Punch-drunk Swan gets smashed in cyberspace

Almost everyone had something to whinge about how they would be affected. Despite Swan’s longer term vision of returning the country into the black from 2015, the economy’s rupturing to expose a burgeoning $58 billion deficit and the consequences of the red ink were fresh on many bloggers’ minds.

Rusher of Sydney pointed out on News.com.au: “Guess how Australians will pay off the deficit? Taxpayers’ money. The more Rudd and Swan recklessly spend, the more tax we pay. But don’t worry if we all lose our jobs, we won’t need to pay tax.”

And as a number of others noted, the economic hangover is likely to last into their retirement years.

Emerald of Sydney was less than impressed, telling dailytelegraph.com.au: “The Rudd Government has driven Australia into unprecedented debt in 18 months, with a promise of more to come. Australians will have to work from cradle to coffin to pay it off.”

The decision to progressively raise the pension age to 67 by 2023 was given a big thumbs down by many bloggers.

Jeff of Adelaide said on News.com.au: “Looks like I will have to work till I die. There won’t be a pension if I want to retire and my super money is decreasing faster than I can add money to it.”

And while some current seniors were given a single-age pension boost of $32.49 a week, couples were asking why they would only get $10.14 a week.

As Charles Gillings of Caboolture pointed out on couriermail.com.au: “My wife and I would be better off if we separated. We would both get $32 each per week - a total of $64. That’s $54 more than we would get if we stayed together. And under Centrelink rules we can share the same house.”

And in a case of “What about me?”, Cas of Brisbane was also miffed. “I thought it was a good budget for the pensioners, but there was strangely no mentioned assistance for the unemployed who look like needing a massive helping hand thanks to the misery inflicted by the corporate world.”

The Government’s focus beyond the next financial year and on more distant horizons did not go unnoticed by Disappointed of Brisbane in his Budget summary: “After all the tough talk about hard times, we have a sneaky budget to claw back at the margins, recycle money promised to infrastructure from one, two and three budgets ago and grossly optimistic projections about the path to surplus.”

Far Canal of Perth on News.com.au chipped in: “I was under the mistaken belief that an annual budget covered the next financial year, not the next financial decade. If the government of the day (either party) is going to present budgets that cover anything up to 14 years into the future, what is the point of presenting one every year?”

Going by bloggers’ reactions, it looks like the Rudd Government has a big job ahead to convince Australians they will be on the road to economic recovery any time in the near future.