The Abbott Government

[Knobby22]

Good to see Abbott has had a victory to make the Fabians irrelevant.......they are furious.



http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opi...ets-down-workers/story-e6frg75f-1227045641179

Dream on. So they got the mining billionaire to get rid of the mining tax (which he always said he would get rid of) but only after massive changes the Coalition didn't want and it is a huge success????

And somehow according to the article it is a "huge political and policy win for the Coalition" and "it demonstrates the Coalition can negotiate legislation through the Senate".

Yeah, right.

 

[Julia]

Dream on. So they got the mining billionaire to get rid of the mining tax (which he always said he would get rid of) but only after massive changes the Coalition didn't want and it is a huge success????

And somehow according to the article it is a "huge political and policy win for the Coalition" and "it demonstrates the Coalition can negotiate legislation through the Senate".

Yeah, right.

Pretty much how I see it also. That round to Palmer.

 

[sydboy007]

Dream on. So they got the mining billionaire to get rid of the mining tax (which he always said he would get rid of) but only after massive changes the Coalition didn't want and it is a huge success????

And somehow according to the article it is a "huge political and policy win for the Coalition" and "it demonstrates the Coalition can negotiate legislation through the Senate".

Yeah, right.

Com'on. Noco did say the fabians. He hasn't quite caught on the the fact that it's right wing ideology that's bogged down his dearest leader.

Certainly the tail is wagging the dog at present, and most likely will unless TA has the balls for a DD.

 

[drsmith]

Clive Palmer is clearly only in politics for himself but if Labor chooses to exile itself from economic debate, the government has no choice but to deal with the other members of the senate.

Labor didn't expect this deal over the mining tax and as a consequence they are fuming mad. That also reflects the fact that they were hoping to cling to a Labor/Green majority in the senate at the last election even though it was obvious they were going to lose the reps.

The Libs have got largely what they want out of the mining tax repeal in that the associated spending ultimately goes. While there's a shorter term cost, the key long term structural savings are in tact and superannuation aspect is a bit of ideological icing.

Time will see Clive and his party off and for the sake of the nation, hopefully the sooner the better but the government of the day has to deal with the senate elected as most governments do. It pails into insignificance in comparison to the post-2010 election marriage between Labor and the Greens for office.

 

[Knobby22]

Time will see Clive and his party off and for the sake of the nation, hopefully the sooner the better but the government of the day has to deal with the senate elected as most governments do.

Latest poll results show that Clive's vote is stable with the election result showing 5.4% of the Australian public voting for him. So far none of the gloss appears to have rubbed off.

 

[So_Cynical]

Latest poll results show that Clive's vote is stable with the election result showing 5.4% of the Australian public voting for him. So far none of the gloss appears to have rubbed off.

I imagine that 5.4% would also roughly represent the size of the lunatic/red neck/spoiler vote.

 

[SirRumpole]

At least someone is doing their bit for clean energy

'Australia's largest' solar farm opens at Royalla south of Canberra

A solar farm that has been billed as Australia's largest has officially opened at Royalla, south of Canberra.

The Royalla Solar Farm was developed by a Spanish company, is made up of 83,000 solar panels and has the capacity to power more than 4,500 ACT homes.

The ACT Government said it was the first large-scale solar farm to be connected to the national electricity grid.

Environment Minister Simon Corbell said it was an important step towards achieving the ACT Government's target of 90 per cent renewable energy for the territory by 2020.

"Over its lifetime the farm will save over half a million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions," he said.

"This is a nation-leading project. This is the largest operation solar farm in Australia to date.

"It is expected to generate an average 37,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy each year for the next 20 years."

The project is owned by Spanish company Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) and the opening was attended by the Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo.

"If we want to have sustainable development, we must take care of the environment," he said.
The Royalla solar farm is made up of 83,000 photovoltaic panels. Photo: The Royalla solar farm is made up of 83,000 photovoltaic panels. (ABC News: Jonathon Gul)

"I'm absolutely convinced that it's very important to go down this path."

Andrea Fontana from FRV said large scale solar farms relied heavily on government support.

"It's absolutely important to have support and long-term stability to make investment decisions," he said.

"It's impossible to attract capital and investors' confidence without long-term policies."

The ACT's moves towards greater reliance on renewable energy have come at a cost for Canberrans.

The ACT Government said the cost of reaching its renewable energy target of 90 per cent by 2020 was expected to peak at about $4 per household per week in 2020 before declining.

It said that cost would be offset by weekly savings of about $4 per household through energy efficiency programs.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-03/royalla-solar-farm-opens-south-of-canberra/5716500

 

[noco]

Clive Palmer is clearly only in politics for himself but if Labor chooses to exile itself from economic debate, the government has no choice but to deal with the other members of the senate.

Labor didn't expect this deal over the mining tax and as a consequence they are fuming mad. That also reflects the fact that they were hoping to cling to a Labor/Green majority in the senate at the last election even though it was obvious they were going to lose the reps.

The Libs have got largely what they want out of the mining tax repeal in that the associated spending ultimately goes. While there's a shorter term cost, the key long term structural savings are in tact and superannuation aspect is a bit of ideological icing.

Time will see Clive and his party off and for the sake of the nation, hopefully the sooner the better but the government of the day has to deal with the senate elected as most governments do. It pails into insignificance in comparison to the post-2010 election marriage between Labor and the Greens for office.

The Libs are all smiling while the Fabians are all as mad as hell

 

[Smurf1976]

Clive Palmer is clearly only in politics for himself but if Labor chooses to exile itself from economic debate, the government has no choice but to deal with the other members of the senate.

