Punch on: Happy New Year! 2012’s first open thread

LJ Dots says:

10:38am | 01/01/12

Good advice marley, your timing is impeccable. Just a tip for the posters, if anyone types in caps today please be warned that I will go you.

Now I’m off to *quietly* hunt down my sunnies and that Bloody Mary. Happy New Years all.

Eric The Red says:

09:05am | 01/01/12

Happy New Year to the enlightened Labor supporters and Happy new year to the rusted on Noalition supporters as well.
My wish is to see and end to the lies and fear spread by the Noalition and their supporters and the final nail in the coffin of Big Ears (abbott).
And I wish that Lib/Nat supporters would grow half a brain and spread the good news that Climate Change is real and It is not a tax, it is a price on Carbon to be paid by the Big Polluters , You know the ones Big Ears is trying to protect.
A carbon Tax is what Big Ears wanted (he said that, and it’s on the record) But I suppose I can’t expect to much from them as it’s hard to educate halfwits.
Keep on punching in 2012.

fox says:

10:28am | 01/01/12

@eric

failed policy after failed policy ,billions wasted on halls, batts, physical internet when wireless is progressing by leaps and bounds,, hundreds drowning due to labor removing a very effective boat people solution, mps spending union money on brothels with juliars support, the chief climate guy on a huge taxpayer funded salary, buying a waterfront property after preaching of imminent floods, a carbon tax based on other countries following us with no countries following us, farm and residential land being wholesaled to the chinese…  i could go on and on..

do you really, honestly think these are good things?

mick e mause says:

10:51am | 01/01/12

i’m just glad we are a year closer to getting rid of the idiots running our current government. Waste what waste !!! if i printed the list here it would never get published its so mammoth.

Damocles says:

10:52am | 01/01/12

My New Year’s wish is that Laborites such as “Eric The Red” would bloody well grow up and get over the schoolyard namecalling….....“Big Ears”?....I mean really mate, how old are you? Child! Oh, a Carbon Tax it is, as who will be paying for the increased cost of production…the consumer….therefore it is an indirect tax, but a tax never the less. Ew, the Noalition, how long did it take you to think of that one? Clever…not. Prepare for the end of Bligh/ Labor in Queensland and then Gillard/ Brown/ Independents sham coalition of lies, secrets and deception. The most undemocractic, gutless bunch of clowns Australia has ever had to suffer. Oh, and the Carbon Dioxide Tax on everything will be history when the great Australian, Tony Abbott, becomes the next PM. If Labor/ Greens/ Independents can waste billions of taxpayer dollars on a failed home insulation scheme and an unnecessary NBN then Tony abbott can spend billions undoing the sham Carbon Tax….go Tony! Happy New Year!

TimB says:

10:54am | 01/01/12

“A carbon Tax is what Big Ears wanted (he said that, and it’s on the record)”

I assume you are referring to this?:

“If you want to put a price on carbon, why not just do it with a simple tax?”

Note that word, at the start ‘if’. It means that ‘the record’ doesn’t show what you claim at all. What it actually shows, is that given a choice between various pricing mechanisms, he’d prefer a tax. That’s very different to *actually* wanting a carbon tax.

But it’s possible that such subtlety is lost on you. So allow me to try an illustrate my point with this question I put to you: Would you prefer to lose an arm or a leg? And should I interpret your answer as an actual desire to lose the relevant limb?

Kurisu Sonsaku says:

11:45am | 01/01/12

“enlightened Labor supporters “

That would be an oxymoron.

Tim says:

12:09pm | 01/01/12

TimB,
The coalition policy is to put a price on Carbon. What else are we to take from his comments then?

Against the Man says:

01:42pm | 01/01/12

Oh my, poor Eric has no idea that he and his ‘Labor’ friends have become a very distinct minority. Guess when reality hits Eric, it will be a very painful wake up to the new year.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/12477252/gillard-dodges-questions-on-her-future/

TimB says:

01:45pm | 01/01/12

I thought the Coalition policy was Direct Action Tim. Nothing about a putting a price on carbon there.

(Yes it will cost, but it’s not a specific price in a permit to sell sense)

holden says:

03:50pm | 01/01/12

Damocles. That sword hanging over your head is about to fall.
Abbott is referred to as “Big Ears” because he not only has humungous ears, but also because he has the intelligence of the cartoon character.
And then you called the Government, “a deceptive, untruthful, secretive,  undemocratic bunch of clowns” . Childish? Well, you do pander to the worshipper of statues, so what must we expect.  And you want this cretin, who plays with beads before answering questions, (rarely), to be the Prime Minister of our great Nation? Dunderhead!

