Myefo
Would you be willing to pay an extra $9 every time you fill the car with petrol if it would help fund the national disability insurance scheme?
Should the rate or reach of the GST be increased to give the states more money for education?
Or are these lazy options for governments who already collect enough tax and simply waste what they’ve got?
Continue reading "Where is the money for everything coming from?" »
A donut here. A missed gym session there. We’ve all done it.
Too many calories in and not enough out. Over time, the weight starts to creep up and boom: you’re overweight.
It’s the same with the federal budget.
Continue reading "Tighten your belts Australia, we can’t spare the fiscal flab" »
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Economist says:
Estaban always a pleasure. Running short on time to make a well researched point. Some great points by yourself, but tell me when do we know the bottom of the cycle? When would a government know to invest in infrastructure? There is no doubt that the government intervened to prevent… Read more »
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pete says:
“The Howard government must bear responsibility for blowing much of the proceeds of the mining boom on tax cuts and wasteful spending on non-means tested handouts.” That will go down as the most treacherous thing any government could have ever done because it’s the equivalent of handing out heroin to… Read more »
The policy bigwigs who heard Joe Hockey’s provocative speech to the Institute of Economic Affairs in London back in April could hardly help but be impressed.
Here was a leading politician arguing for cutbacks in welfare payments. Voters, he said, must be told that “the age of entitlement is over”.
Indeed, that was the title of his speech. You can imagine the audience thinking: “What courage! There should be more politicians like this - prepared to tell unpalatable truths and ignore the political risk.”
Continue reading "Joe Hockey sticks up for economic opportunism" »
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Edmund Moriarty says:
Agreed, Bundy. Abolishing middle class welfare ( the current net tax threshold, that is the tax free threshold, is $80,000 for dual income families- families on less pay no tax and get handouts) is the right thing, but no one has the courage to do it. The Henry tax review… Read more »
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marley says:
@youdy beaudy - my third try at getting a comment through. You blame the Coalition for all the privatisation. Well, the Commonwealth Bank was privatised by Hawke and Keating, not Howard. So, if memory serves, was Qantas. It was the ALP that started the process, and Howard followed on with… Read more »
A crackdown on government-funded liposuction; tax cuts for Mongolian, Tongan and Tunisian diplomats; a cut to the cherry and stone fruit export levies; a tax holiday for the Cricket World Cup; tax-free donations to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Fund; money for Afghan soldiers; a rock and roll program for school kids; $2 million for an Australian Ballet production centre in the Prime Minister’s home suburb of Altona…
Think you’ve heard the full story of the government’s mid year budget up date? Think again. The devil of this budget update is in the detail. Appendix A to the Mid Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook is where all the bodies are hidden.
Continue reading "Swanny cuts the budget fat with a liposuction" »
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expat says:
Joan, there is quantity and then there is quality. The people breeding excessively in Australia country are doing so for quantity, and its leading to second and third generation welfare dependency. The people who you want to breed, those that will produce quality citizens, are not gullible to have children… Read more »
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averagebloke says:
@ Tubesteak Rents are already too expensive. If I cant afford to rent now then go right ahead and raise your rent it wont make any difference. NG distorts the housing market, roots the economy by forcing people to take on massive mortgages for dogboxes or pay ponzi rents and… Read more »
My entire public life has been governed by a simple principle that we have a responsibility to keep our economy strong in the interests of working Australians.
Everything we do as a Labor Government is about ensuring people on low and middle incomes benefit from our strong economy.
During these times of ongoing global economic uncertainty, one of the most important things the government can do to support families is to run a strict budget of our own.
Continue reading "We run a strict budget so that you can balance yours" »
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Trude Paladin says:
Let me call bullshit on this Swanny. You have no idea what low income really means. No idea of what it is like to be held on a low income by those ‘supporting’ you. You also do not and never have run a ‘tight ship’ you leak money all over… Read more »
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PayingMonkeysToGetPeanuts says:
Hey Macquarie! I think the term “Labor reforms” has been misused enough in recent years for us to rethink the definition. How about “Spending like chimps in a beat off contest”? Read more »
Wayne Swan is looking more Stepford wife than Bob the Builder. His mid-year budget update yesterday was largely an exercise in housekeeping – a massive spring clean to balance the budget books – rather than a major structural renovation to fix the fiscal house.
