# Swan Named World's Best Treasurer LOL



## Aussiejeff (21 September 2011)

> Treasurer Wayne Swan has been awarded the prestigious *finance minister of the year* award for his handling of the Australian economy.
> 
> The award is judged by leading European banking and finance magazine Euromoney on _advice from global bankers and investors._
> 
> Each year the award honours the finance minister, treasurer or central bank governor whose decisions _"have directly benefited both the performance and perception of their country's economic and financial achievements"_.



http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-21/swan-named-best-treasurer/2908654

Trust the leftie ABC to dub him "World's Best Treasurer". That's it, I'm lost for words apart from...

HAHAHAHA_HAHAAAAA_......


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## Logique (21 September 2011)

Still riding on Costello and Howard's coat tails, despite having bagged them in Opposition.  Gifted a $27 Bill surplus, and has turned that into a $200 Bill deficit, and with govt policies in place that will accelerate that slide. What a cruel joke.


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## skc (21 September 2011)

Or was the award the Least Worst Treasurer... 

I'd have Swannie over Tim Geithner anyday.


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## Knobby22 (21 September 2011)

Aussiejeff said:


> http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-21/swan-named-best-treasurer/2908654
> 
> Trust the leftie ABC to dub him "World's Best Treasurer". That's it, I'm lost for words apart from...
> 
> HAHAHAHA_HAHAAAAA_......




The ABC didn't dub him, it was an International award.
Shows the quality he was against, there have been a lot of bad examples like Tim Geithner as SKC said.


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## pixel (21 September 2011)

Logique said:


> Still riding on Costello and Howard's coat tails, despite having bagged them in Opposition.  Gifted a $27 Bill surplus, and has turned that into a $200 Bill deficit, and with govt policies in place that will accelerate that slide. What a cruel joke.



 Let's be fair: Name one country in the world that did not run into deficit during the GFC.
Keeping the Australian economy as strong as it held up, having not a single Australian Bank keel over like so many Overseas, must surely count for something.
You can argue that it wasn't Swan's merit alone, so it would be better described as an award going to Australia's Treasury; but given the international competition, I reckon Australia can be proud - at least thank our Lucky Stars - that our feathers remained comparatively unruffled.

Note: It wasn't the Government initiative's fault that so many insulation batts were installed shabbily or so many school projects ripped-off. The true culprits were the shonky operators. Some flow-on effect from our convict "heritage" maybe???


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## Calliope (21 September 2011)

Knobby22 said:


> The ABC didn't dub him, it was an International award.
> Shows the quality he was against, there have been a lot of bad examples like Tim Geithner as SKC said.




Yes, if Swanny is the world's best treasurer it's no wonder the world economy is in such a mess. God help us!

Here he is grinning like a rat with a gold tooth;


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## Knobby22 (21 September 2011)

Good picture Calliope! Love his suave attempt with the coat.

Every dog has his day


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## drsmith (21 September 2011)

He can have his day as far as I'm concerned.

He'll be brought back to reality soon enough.


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## Aussiejeff (21 September 2011)

Logique said:


> Still riding on Costello and Howard's coat tails, despite having bagged them in Opposition.  Gifted a $27 Bill surplus, and has turned that into a $200 Bill deficit, and with govt policies in place that will accelerate that slide. What a cruel joke.




100% with what you say.... I wonder what sort of "award" SuperSwan would have received if he didn't have that Coalition devised treasure-chest full of moolah at the start of the GFC?

Perhaps the eejits bestowing this crap would have done better to confer an honorary "posthumous" Best Finance Minister award to Mr P. Costello instead, in recognition of his uncanny "foresight" in recession-proofing Oz?? LOL

Meanwhile, back at SuperSwan Ranch, the vomit-inducing gloating has begun....



> *Treasurer Wayne Swan says he is happy to be compared to US rocker Bruce Springsteen after being named 'the boss' of the world's finance ministers.*



http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-21/wayne-swan-the-boss-is-back/2909376?section=business

The ABC obviously loves the little guy...


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## Logique (21 September 2011)

Aussiejeff said:


> ...Meanwhile, back at SuperSwan Ranch, the vomit-inducing gloating has begun...http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-21/wayne-swan-the-boss-is-back/2909376?section=business...



