Was one of those 3 his flawed mining tax that Julia Gillard turned into her mining tax for which Wayne Swan spent the revenue it never raised ?
we don't seem to quite be able to take in the growing realisation that we actually are being governed by idiots and fools, or that this actually has real-world consequences.
I don't know if it was always the case, but as I've grown older I've increasingly lost confidence in politicians and other supposed "leaders" in general.
When I was, say, 20 years old I always assumed that anyone in a position of power and influence must know what they are doing, otherwise they wouldn't be in such a position in the first place. The odd mistake certainly, but as a whole I thought the system to be reasonably sound. Slowly but surely, that illusion has been shattered.
At best, it's just a big cycle where the current crop of people in charge recycle the ideas of a generation or two earlier. At worst, they're outright clueless or corrupt.
No doubt there are exceptions, but most seem to fit into this category.
Successors, on both sides of politics, often criticised Malcolm Fraser for not doing enough to modernise the Australian economy. Judging him solely by this yardstick, they argued the “wasted” Fraser years were something every leader had to strive to avoid. But John Howard, Fraser’s treasurer, who criticised his timidity on economic change, did concede that Fraser had “restored a sense of order” after the Whitlam years.
Which begs the question as to what Howard must make of his protege Tony Abbott, who appears on track to achieve little for the economy, and create a maximum sense of chaos in the process.
This week, for example, Abbott has apparently decided that if he smiles winningly and displays a sunny disposition the electorate won’t notice that much of his first-term agenda is lying in a smoking ruin somewhere outside the Senate chamber.
You really should refrain from scratching around in the poo in the bottom of your cage. That'll only give you squelchy feet.No it wasn't exactly, Rudd backed down on the original Gillard's version was a hybrid.
It was a terrible thing, caused Gina to get onto the back of a truck and cry poor.
II once held out some hopes that the professionals in the Public Service would form some sort of barrier around clueless policy making
The fixer
[video=vimeo;122723510]https://vimeo.com/122723510[/video]
LOL
Some people have too much time on their hands, but they are very clever.
I agree, it's exasperating. How soon can Tony Nutt start in the PM's office.I really do fail to understand how this government thinks it can improve its credibility either economically or politically by adopting Labor's dumb tax-grab ideas,
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-...set-to-introduce-tax-on-bank-deposits/6355662
I really do fail to understand how this government thinks it can improve its credibility either economically or politically by adopting Labor's dumb tax-grab ideas,
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-...set-to-introduce-tax-on-bank-deposits/6355662
There are two types of senior people in the PS. Those who insist on doing what is right, based on proper research and analysis, and those intent on climbing the ladder.
The latter will simply put forward whatever case suits the governments ideology. They'll go to the Right when the Liberals are in power, and will go as far as themselves joining a union if Labor is in power. They are the classic "yes men" and offer no barrier or even an effective filter around policy making. There are many such people in the PS and they tend to remain there a long time, becoming known as "survivors".
The former stick to their guns but many find themselves a victim of the political process by doing so. If the government strongly disagrees, they simply replace said person with a yes man. Hence you often see new people in senior positions in the the PS shortly after a change of government, particularly when the new government plans a policy agenda substantially different to their predecessors involving a particular department.
Having worked in the (state) PS I came to a certain realisation after a while. Most perceive that public servants, at any level, work for the public since that is who is ultimately paying their wages via taxation and who is supposedly receiving the benefits of their work. In reality, public servants work for the government and are employed to serve the government, not the public. There is a major difference there and this applies to at least some extent even at the lowest levels of PS employment.
Broadening the base of the existing major taxes in the way to fix that as well as many other aspects of tax/transfer.Because despite all the bull**** rhetoric they know there are deficits as far as the eye can see and they need to shore up Australia's credit rating.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?