Catching up says:

12:54pm | 01/01/12

Saving the country from what>  The best economy in the world with a triple A rating.  A country with small debt and unemployment.

As for waste, tell me what you would not spend money on.

The problem is that the cries of we are being rooned do not stand up when facts are looked at.

It might be unpopular but the worse, that is seriously open to question.

]

RyaN says:

08:03pm | 01/01/12

@Catching up: What was the government debt before labor came to power?
What is the debt now?

What do we have to show for all this wasteful spending except for some poor kids killed during roof insulation installations?
How much blood can this government handle, clearly not enough, they then went ahead and screwed up our immigration policies so that people with cash can jump the refugee queue. The result, well more blood on their hands.

persephone says:

06:33am | 02/01/12

Ryan

1 million homes insulated, reducing energy cots.

A far safer insulation industry than we previously had.

The biggest major infrastructure investment in the nation’s schools ever, providing state of the art facilities in every school in the country.

Increased pensions, youth allowance.

Major infrastructure improvements - road, rail, ports.

AAA rating (first time Australia has been rated AAA by four institutions, so a lot of people seem to think that the government’s getting something right)

....just for starters.

RyaN says:

06:14pm | 02/01/12

@persephone: So nothing substantial for such crippling debt other than blatant vote buying. How much will the latest round of shameless vote buying with tax payer money cost our bottom line?

persephone says:

06:41am | 03/01/12

Ryan

strangely enough, running the economy well goes beyond mere vote buying, but has something to do with looking after the country.

As a Lib supporter, you wouldn’t understand that.

Pretty nifty how the government managed to buy a triple A rating, isn’t it?

RyaN says:

10:56am | 03/01/12

@persephone: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/swag-of-welfare-benefits-start-with-new-year/story-fn59niix-1226233593341

Shameless vote buying!

You only need a triple A credit rating when you are in debt, the previous government paid off all of Labors debt, guess who will have to pay off of this motherload of debt that Labor incompetence has put us into.

Erick says:

10:07am | 01/01/12

Well, looks like both Gillard and Abbott will survive the year, then. Nossy’s predictions are 100% consistent and reliable - wrong every time!

Happy 20th anniversary of the end of the soviet union!

nossy says:

11:16am | 01/01/12

@Erick jealousy is a curse young Erick   hahaha I see a lot of egg on faces by years end and none of it on nossys! Ohh how sweet it is!

TimB says:

12:48pm | 01/01/12

“hahaha I see a lot of egg on faces by years end and none of it on nossys!”

Of course not. With all that egg in your eye, how could you possibly see your face in the mirror?

Repo says:

02:42pm | 01/01/12

Australia needs to increase its refugee intake

FFS says:

10:44am | 01/01/12

Oh please.  Get your facts straight. Who told you $540? That’s not right.

Singles $689.00, Couples $519.40 each,  per fortnight.

And that’s *before* the Pension Supplement, a maximum of $59.80 a fortnight for singles and $90.20 a fortnight for couples (combined).

And if you doubt that, check the Centrelink site yourself.

Forgotten? The Labor government has done more for Age pensioners and pensions than any gov’t of the past 20 years.

NAN says:

03:14pm | 01/01/12

Your right FFS the labour goverment have done more for pensions than any other goverment in 20 yrs ,they have made sure these people stay under the national basic wage of $706 per week, they have taxed everything that can be taxed,seen and unseen,so it’s people like you who should be out there telling the pensioners how well off they are on $730 plus per fornight because labour has done more for them than any goverment in 20 years,you will find them in the supermarket late in the afternoon when meat and bread is being reduced for the day,

persephone says:

03:46pm | 01/01/12

That would be the government which increased the pension by $65 a fortnight, increased the utilities payment and raised the levels at which earnt income decreased the pension.

persephone says:

03:55pm | 01/01/12

Nan

Taxes have decreased under Labor. People are paying less tax than they did five years ago.

What’s more, they have reduced to such an extent that even if you were paying for the Queensland flood levy (which, as a pensioner, youi wouldn’t be) and the carbon price (which isn’ t in yet, and which you’re going to be over compensated for ) you’d still be paying less tax than you were under Howard.

Interesting how you don’t know how much the pension is, btw. One minute it’s $540, next it’s $730. That’s quite a jump.

FFS says:

06:14pm | 01/01/12

Total Nonsense, NAN.