Cheers AJ, I'm tipping that the ALP spin about the Coalition, i.e.  '..of course Australia did well with the mining boom and Chinese demand..', will not be much in evidence today. Treasurer Swan didn't need either of these factors, he did it on sheer ability.


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## McLovin (21 September 2011)

No wonder the world is heading back in to recession if Wayne is the pick of the litter.


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## Julia (21 September 2011)

pixel said:


> Note: It wasn't the Government initiative's fault that so many insulation batts were installed shabbily or so many school projects ripped-off. The true culprits were the shonky operators.



I'd disagree that the government was blameless in the massive rip-offs.
They should have put in place stringent regulation for proper training in the case of the pink batts, and allowed individual schools to choose quotes and supervise the building for the BER.

Imo those conferring this award on Mr Swan are failing to take into account the hideous waste that has occurred:  funds that have been squandered in handouts to individuals which were spent just to keep the retail industry looking OK for another quarter.  

Now, as they try to return to surplus, we have e.g. flood levy because the money that should have been available for real help in a real need no longer exist.

To be fair to Mr Swan, however, he did at least acknowledge the contributions of past governments of both persuasions.


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## tech/a (21 September 2011)

I'm with Julia.

Grand ideas and dismal implementation.

Insulation
Schools
National Broad Band.
Sola Energy

More money is wasted through Government stupidity and in experience than my wife can spend in a department store----No mean feat!


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## Surly (21 September 2011)

The Australian economy should of been given an award for suffering Swan's ineptitude and surviving!

cheers
Surly


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## bellenuit (21 September 2011)

The problems with these types of awards is that they are based on economic parameters that apply when the treasurer is in office. However, everyone knows that good economic policy is setting and achieving long term goals, so the beneficiaries are often those lucky enough to be in power at the time, which are often a different team to those who did the hard yakka.


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## waimate01 (21 September 2011)

pixel said:


> Note: It wasn't the Government initiative's fault that so many insulation batts were installed shabbily or so many school projects ripped-off. The true culprits were the shonky operators. Some flow-on effect from our convict "heritage" maybe???




Ever been out on the great barrier reef and thrown some bread or prawn heads over the side?  Do the fish form an orderly queue or does all hell break loose and anything goes?  When the govt puts a sign up that says "free money to anyone who can write legibly", it's no surprise that havoc ensues. To assume any other result reeks of naivety and unworldliness. It's almost as though these people have no real-world experience.


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## Surly (21 September 2011)

waimate01 said:


> It's almost as though these people have no real-world experience.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Swan

"Swan was born and educated in Nambour, Queensland. He attended Nambour State High School, graduating in 1972.[3] Kevin Rudd attended the same school at the same time, although the two did not know each other. Swan won a Commonwealth scholarship to study public administration[4] at the University of Queensland, becoming a lecturer in the Department of Management at the Queensland Institute of Technology (now the Queensland University of Technology) before entering politics.[5]

From 1978 to 1980 Swan was an advisor to the Leader of the Opposition Bill Hayden, and from 1983 to 1984 was an advisor to federal Labor ministers Mick Young and Kim Beazley. He was State Secretary of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party 1991–93."

No I don't see any real world experience in any of that. He has been in politics since he was 24.

cheers
Surly


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## DB008 (22 September 2011)

I heard this yesterday morning on the radio, l have been flat out this week and really hoped that someone had posted this on ASF.

I'll be honest, l was laughing when l heard this. I thought it was the 1st of April...

As others have said, Swan was left a Christmas sock full of cash and a Chinese economy that was consuming iron ore like there was no tomorrow...and where do we stand now???


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## dutchie (22 September 2011)

Surly said:


> The Australian economy should of been given an award for suffering Swan's ineptitude and surviving!
> 
> cheers
> Surly




Ain't that the truth!


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## sptrawler (22 September 2011)

Julia said:


> I'd disagree that the government was blameless in the massive rip-offs.
> They should have put in place stringent regulation for proper training in the case of the pink batts, and allowed individual schools to choose quotes and supervise the building for the BER.
> 
> Imo those conferring this award on Mr Swan are failing to take into account the hideous waste that has occurred:  funds that have been squandered in handouts to individuals which were spent just to keep the retail industry looking OK for another quarter.
> ...