A bit like the situation at the state level here in Tas. Regardless of what I or anyone else thinks of them, the Greens have at least produced an "alternative budget" as such (as have the Liberals in the past when in opposition) whereas Labor seems to have exiled itself from the debate.

Sure, the Greens' alternative is really just a policy statement since it has no standing as such despite the "budget" term attached to it. But at least they've spelt out clearly what their alternative ideas are despite having limited resources (compared to Labor or the government) with which to do so.

At both the state and federal level, Labor just don't seem to have their act together. Turn on the news and you hear plenty about the government, Greens and PUP but Labor is basically missing in action.

What's Labor's strategy? Just do nothing and hope that enough people eventually want a change and elect them back into government?

 

[drsmith]

Latest poll results show that Clive's vote is stable with the election result showing 5.4% of the Australian public voting for him. So far none of the gloss appears to have rubbed off.

Forget present polls.

The question is whether Clive and his party can survive politically to the next election bearing in mind the volatile nature of its leader.

 

[drsmith]

What's Labor's strategy? Just do nothing and hope that enough people eventually want a change and elect them back into government?

Small target is standard fare for opposition at this stage of the electoral cycle. In terms of the current budget situation though, Labor has considerable baggage from office which they hope the electorate will forget.

They were also hoping that Clive Palmer would really be their enemy's enemy and while that will be the case to the extent Clive's personal interests don't align with the nation's or government's interests, it's not to the extent Labor had hoped.

I think Labor is also still counting on the Tony Abbott factor. What a success (not) that's been for them.

 

[IFocus]

Superannuation delay an act of 'wilful sabotage', says Paul Keating

“

The prime minister and Mr Palmer trotted out the tawdry argument that working people are better off with more cash in their hand today than savings for tomorrow. Yesterday’s decision represents nothing other than the wilful sabotage of the nation’s universal savings scheme.”

“This week, Australia’s pool of superannuation savings topped $1.87tn – larger than the market capitalisation of the Australian Stock Exchange. That vast pool of savings, which has revolutionised our capital markets and dramatically lowered the cost of Australian capital, exists, in the main, because of compulsory superannuation. You don’t expect conservative governments to believe in much but, at least, you expect them to believe in thrift. This government does not even believe in thrift,” he said.

 

[drsmith]

I remember something about Paul Keating and LAW tax cuts.

Labor should be happy. It's got him off trashing Bob Hawke.

 

[So_Cynical]

So far we have the following gems of wisdom.

Poor people don't drive cars.

By 2023, the average Australian household should only need a 15 Mbps internet connection.

And today's chestnut.

Working people are better off with more cash in their hand today than savings for tomorrow.

 

[SirRumpole]

And today's chestnut.

Working people are better off with more cash in their hand today than savings for tomorrow.

So who says "working people" will have more cash in their hands ?

Is there any compulsion for businesses to pass on their savings in super to the workers ?

And even if they do, the workers will more likely pay higher tax on their salaries/wages than they will on their super.

All part of a redistribution of wealth from the lower/middle income earners to the upper income earners.

King John and the Sheriff of Nott must be very happy.

 

[Julia]

Working people are better off with more cash in their hand today than savings for tomorrow.

Whilst I'm disappointed about the delaying of increased % of compulsory super, the above is essentially quite correct. People can still choose to voluntarily choose to contribute to Super or save in some other vehicle.

Much of the population seems to resent the compulsory nature of Super contributions, so why wouldn't they be happy about this?

It's all just a bit silly to imply that the only way people will become self funded in retirement is by compulsory contributions. I don't know a single person who is self funded who has reached that status via compulsory savings. Rather they've acted entirely on their own initiative.

 

[IFocus]

I don't know a single person who is self funded who has reached that status via compulsory savings. Rather they've acted entirely on their own initiative.

Hence the requirement for a compulsory saving scheme particularity at the bottom end of the income scale.

As Keating points out the benefits go way beyond the individual and government revenues / expenditure the scheme benefits Australia as a whole.

Just confirms the class war / idealogical crusade this government has embarked on, its a shame really.

 

[noco]

Superannuation delay an act of 'wilful sabotage', says Paul Keating

“

Willful sabotage?.......and Paul Keating said tax cuts would be L-A-W and he reneged......another Labor broken promise....now THAT is willful sabotage.

Kevin Dudd gave out $900 cheques for people to have cash in hand at the time....he didn't seem to worry about the future so long as he made a good fellow of himself by filling peoples pockets....he did not appear to worry about tomorrow or the future and now we are all having to pay it back.

As other comments have been made, there is nothing stopping any worker making self contributions to their super.

 

[SirRumpole]

As other comments have been made, there is nothing stopping any worker making self contributions to their super.

Fact is that the employers will not have to make their contributions either. Do you see employers giving this saving to their employees or just adding it to the profits ? It's a blatant gift to employers at the expense of employees.

 

[noco]

Fact is that the employers will not have to make their contributions either. Do you see employers giving this saving to their employees or just adding it to the profits ? It's a blatant gift to employers at the expense of employees.

Rumpy, the employers contribution of super to the employee is another added cost to business like increased wages.......that costs eventually gets passed on and finally, who pays in the end?

The Fabians and their union comrades then start to complain about the cost of living and start demanding higher wages to keep up with the pace.........It is like a dog trying to catch his tail......The higher cost to industry means higher cost to the consumer......higher unemployment........Is it any wonder industry in Australia has been in decline for decades......is it any wonder why so many businesses have gone bankrupt...... is it any wonder why we import more manufactured goods from overseas.......is it any wonder why we have to import overseas labour to work in isolated places where our lazy dole bludgers and tradies won't go.

You don't have to be a space scientist to work that out.