It detailed a whopping 76 policy decisions taken since the budget to either increase revenue or cut spending to keep the budget in surplus – just – this financial year. While economic growth is at its historic average and joblessness still relatively low, it is prudent for the government to return to surplus.
The turn around in the budget from a big deficit to a slim surplus is already taking heat out of the economy and paving the way for the Reserve Bank to keep interest rates lower than otherwise.
Continue reading "Swan the builder more of a maintenance man" »
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Omar says:
Actually babble-on we have an economy the envy of the world. Why don’t you just go away and make up some large numbers. It’s what you do best. Read more »
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Richard says:
Defence retirees having their retirement pay (pension) indexed to CPI also means we are suffering. At least the AGE pension is indexed to MTAWE, PBCLI or CPI whatever is the higher. Our pension is tied to CPI (lowest level) and by the way our retirement pay was NOT a gift… Read more »
There might be a substantial number of people a bit gobsmacked that a Budget which started only last July 1 is after just four months some $16 billion out of whack. So out of kilter, in fact, that the Government today has had to effectively recast all its expectations and introduce some big-hit measures to get back on course.
Consumers who already are close to deciding that the next few years might best be endured down in the onion cellar with a supply of can food and batteries might now feel their instincts are right.
But this is what happens to a 21st century economy exposed to global markets which dip and dive frequently and have almost instantaneous effects on domestic economies. And the response to these fluctuations is important.
Continue reading "The economic crystal ball doesn’t stand a chance" »
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pa_kelvin says:
Jack and Maria ...Like two peas in a pod….. Read more »
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Esteban says:
Bank manager- I have called you in today because you seem to be struggling with your loan repayments. Borrower . I am doing great. Everyone else on my street uses their credit card to borrow more just to make their repayments. They are all in complete financial shit compared to… Read more »
Warren Buffett once said that only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked. The tide is certainly going out on the Gillard government, but that doesn’t stop them from trying every trick in the book to delay everything from being revealed.
At a time when budget honesty is desperately needed there is strong speculation Labor is going to rush out its Mid Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) weeks earlier than normal perhaps even as soon as Monday.
If Labor is to release the budget update next week it will be for the most cynical of reasons. It will allow them to avoid factoring in additional economic data due in late October which is tipped to show declining revenues. Of the past 14 MYEFOs only two have been released in October and that was in advance of November elections.
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Ben says:
@Mouse Spot on. @JB alcotrel is from Benalla, which is filled with devoted nitwits who believe that boofhead Ned Kelly was a freedom fighter. Enough said. Read more »
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JB says:
@james, Oh james. Yes interest rates were 21% but did we go into recession? That was also back in 1982. Are you also aware that the inflation figure you quote was spiked by the 16% wage rise across the country! Are you also forgetting the Keating in the 1980’s gave… Read more »
This government must have the courage and discipline to cut spending, reduce borrowing and to repay debt.
The mid year economic update (MYEFO) expected this week needs to take the form of a mini-budget. Wayne Swan needs to accept that government spending has and is contributing to the upward pressure on interest rates. We have now seen seven rises under his watch.
The Treasurer was at direct odds with leading economists such as Saul Eslake, Chris Richardson and RBA board member Warwick McKibbin, when he said: “Anybody who’s claiming the stimulus is somehow related to rate rises is simply talking rubbish.”
Continue reading "Labor should cut spending to protect home-owners" »
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Reg says:
Yes we should all be running around like chooks with no heads. ROFLMAO. Read more »
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Reg says:
Perhaps it is rather simplistic but if the free market is functioning and the cost of home mortgage is beyond the average worker, why is Sydney growing towards the five million mark instead of people fleeing to the countryside? Could it be that by concentrating industry, an over-supply of workers… Read more »
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