Further to what Julia has said. At that point in time we didn't need any handouts, everything was going along fine, low unemployment, mining boom picking up, retail no problems. Rather than hold back untill we are really in the s#!t ,they have to throw it round like dicks.
Well now when we are really going to need it, guess what, the tank is empty.


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## sptrawler (22 September 2011)

Wayne can you help me, my shares are falling to GFC levels. Apparently you are the worlds best treasurer and we are in a resources boom, why is my portfolio going to s#!t?


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## brty (22 September 2011)

Looking at most of the posts in this thread, it appears that the world's greatest treasurer has something to do with Wayne.

I am of the opinion that it says a lot more about the award giver than anything else. If this is the best, then god help us all.

brty


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## Miss Hale (25 September 2011)

brty said:


> I am of the opinion that it says a lot more about the award giver than anything else. If this is the best, then god help us all.
> 
> brty




Agree. Just another international award that lacks credibility IMO (Like the Nobel Peace prize).

Australian economy survived the GFC despite Wayne Swan not because of him.


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## Miss Hale (25 September 2011)

pixel said:


> Note: It wasn't the Government initiative's fault that so many insulation batts were installed shabbily or so many school projects ripped-off. The true culprits were the shonky operators. Some flow-on effect from our convict "heritage" maybe???




Convict heritage????  I think not.  The whole convict heritage thing is a complete furphy, as a nation of immigrants most people are not from convict stock anyway (not that I think those who are are in any way shonky bye the way). Compared to other countries I think Australia is comparitively free of shonky operaters EXCEPT it would seem when it comes to Govt initiatives .  The BER operated slightly differently for private schools who were given the money and controlled how it was spent, those projects gave much better value for money than did the ones run by the education departments. I think the problem was not shnonky operators but the way the scheme was set up which allowed for exploitation.  If the government is going to do such things the onus on them is to 'shonk' proof them. I don't actually think that's an easy task for a bureaucracy so a better path to stimulate the economy would have been tax cuts IMO.


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## Calliope (25 September 2011)

brty said:


> Looking at most of the posts in this thread, it appears that the world's greatest treasurer has something to do with Wayne.
> 
> I am of the opinion that it says a lot more about the award giver than anything else. If this is the best, then god help us all.
> 
> brty




I dunno. At least they are consistent;



> Euromoney 2006 Best Investment Bank – Lehman Brothers (Gone 2008)
> Euromoney 2006 Best Equity House – Morgan Stanley (Bailed out 2008)
> Euromoney 2006 Best at Risk Management – Bear Sterns (Gone 2008)
> Euromoney 2006 Best at Investor Services – Citigroup (Bailed out 2008




http://www.rwm.com.au/tag/euromoney-award-winners/


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## joea (18 April 2012)

Well I have been thinking the only way we can get rid of  Federal Labor is to run them out of money.
Now what plan would be necessary to achieve this?

But wait, hold a sec, take a breather,  they maybe able to achieve this themselves.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...s-revenue-tumble/story-fn59nsif-1226330850202

It appears Wayne Swan will need a little cover to put over the trophy "for the worlds best treasurer" on these bad days.

So will the Greens join the coalition to reuse lifting Australia's debt still further.???

Whoops!! No doubt Tony distracted him when he was operating his "chinese counting beads". The electronic calculator is "buggered", it  will not provide a surplus.

Was wondering why this went to air? Oh that's right, Wayne is over seas. I have been noticing this of late, bad news for Labor now seems to coincide with the appropriate MP over seas.

joea


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## Eager (18 April 2012)

But this:
http://www.news.com.au/business/bre...st-imf-forecasts/story-e6frfkur-1226330822328

Good economies don't come by accident, joea.


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## moXJO (18 April 2012)

Eager said:


> But this:
> http://www.news.com.au/business/bre...st-imf-forecasts/story-e6frfkur-1226330822328
> 
> Good economies don't come by accident, joea.