Your Age pension amounts were *wrong*. Very very wrong. Hopelessly, misleadingly, dishonestly wrong.

Be a big brave grown up and get your facts straight, thanks.

And you’re *still* wrong.  Even though you’ve cutely tried to shift the goalposts.

National minimum wage? Wrong again: currently $589.30 per week. Look it up.

Singles and couples on the Age pension are far better off than they ever were under Howard. Still needs careful budgetting? Sure.

But quit pretending it’s anything at all to do with taxes, thanks. You do *not* know what you are talking about.

Keep your spin for some brainless toad who can’t think for themself.

RyaN says:

08:10pm | 01/01/12

@persephone: Come in spinner, how many NEW taxes has Labor introduced since coming to power pers?
Spin along the lines of personal income tax but the stealth tax load has gone skyward.

persephone says:

06:21am | 02/01/12

Ryan

no, telling the truth isn’t spinning.

Have a look at http://www.stephenkoukoulas.blogspot.com/

- as an example, there’s a few others.

* Total government receipts (tax, dividends, fees and the like) was 21.6% of GDP in 2010-11, the lowest level since 1973-74.

* The tax to GDP ratio fell to 20.0% in 2010-11, the lowest since 1978-79 and is a whopping 4.2% of GDP below the record tax to GDP ratio raked in by the Howard government in 2004-05 and 2005-06. That’s a lesser tax take of around $60 billion for one year that was taken from tax payers during the peak period of the Howard government.

Whichever way you cut it, taxes are lower under the present government.

Tator says:

08:08pm | 02/01/12

Persephone,
Yes tax receipts have gone downwards as a percentage of GDP, but only due to the collapse in Company Tax revenue which in 07/08 was $64 billion and in 10/11 only $56 billion - so it is not really a cut in the rate of taxation rather than a collapse in revenue due to poor economic conditions.  Then there is the issue that Howard had a thriving economy prior to the GFC and had significantly reduced both income tax rates and company tax rates compared to what he inherited in 1996 yet the Rudd/Gillard government has only made income tax cuts and implemented more new taxes such as the alcopops tax, increasing the luxury car tax rates and a 25% increase in tobacco excise

Tator says:

08:43pm | 02/01/12

BTW Persephone,
using an economist who was the economics adviser to Julia Gillard in 2010/11 isn’t really an independant nonpartisan source.

Eric The Red says:

06:56am | 02/01/12

Thanks Mate, I know you really enjoyed it. Lmao!!  keep Punching and don’t keep missing the mark in 2012.

St. Michael says:

01:03pm | 01/01/12

Come on, Poindexter.  You need to stop making false predictions about sports clubs—there’s no way Labor would blame their failures on the Eurozone.

jaxx says:

01:57pm | 01/01/12

My predictions:
Abbott will be knifed in the back by the conservative faceless men from corporate boardrooms either in March or on 24/6/2012.

Australia will be propped up by demand for our minerals by a resilient China. - West Australia and Queensland will continue to hoard the wealth that should belong to all Australians.

There will be a massive rise in the Cost of Living - led by conservative state governments putting up the price of Water, Electricity & Gas.

Liberals will continue to say Nay, Nay, Nay to good policy

Through good fiscal management, Labor will continue to guide Australia through the financial crisis that is rocking the world. The liberals will tell us that we are unaffected by the turmoil in the global financial markets and should ride the tsunami.

Unemployment will stay at historical low levels as a result of good fiscal management.

The sun will shine, the rain will fall and the liberals will use this as unequivocal proof that climate change isn’t happening.

nihonin says:

02:17pm | 01/01/12

‘The sun will shine, the rain will fall & the wind will blow. At least the politicians cannot control any of that & for that we can be ever thankful’!  Oh I don’t know, just the mere knowledge that th CT is kicking in this year, has made summer a fair bit cooler here in summer, can’t wait for winter, it’ll be warmer.  Thank you Julia, Bob and Labor for giving Australia (well north of Victoria/South Australia) a stable climate.

Paul says:

02:19pm | 01/01/12

@ Robert S McCormick: Mate I enjoy a drink as much as the next person but casks are the way to go if you want to budget. If you are paying more than $7 a litre for a goony bag you are getting ripped off. And if you have a little too much it doubles as a silver pillow for your couch once complete.

Save the >$20 a bottle of wine for the sniffing, aficionado wankers.

I’m off to walk down and watch the end of the South versus North of the creek cricket match in my little NSW country town with my click click chair, smally eats and goony bag at the local oval. Will be a great time as I was in bed at 2030 last night to avoid the bullshit hassle of New Years eve.

