The Wasteful Liberals

[sails]

Why doesn't your beloved LNP fix it?...

Firstly, they are not my beloved LNP, they just give an alternative to the most woeful government I have ever witnessed.

And, in case you hadn't noticed, labor have been the ones in power for FIVE years and almost TWO of those they have had a co-operative senate. They could fix this if they wanted.

I just don't understand why you guys keep moaning about what the libs did when labor isn't fixing the things which you are moaning about. It makes a mockery of your complaints!

 

[drsmith]

I think he has been generally sensible certainly the stand-out State Premier in Australia presently and he has done it on his own, there is no one else in the lower house worth talking about other than the chair sniffer.



Rather the opposite actually quite up beat I still think the election is the Coalitions to lose and with Abbott there is ever chance that could happen.

If not then Abbott will not get the massive mandate and absolutely wont get the senate.



I don't think Labor will get pounded simply because Australia will not trust Abbott.

Of course it's the Coalition's to lose. Labor can't win on merit and all the Abbott Abbott Abbott noise in the world won't change that.

As for WA, I think the Libs will win comfortably. Colin Barnett can come across a arrogant, but, as you say, has on the whole been sensible. He was impressive on Q&A late last year. As for their infrestructure projects, it will be interesting to see if they proceed with the controversial Roe Highway stage 8 and the potentially even more controversial floating Orrong Road. The following image is from Adelaide's version, currently under construction. It's hard to imagine any government being brave enough to put that through a residential area.

 

[McLovin]

I just don't understand why you guys keep moaning about what the libs did when labor isn't fixing the things which you are moaning about. It makes a mockery of your complaints!

You've missed the point. Again.

 

[drsmith]

As for WA Labor, they like their federal Labor counterparts have allready sunk to making vast unfunded promises.

 

[sptrawler]

As for WA Labor, they like their federal Labor counterparts have allready sunk to making vast unfunded promises.

What do think about the floating l.n.g plant, Bob Brown and his moron mates screaming for it to be moved south.

Well it looks like they've achieved getting it moved offshore.
Great lose, lose result. Now the great gormeless goose is off on another crusade, life wasn't meant to be easy.

 

[drsmith]

What do think about the floating l.n.g plant, Bob Brown and his moron mates screaming for it to be moved south.

Well it looks like they've achieved getting it moved offshore.
Great lose, lose result. Now the great gormeless goose is off on another crusade, life wasn't meant to be easy.

James Price Point was covered extensively in the following episode of Q&A.

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s3620729.htm

It being moved offshore is what Colin Barnett was trying to avoid.

 

[sydboy007]

Firstly, they are not my beloved LNP, they just give an alternative to the most woeful government I have ever witnessed.

And, in case you hadn't noticed, labor have been the ones in power for FIVE years and almost TWO of those they have had a co-operative senate. They could fix this if they wanted.

I just don't understand why you guys keep moaning about what the libs did when labor isn't fixing the things which you are moaning about. It makes a mockery of your complaints!

Do you really think the greens and independents would support labor if they really cut, and by really I mean like $10B cut middle class welfare? I seriously doubt it.

If they try, the LNP will cry blue murder and promise the electorate just about anything to get into power.

So really, unless there's bipartisan support for this waste to be cut back on, it's not going to happen because both sides will see it as a golden opportunity to crucify the other. As far as I'm concerned taking the populist route makes you just as bad as the one not taking any action

Can i ask what has Tony or his front bench said so far that makes you believe they will be any better than the current mob we have in power?? There's still a huge policy vacuum for both sides for the current election.

 

[drsmith]

Can i ask what has Tony or his front bench said so far that makes you believe they will be any better than the current mob we have in power??

The performance of the current government is so poor that they don't have to say anything.

 

[FlyingFox]

This is starting to sound like a religious debate.

 

[IFocus]

As for WA Labor, they like their federal Labor counterparts have allready sunk to making vast unfunded promises.

The rail idea is well over due, killing the foreshore development would go some way to paying for the rail which would make more sense more roads wont change a whole lot but rail will.

 

[drsmith]

The rail idea is well over due, killing the foreshore development would go some way to paying for the rail which would make more sense more roads wont change a whole lot but rail will.

Is it now Labor policy to abandon any foreshore development and if so, to what extent could they undo existing contracts ?

They would have to cancel much more than that to pay for that level of rail development. as for being overdue, it looks a lot like overkill and would cost how much ?

They would also have to scrap road projects, goodness knows what else and raise taxes. They might even be silly enough to have a second crack at that premium property tax.

This is what they had planned for the foreshore when they were last in office.

 

[Julia]

Do you really think the greens and independents would support labor if they really cut, and by really I mean like $10B cut middle class welfare? I seriously doubt it.