Yes it took the libs to set it up.
At the height of the tech bubble back in the late 90's labor continually harped on about backing the tech sector and ditching setting up the mining sector. Awesome skills there
Labor managing to destroy business sentiment and taxing everything that moves will have flow on effects down the track. I would say sooner than later. Labors lack of skill in developing trade relationships is also a worry. Swan is a lightweight setting us up to fail.


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## joea (18 April 2012)

Eager said:


> But this:
> http://www.news.com.au/business/bre...st-imf-forecasts/story-e6frfkur-1226330822328
> 
> Good economies don't come by accident, joea.




But we have to deal with budget deficit and Australian debt yet. Do we not?
Then we got to get a rhode scholar to add up the unemployment numbers.
Because as far as I know nobody else is capable.

Then when all that settles, i will give credit to appropriate people.
joea


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## sails (18 April 2012)

Eager said:


> But this:
> http://www.news.com.au/business/bre...st-imf-forecasts/story-e6frfkur-1226330822328
> 
> Good economies don't come by accident, joea.




Not everyone agrees that it is so good.



> Australia is beginning to lag behind OECD countries as a whole when it comes to economic performance.




Read more from Crikey: Australia’s lagging economic performance


And what about jobs that are now going to NZ because their work laws are not so restrictive? This surely can't be good for the Aussie economy.



> HUNDREDS of Australian jobs have been shifted to New Zealand as local producers try to avoid the impact of high wages, a soaring Australian dollar and restrictive labour laws.




Read more from the Brisbane Times: Australian jobs on the move to NZ


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## So_Cynical (18 April 2012)

moXJO said:


> Yes it took the libs to set it up.




Yep great set up ...basically do nothing after the set up by Hawke Keating 
and somehow take credit for it.


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## McLovin (18 April 2012)

So_Cynical said:


> Yep great set up ...basically do nothing after the set up by Hawke Keating
> and somehow take credit for it.




I agree. Productivity growth has been non-existent since about 2001. The heavy lifting that Hawke/Keating did puts this current mob in Canberra to shame.

But, but, but the budget was in surplus under Howard/Costello.


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## So_Cynical (18 April 2012)

McLovin said:


> I agree. Productivity growth has been non-existent since about 2001. The heavy lifting that Hawke/Keating did puts this current mob in Canberra to shame.
> 
> But, but, but the budget was in surplus under Howard/Costello.




A budget surplus is pretty easy to do if you have a Govt that did all the hard work and took the political knocks before you, and you do nothing (don't spend) and the economy booms along with tax revenues doubling.


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## McLovin (18 April 2012)

So_Cynical said:


> A budget surplus is pretty easy to do if you have a Govt that did all the hard work and took the political knocks before you, and you do nothing (don't spend) and the economy booms along with tax revenues doubling.




I was being sarcastic about the surplus.

Although to be fair, I would say the Libs probably did a better job than the ALP would have done in cutting spending. Whether you disagree or agree with them, centre-left parties tend to spend more on social programs than centre-right.


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## moXJO (19 April 2012)

So_Cynical said:


> Yep great set up ...basically do nothing after the set up by Hawke Keating
> and somehow take credit for it.




Yeah much better we go backwards under the current labor govt


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## moXJO (19 April 2012)

So_Cynical said:


> A budget surplus is pretty easy to do if you have a Govt that did all the hard work and took the political knocks before you, and you do nothing (don't spend) and the economy booms along with tax revenues doubling.




The Reserve Bank's index of commodity prices shows an all-time high in March 2011. The index is nearly double where it was in 2006 and triple the levels of the late 1990s. 
So what’s labors current excuse? The libs payed off government debt when there was no boom. Given we may be at the ass end of a mining boom cycle what industry is going to save our ass in the future? Green tech 
 Costello provided tax cuts that actually shared the wealth around, a more competitive tax system a sovereign wealth fund, IR laws, while providing a budget surplus. I’m pretty sure productivity ran above average under Howard. 