My wish for 2012 is for the ‘people with glasses who know better than you’ to F&ck; Off and stop telling me how I should live my life. I’m quite bloody happy the way I live it.

Again, F&ck; Off to the health nazis, feminists, envirobullshit artists and ‘lets ban what I don’t like brigade’.

holden says:

02:37pm | 01/01/12

Brilliant, RSM, bloody brilliant! This crystal ball garbage is just what we need. Abbott would employ you, along with his prayerful band of obedient Monks to help him to guide this Nation to the top of the economy tree. Oh wait a minute, we are already there. Thanks to the Practical Labor Party.
No superstitious bone rattling, no mystical prophets of doom, no relayed instructions from Rome, no prostrating oneself before carved images of flying babies and virgin mothers. None of that for the ALP. Just sound economic management that puts us at the forefront of the world’s economies.
But you and your fortune telling tea-leaf-readers who know so much about coming events that you have two bob each way in re the date of our Prime Minister’s demise, (and still can’t decide between the March and the June timing), and have the temerity to suggest that you and Big Ears, (are they antenna?), are able to commune with spirits, want ordinary folk to take you seriously.
Nossy has a humerous dig at what we know is unforetellable.
You and your humbled knee-benders are fair dinkum. You are all great examples of what has happenned to the once proud Liberal Party.
Start the New year right. Throw away your keyboard, and your beads. Or perhaps consider that job offer from Abbott. Writing his scripts.
By the way, governments are supposed to spend money. That’s why we pay tax. It’s just that no-one told Howard, so he didn’t tell Abbott. Or you.

FFS says:

06:25am | 02/01/12

Unemployment to rise, bravely trumpets RSMcK. Meh.

A little early to be sure, but the best of the employment leading indicators is starting to hint of employment growth tracking *above* trend, from mid-year. 

Something to keep an eye on.  Such things are never a sure bet, and it’s as well to remember that employment and unemployment changes trail after the other big economy drivers.

And if you don’t believe it, well, look it up.

Catching up says:

05:43pm | 01/01/12

It was not only illegal, it stopped the refugees from having access to the legal system.  The courts have said this is not on.

It is impossible to revive the so called Pacific Solution.

It only worked because Mr. Howard was lucky enough to prevent any refugee assess to the courts.

THERE IS NO GOING BACK TO THE PACIFIC   SOLUTION|.

A new solution needs to be found.  Does anyone believe that the Opposition would not support the Malaysian solution if the thought of it first.

Mr. Abbott knows this but does not care.  He is only interested in making things hard for Labor.

Mr. Abbott does not care about the boat people or refugees in general.

Joe says:

07:33pm | 01/01/12

Labor have been successful in running the High Court wrecking ball through every successful aspect of the Migration Act.  A government that was serious about stopping the boats would be very careful about how they implemented legislation so that only certain questions could be asked of the High Court.  In the handling of the Asylum Seekers the management of what could be presented to the High Court has been nothing short of incompetent.  Does this surprise anybody?

This is why the Coalition is correct in not helping to get the currently proposed Labor legislation through the high court for the Malaysia deal.  An interventionist high court would have a field day with it and end Offshore Processing for all time.

Labor is not serious about stopping the boats.  Australia will just be required to put up with the flood of arrivals over the next 2 years before we can get rid of an incompetent and duplicitous government.

Eric The Red says:

07:32am | 02/01/12

@ Marilyn Shepherd. You said,  Now I fail to understand why the drowning deaths of people in another country is more important than the hundreds of thousands of deaths of those victims in the wars Howard started.
Now I’m not a Lib supporter nor do I like Howard but, how did he start those wars you are talking about. Last time I looked he was just being a good little boy following Bush. Yes we should not have sent our troops there. But to say Howard started those wars is just bullshit and I would expect that sort of talk from Abbott about someone in the labor party. But Howard was still an asshole.

marley says:

08:27am | 02/01/12

@Marilyn - I reckon the drowning deaths of people in another country is important because there are Australians complicit in those deaths.  People here are helping to organize these boat trips on behalf of friends, relatives, or simply paying customers.  And the people here, whatever their motives might be, should be charged with those deaths.

Ken Oath of Manly says:

06:17pm | 01/01/12

She’s a good sort, alright. Yummy!

And I (mostly ) like your taste but how on Earth did Roxon and Wilkinson get into that celebrated and delightful company? I would rather eat ground glass.