hundreds of dollars per night just because someone is away from home – it’s part of the job they chose. No more paying for cars to drive them to and from work if they are staying on site. If they choose to stay elsewhere then they can pay for it themselves and, like the rest of us, you should not be able to claim the cost of driving to and from work. No more paying for your family – they are your responsibility.
Cited as an example of Labor’s waste was the “$1.8 million Fair Work Australia has so far spent on outside legal and accounting advice for its investigation into the rorting of HSU funds.” Compare that to Tony’s Royal Commission which is costing $80 million, a significant part of which is going to the law firm that George Brandis worked for. Compare the cost of pursuing Peter Slipper through the courts, destroying his career, his marriage, his reputation, and his finances, while Bronwyn Bishop is “on probation” after learning a “saluatory lesson.”
Another example of waste was the money spent on installing a new hot water system at the Lodge. It was less than Tony spent on getting advice about the gardens at Kirribilli House – no work done, just advice. It was less than a third the cost of getting out of the lease on the luxury house in Canberra that Tony refused to move into.
The budget papers show that, measured as a percentage of GDP, spending under the two budget years of the Abbott government – both 25.9 per cent – was exceeded by Labor in only one year: 26 per cent in 2009-10, the year following the GFC spending. (See Table 1)
With revenue tumbling, the Coalition want to reduce taxes while spending hundreds of billions on strike force defence materiel, national security and border control. They want to cut services and welfare while claiming hundreds of millions in entitlements themselves. They want to sell off profitable assets to fund their profligate spending on things that do little to improve productivity or tackle the challenges of climate change or unemployment. They want to subsidise the wealthy and demonise the poor.
Tony seems to be pinning all his hopes on the message that he can keep us safe which is a hard sell when you have to whip up fear to maintain it.
Those who voted for the Liberal Party to stop the waste must be sorely disappointed as the debt and deficit continue to grow, and the extravagant rorts are exposed.
Those who voted for the National Party must be finally realising that the Greens best represent their interests.
Even business is despairing at this government’s lack of coherent direction.
The next election will be a true test of the influence of the Murdoch press as even the shock jocks are starting to ask questions.
Are memories that short? Is hearing that selective? Will propaganda win?
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