One piece of good news that has escaped notice is Treasurer Joe Hockey’s claim that households will save “on average around $550 next year alone” from the abolition of the carbon tax.
Regardless of whether we're operating them out of Brisbane, Darwin or wherever we still need fuel to put in the tank and spares to maintain them with.It would also seem sensible to refuel and deploy them out of Darwin, Townsville and Curtin, in the event of a threat, not Brisbane.
Regardless of whether we're operating them out of Brisbane, Darwin or wherever we still need fuel to put in the tank and spares to maintain them with.
No fuel = immediately useless. No spares = useless as soon as something breaks and needs replacement.
Armed with that knowledge, any real enemy would just need to stage a faux war, wait until we use up all the fuel and parts we've got flying around, then commence the real war. Easy.
It is hard to imagine the contained New Zealand finance minister bopping in his office ahead of delivering the nation's budget, as Joe Hockey apparently did.
But the Australian Treasurer's dance song Best Day of My Life would have been more appropriate for his New Zealand counterpart Bill English, who has served up one of the rarest of economic dishes: a forecast budget surplus of $NZ372 million ($340 million) in 2014-15, after a $NZ2.4 billion ($2.2 billion) deficit this financial year.
Also on the menu were election year sweeteners including extended parental leave, and free doctor's visits and prescriptions for children up to 13 years old.
By contrast, Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey delivered a hard-to-swallow $50 billion deficit accompanied by a collection of bitter pills, among them, co-payments for GP visits and cuts to welfare, family benefits and the public service.
"I don't think it's a tale of two different economies, I think it's a tale of two different policy choices," PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) New Zealand partner and corporate tax leader Geof Nightingale said.
"The fundamentals of each country are quite similar. Australia's forecasting economic growth of 2.5 to 3 per cent. New Zealand is much the same.
"Australia is forecasting to get unemployment down to about 4 per cent, New Zealand's much the same.
"I think the difference really is that Australia's policy pain has come last Tuesday night. Ours came a few years ago and we're enjoying a modest relief from budget pain."
Mr Nightingale says Australian politicians have ridden the mineral boom and failed to address the country's deficits.
"What's happened is corporate tax revenue has fallen off but structural spending has increased and so the deficit got wider," he said.
"I think Joe Hockey's budget on Tuesday night was the first step in trying to bring it back into balance."
New Zealand prime minister John Key says his government has kept spending at about the same levels for five or six years as the country claws its way back from the global financial crisis and the Christchurch earthquakes.
The partial sale of state-owned energy assets and high global prices for New Zealand's dairy exports have helped bring the budget back into the black.
"We'll be racking up $NZ7.5 billion worth of surpluses in the next three or four years; Australia will have amassed about $100 billion in debt," Mr Key said.
Mr Key says the Australian economy is still reasonably robust and is not in crisis, but he warns the economy could face a crisis of confidence.
I choose not private health so I pay a 1% Medicare Levy Surcharge in addition to the Medicare Levy of 1.5%. So with this new charge I will pay 3% of my taxable income which effectively lessens any tax refund for over payment of tax. I will be claiming all my entitlements to the maximum from now on. Stuff this system, you do the right thing and make your own way in life and they hit you wherever they can regardless. I would not spend more than $250 on health care per year, maybe a visit for a cold or cautery for a sunspot.Did you know that the medicare levy is increasing from 1.5% to 2.0% on July 1 2014?
Thankfully!"Although this legislation will pass with our support, we view the levy increase as only a temporary measure until the budget has been repaired and is in a strong surplus," he said.
Now for my pet hate the media.
Apparently the treasurer was on t.v last night answering questions about the budget, all I've heard all day is that the $7 medicare levy is a tax apparently.
Is that all that came out of an hour interview, my god, no wonder chanell 10 is going 'guts up', that's all they repeated on the news.
Unfortunately I was a captive audience in a doctors surgery.
Then I pick up the west newspaper, same crap.OMG
Probably referring to his comment on Q and A last night where - in answer to persistent repetition of the question from Tony Jones, Mr Hockey agreed and he and Mr Abbott 'had in mind' that further consideration would need to be given to a discussion with all stake holders about the best way to manage the future of Super.Just heard on the channel 10 evening news that Hockey said the preservation age is going to be lifted. Has anyone got a link or is it just more media B.S talk up.
Probably referring to his comment on Q and A last night where - in answer to persistent repetition of the question from Tony Jones, Mr Hockey agreed and he and Mr Abbott 'had in mind' that further consideration would need to be given to a discussion with all stake holders about the best way to manage the future of Super.
But no doubt the irresponsible media will have easily translated that into a fait accompli that Mr Hockey has declared the preservation age will be raised.
Soon all this stuff will settle down, we can go on with our lives, and eventually see what makes it through the Senate. Meantime, the media are revelling in anything that might enhance their presence.
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