 But you think wasting money on Pink batts, big government and the long list of labor failures to date is money well spent. NBN is about the only thing I would agree with atm and no doubt price will blow out. We went into how much debt (while under better conditions then the libs enjoyed mind you) and now how many billions of dollars leave the economy each year to service debt? And now with the carbon tax we will be sending more money overseas while taxing us more to achieve nothing. Yeah great policies there, tax us more than ever. 

If labor were in govt during the Howard years and backed tech right before the bust I wonder if we would have ended up like the euro zone. Libs under Howard were the right government for the time. I didn't agree with everything they did, but they sure as hell were better than the current mob.

Labor today enjoyed better conditions, no debt (a surplus in fact) a more competitive tax system, better IR laws, sovereign fund a good relationship with China etc and still manage to start turning business conditions backwards and cost of living conditions higher. I also question labors ability to develop trade relationships with other countries.
In saying all this I don't like/ or have much faith in the current lib front bench either.


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## joea (20 April 2012)

McLovin said:


> Although to be fair, I would say the Libs probably did a better job than the ALP would have done in cutting spending. Whether you disagree or agree with them, centre-left parties tend to spend more on social programs than centre-right.




When an election happens, and if the coalition win, they are going to have a real battle.
We know they can cut costs. However this time in they have to deal with huge debt, but in the meantime build infrastructure around Australia.
That is going to be a real balancing act.

Would Costello be involved?
Did Howard have the brakes on Costello in the infrastructure area?
Will Australia need a "touch" economy?
Who would be most suitable to put all the little bits in the correct order to maximise growth? i.e. rates, Australian dollar, etc. etc.

This post above by McLovin points to the necessity of a better balancing act than we would normally expect from an incoming government.

joea


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## dutchie (23 April 2012)

Does his belief that there *is no* link between government spending and interest rates make him the best treasurer in the world?

or

Does his belief that there *is* a link between government spending and interest rates make him the best treasurer in the world?

Which one is it or, as he has shown, can it be a liquid believe depending what time it is?


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## joea (23 April 2012)

dutchie said:


> Does his belief that there *is no* link between government spending and interest rates make him the best treasurer in the world?
> 
> or
> 
> ...




Well I honestly think no matter what his belief is, he is far from the best treasurer in the world.
Actually he is probably hoping there is an early election, then he can take his trophy and sit in opposition.
I will send him the "silvo" to keep it polished.
joea


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## dutchie (2 May 2012)

The Goose has *a lot* to answer to Australia by what Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest has said about certain events involving the Treasurer and Fortescue.

Watch the National Press Club Address which was on today if you get a chance.


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## noco (2 May 2012)

dutchie said:


> The Goose has *a lot* to answer to Australia by what Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest has said about certain events involving the Treasurer and Fortescue.
> 
> Watch the National Press Club Address which was on today if you get a chance.




Yes, Forrest was most impressive.

I liked the part where he said, "a three legged dog could beat Swan". lol


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## Julia (2 May 2012)

noco said:


> Yes, Forrest was most impressive.
> 
> I liked the part where he said, "a three legged dog could beat Swan". lol



 Yes, agree.  Mr Forrest didn't hold back at all and made his dislike and disgust with Swannie very clear.  Good for him.


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## joea (7 May 2012)

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=25795
This link is to a paper titled "Accounting devices and fiscal illusions".
Swan will weave his magic to produce a surplus.

An article in the AFR titled "Abracadabra - Surplus!.
This explains how the MYEFO (midyear economic and fiscal outlook)  contingency fund has been utilised.
In 2008 - 2009 expenses to the fund was $200 million.
However in 2011 - 2012 it was reduced by $1.7 billion.

The sort of moves for the coming budget 2012 - 2013 are apparent when reading the 2011 - 2012 MYEFO, Adjustments of $1.4 billion to Qld disaster relief and shifting $1.5 billion in compensation  to 2011 - 2012 for the carbon tax .

Another instance was the reserve gave up $2 billion to help  fund the $5.2 billion in savings the government  "said it had found" since the previous budget update.

Finally Australia reports its budget in "underlying cash balance". This means the NBN and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation cost will not be included in the budget.
If the government was actually paying for the NBN through the Department of Communication rather than subscribing capital to NBN Co., then the budget  would be in a deficit and not a surplus on present forecasts.