Aren't you avoiding the point that Sails made?
If Labor genuinely tried cutting middle class welfare, both major parties could be judged by whether or not it was legislated. ie if the Libs were genuine about wanting to reduce it, they would support the legislation.

However, I don't know why I'm even bothering to comment. It's an artificial debate about something that won't happen because all politicians, with a very few exceptions, are gutless, self interested and amoral.

 

[IFocus]

Is it now Labor policy to abandon any foreshore development and if so, to what extent could they undo existing contracts ?

They would have to cancel much more than that to pay for that level of rail development. as for being overdue, it looks a lot like overkill and would cost how much ?

They would also have to scrap road projects, goodness knows what else and raise taxes. They might even be silly enough to have a second crack at that premium property tax.

This is what they had planned for the foreshore when they were last in office.

It was my thinking not State Labors

The Mandurah line was criticized as over kill by the Liberals how did that go?

As for promises remember Barnets pipe line?

 

[sptrawler]

It was my thinking not State Labors

The Mandurah line was criticized as over kill by the Liberals how did that go?

As for promises remember Barnets pipe line?

Actually the Mandurah line was going in under the libs, it was taking a different route, through Canning Vale.
The Thornlie Station is were it has been terminated, however the tunnel onto the now Mandurah line is still there and will probably be used.
Labor decided to put it down the middle of the freeway, which robbed the freeway of expansion options. We are seeing the result of that now. Admittedly it is the more picturesque route, but it was DUMB.

As for the pipeline, it is the smartest piece of infrastructure that could be built and I'm sure James Point is a key component.

Barnett is the only polly we have that has a brain, the rest are only interested in retirement benefits.
Allan Carpenter was similar, it's sad these politicians are so few and far between.

 

[drsmith]

Regarding the upcoming WA state election, it appears Colin Barnett and the Libs have little to worry about,

http://resources.news.com.au/files/2013/01/13/1226553/119052-130114-wa-newspoll.pdf

Meanwhile, what the mining tax continues to raise is on par with federal Labor's election prospects,

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...a-second-quarter/story-fnb56a2t-1226553169086

And the Greens,

We can't forget the Greens. They share the spoils of office with Labor.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...oaxers-to-greens/story-fn59niix-1226553110497

 

[drsmith]

As for the pipeline, it is the smartest piece of infrastructure that could be built and I'm sure James Point is a key component.

I think IF was referring to his covered canal. That wasn't one of his better ideas and he lost an election because of it.

 

[white_goodman]

TBH the only way I see a winding back of the nanny state is a good recession. Seems that is the only way to push through with the reforms required. Just a shame we will have to destroy so many lives to do it. personally I'd prefer to see less populism and more rational debate over economic policy, but it ain't gonna happen in my life time.

i think that is a correct prognosis, many of the social programs and expectations of govts are in a sense ratcheted

 

[white_goodman]

Can i ask what has Tony or his front bench said so far that makes you believe they will be any better than the current mob we have in power?? There's still a huge policy vacuum for both sides for the current election.

theres a policy vacuum and a vacuum on philosophical debates on the role and objectives of govt... its 24hr news cycle and 2 worded slogans... I hope people realise we are paying for these idiots (much higher to their counterparts overseas)

moving forward

 

[McLovin]

theres a policy vacuum and a vacuum on philosophical debates on the role and objectives of govt... its 24hr news cycle and 2 worded slogans... I hope people realise we are paying for these idiots (much higher to their counterparts overseas)

moving forward

+1

Unfortunately, the attention span of the average voter doesn't extend much beyond what it will cost and what they will get.

It's more and more like America. No one wants to hear what they disagree with.

 

[white_goodman]

its more and more the dystopian nightmare that Bastiat outlined over 150years ago.. legal plunder by the bucketful

govt going from umpire to nanny of first-mid-last resort

Self-preservation and self-development are common aspirations among all people. And if everyone enjoyed the unrestricted use of his faculties and the free disposition of the fruits of his labor, social progress would be ceaseless, uninterrupted, and unfailing.

But there is also another tendency that is common among people. When they can, they wish to live and prosper at the expense of others....

...Man can live and satisfy his wants only by ceaseless labor; by the ceaseless application of his faculties to natural resources. This process is the origin of property.

But it is also true that a man may live and satisfy his wants by seizing and consuming the products of the labor of others. This process is the origin of plunder.

Now since man is naturally inclined to avoid pain ”” and since labor is pain in itself ”” it follows that men will resort to plunder whenever plunder is easier than work. History shows this quite clearly. And under these conditions, neither religion nor morality can stop it.

When, then, does plunder stop? It stops when it becomes more painful and more dangerous than labor.

It is evident, then, that the proper purpose of law is to use the power of its collective force to stop this fatal tendency to plunder instead of to work. All the measures of the law should protect property and punish plunder