Swan will be pretending or attempting to smile on Tuesday night, but the body language will say otherwise.
The above suggest why.

joea


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## joea (5 June 2012)

Yep! He was out early have a few words on the interest rates alleged rate cut today.
Just to show his presence to the 4 big banks.
I am sure it will have a big influence.

Gail Kelly will be thinking!:
joea


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## matty77 (4 June 2013)

*Wayne Swan named the world's best treasurer*

Lest we forget.







> Euromoney said Mr Swan had been given the award "for his careful stewardship of Australia's finances and economic performance, both during and since the global financial crisis''.


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## drsmith (4 June 2013)

*Re: Wayne Swan named the world's best treasurer*

This'll be a chapter in Labor's history they'll want to forget.


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## Aussiejeff (5 June 2013)

...then this happened....:fan

I say....burn him!  :evilburn::angry::swear:


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## matty77 (6 June 2013)

Your childrens children might still be paying off the debt this idiot has created.

Just a thought.


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## Bintang (13 June 2013)

An Ode to the World's best treasurer:

Faster than a speeding asylum boat,
More powerful than a carbon emission,
Able to leap tall deficits in a single bound ....
Is it a quail?
Is it a goose?
NO its SuperSwan!


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## noco (13 June 2013)

So who said Swan was the worlds greatest Treasurer?


From:
Sent: Monday, 3 June, 2013 9:28 AM
To: 
Subject: Fw: Fwd: Fwd: FW: COMMENT FROM ROSS GREENWOOD (Scary Stuff )





                              This is not very long and definitely worth the read ! 



COMMENT FROM ROSS  GREENWOOD (Financial presenter on Australian morning TV  show)


             Reality pill needed for  Australians
             This is really well put, in terms the average punter can  understand... It cuts through political doublespeak and  provides  clarity
             USA  Today

            Lesson  # 1:

             Why the U.S. Was  downgraded:

             * U.S. Tax revenue:  $2,170,000,000,000
             * Fed budget:  $3,820,000,000,000
             * New debt: $  1,650,000,000,000
             * National debt:  $14,271,000,000,000
             * Recent budget cuts: $  38,500,000,000

             Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household  budget:

             * Annual family income:  $21,700
             * Money the family spent:  $38,200
             * New debt on the credit card:  $16,500
             * Outstanding balance on the credit card:  $142,710
             * Total budget cuts:  $385

             Got It  ?????

            OK  now Lesson #  2:

             Here's another way to look at the Debt  Ceiling:

             Let's say, you come home from work and find there has been a  sewer backup in your neighborhood ... And your home  has    sewage all the way up to your  ceilings.

             What do you think you should  do?

             Raise the ceilings, or pump out the (ummmm)  "effluent"?


            Lesson  3:

             Australia today FROM ROSS GREENWOOD

Quoted by: Ross  Greenwood of Money News..

Right now the Federal  Government is at pains to tell everyone - including us the  mug-punters and the International Monetary Fund, that it  will not exceed its own, self-imposed, borrowing  limits.
How  much?    $200  billion.   And here's a  worry.

If  you work in a bank's money market operation; or if you are a  politician; the millions turn into billions and it rolls off  the tip of the tongue a bit too easily.
But  every dollar that is borrowed, some time, has to be repaid.  By you, by me and by the rest of the country.

Just  after 5 o'clock tonight I did a bit of math for Jason  Morrison (Sydney radio presenter). But it's so staggering  its worth repeating now.

First thought; Gillard,  Swan, Wong, before that Rudd, all of the Labor Cabinet, call  these temporary borrowings, a temporary  deficit.

Remember Those Words:  Temporary  Deficit.

The total Government debt will end up  around $200 billion. So here's a very basic calculation.. I  used a home loan calculator to work
it out..... it's that  simple.. $200 billion is $2 hundred thousand  million.

The current 10 year Government bond rate is  4.67 per cent. I worked the loan out over a period of 20  years. Now here's where it gets scary.... Really  scary.

The repayments on $200 billion, come to  more than one and a quarter billion dollars - every  month - for 20  years.
It  works out we - as taxpayers - will be repaying $15.4 billion in interest and  principal every year..
$733 for every man woman and child -  every year. The total interest bill over the 20 years is -  get this - $108 billion.

Remember, this  is a Government, that just 4 years ago, had NO debt. NO  debt.

In fact, it had enough money to create  the Future Fund, to pay the future liabilities of public  servants' superannuation, and it had enough to stick $20  billion into the Building Australia Fund... 

A  note was sent to me which explains that the six leading  members of the Government, from Ms Gillard down, have a  collective work experience of 181 years, but only 13 in the  private sector.

If you take out of those 13 years the  number that were spent as trade union lawyers, 11, only two  years were spent in the private sector.

So out of  those 181 years:

- no years spent running their own  business  
-  no years spent starting their own business
- no years  spent as a director of a family business or a company
-  no years as a director of a public company
- no years in  a senior position in a public company
- no years in a  senior position in a private company
- no years working  in corporate finance
- no years in corporate or business  restructuring
- no years working in or with a bank
-  no years of experience in the capital markets
- no years  in a stock-broking firm
- no years in negotiating debt  facilities with banks
- no years running a small  business
- no years at the World Bank or IMF or OECD
-  no years in Treasury or Finance.

But these people  have plunged Australia into unprecedented debt. Well, in a  way you can't blame them. It's clear the electorate did not  do their homework, because the Government is there by  right.
Ah,  but they are Labor and people vote for them because Labor is  good for the working family - right???

If you have  read this you may like to pass it on to your friends to help  educate a little as you, them and I, will be repaying the  above.


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## Aussiejeff (14 June 2013)

Which is why Labor are pushing the sexist card so, so much right now. The economic card is flashing **RED - DANGER!!** From the Labor electoral perspective, best not go anywhere near the Economic Credentials cupboard anymore eh? Lest the rout becometh a stampede....


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## sails (14 June 2013)

Some history on the world's best treasurer from an old article:



> Wayne Swan grew up in Nambour when it was a working-class sugar town, long before it became the Sunshine Coast. He surfed, smoked dope, wore long hair and a mo, then won a scholarship to university....
> 
> ...At the University of Queensland, Swan did an arts degree and got involved in politics.





Read more:
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/swans-next-step-up-in-life-of-politics-20100624-z3ht.html


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## matty77 (18 June 2013)

Swan in question time.

Blaming Liberals for the eventual recession, as the Liberals keep mentioning a recession.

Clearly the only way to create a recession is to mention it - nothing to do with actual money or finances or budgets or deficits or anything like that.


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## drsmith (18 June 2013)

matty77 said:


> Blaming Liberals for the eventual recession, as the Liberals keep mentioning a recession.



Sounds like Swanny knows what's coming.


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## sptrawler (28 March 2014)

Well after nearly three years in the wilderness, Wayne pops his head up for another free hit.

http://www.theage.com.au/federal-po...epherd-over-labors-record-20140328-35od4.html


In response to Mr Swan's comments, Mr Shepherd said on Friday: ''My comments were not political - they were apolitical, as I am.

''My message was very similar to that recently delivered by [former Treasury secretary] Ken Henry and also Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.

''I don't for one second believe those policies [the NDIS and Gonski] are wrong or foolish - it is a question of affordability. Governments need to look beyond the next budget and forward estimates to the longer term.''

Mr Henry said earlier this month the country could not afford new social policies - such as the NDIS and the Gonski reforms - without increasing taxes or major budget cuts



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...bors-record-20140328-35od4.html#ixzz2xFwdTSOx

But lets not let sensible economic judgement, overide political aspiration, or trying to justify ineptness. IMO


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## noco (5 April 2014)

Yes we will have a budget surplus in 2012/13 says the Worlds greatest treasurer and the Prime Minister Juliar Gillard and they said it 500 times. it was supposed to be a surplus of $1.5 billion...then it was a deficit of $11 billion, then $17billion and the $21 billion all within one month....but of course we now know the real result is $123 billion.....

Yes he was the worlds greatest treasurer.....and pigs might fly......and to think he was being paid for that and will continue to be paid handsomely after he quits parliament.


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opi...ageous-decisions/story-fnbkvnk7-1226874995410


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