Are we better off with the Labor government?

[sms316]

Hmmm... :-k amongst other things;


Illegal immigrants find it easier to get in.
A huge deficit will need years to be wiped out.
Lazy workers are now harder to dismiss.

FFS.. was the average Australian voter stupid enough to vote out the former government on the basis that they thought Kevin Rudd was a "better bloke"?

I had a discussion with a public servant on Saturday, who was complaining about some retrenchments going on in his department. To me, this just proves the stupidity of ACT voters in particular - there is a hugh % of public servants in Canberra, yet they voted for the Labor party (yet again). Surely, given that K-Rudd declared he was going to slash PS jobs, they would have a pretty strong reason not to vote for him?

[BrisVegas]

no.

[Jarro]

I'll wait for poidda to tell me what i think.

[Webster]

Much better off. (If I could remember how much the various cash handouts added up to be I could tell you precisely how much better).

As for the future ruination he has caused, who cares, it aint my problem...

[razaar]

SMS..little Johnny didn't have much of a following in Canberra, in fact it would be accurate to say that he was intensely disliked. But you already know that.

Public Services tend to get bigger not smaller under labour governments and this one is no different; who is doing all the work making good all his promises - its not the pollies. Typical Labor, make reforms (whether they are for the better or not) rack up a huge debt until it gets all too hard. It does Governments good to be in opposition for a while, brings them back down to earth and to experience the real world.

[poidda]

FFS.. was the average Australian voter stupid enough to vote out the former government on the basis that they thought Kevin Rudd was a "better bloke"?

It was a case of the former government being voted out because of one policy wasn't it?!?!


I'll wait for poidda to tell me what i think.

huh?

[sms316]

It was a case of the former government being voted out because of one policy wasn't it?!?!

I'd say 2 things. Workchoices was obviously #1, and the anti-Howard agenda was #2.

The sad thing is, you don't vote for a PM, you vote for a government (or a party if you want to think of it like that).

[Yossarian]

Rudd is a way more of a dick than Howard. Just had good PR for the election.

[Bruce]

Illegal immigrants find it easier to get in.
...
Lazy workers are now harder to dismiss.



Can you cite anything that proves this is actually true? More arrivals doesn't mean it is easier to get in - more arrivals at the door is not the same as more people being let into the house.

Has there been any actual 'unfair dismissal' suits successful? Unemployment seems to be rising - surely it isn't the hard working people that are first to be dismissed?

[PeteyD]

Unemployment rises as places close or downsize, not as lazy workers get assed.

There is a perception that it is easier to get asylum under this government, whether it actually is or not.

Mind you, we are going down the toilet fast so enjoy the spins while we do. And listen to Blakey, Economic plunge part 2 is coming, and will be bigger than part 1 was.

[Dennis]

I normally wouldn't give a shit, but the defecit he has created is just negligent

We are a capitalist country and should allow the market to ride the waves. But going into so much debt to protect those that can't manage themselves, we may as well call ourselves Socialist Sweden

[zigwah]

politics and religion should be banned on forums

[Yossarian]

Why?

[Hillbilly]

Good political discussion is great, just needs to be closely monitored by admin to make sure it doesn't descend into immature bashing of the other side.

I'm very unimpressed by Mistake08, I would much rather have had the Liberal government in power during this time of economic trouble, rather than the labor deficit team.

[Fishman Dan]

Golf forums are the perfect dissection of society to discuss politics. Best thread ever.

PS - Are we in recession yet? Hmmmm... didn't think so.

[sms316]

PS - Are we in recession yet? Hmmmm... didn't think so.
We are in the ACT, which should be the last place in Australia to go backwards.

[PeteyD]

Not if you count the technical definition of a recession. But tell that to everyone that is becoming unemployed.

[Fishman Dan]

We are in the ACT, which should be the last place in Australia to go backwards.

Technically you have to be going forwards to be alarmed when things turn backwards. Therefore the ACT is excluded.

[PeteyD]

ROFL!

[sms316]

Technically you have to be going forwards to be alarmed when things turn backwards. Therefore the ACT is excluded.
Hehe.. true.

The ACT has pretty much zero unemployment and should always be so. Unfortunately, we are stuck with a bunch of hippy, do-gooding fools who are spending all of their time either sucking up to the Greens (as they are a minority Gov't) or pushing through ridiculous bills for which have no real place at State or Territory level (like gay marriage).

Of course, we could discuss that magnificent Labor government that you have in NSW...

[Fishman Dan]

They are building me a new bridge to get to work on time (Greenies - get your hands off Verity Firth!!!). Apart from that our GST has propped up the rest of this mining fuelled economy for too long.

Let me know when the state opposition can put forward a candidate who isn't into fiddling with staff members or the bottle (of alcohol or pills - your choice).

[Moe Norman]

http://images.newsphotos.com.au/images5/Lores/91120386.jpg

Hi, I'm Sascha Baron Cohen and I pretend to be something I'm not to please many with limited intellect.

Hi, I'm Kevin Rudd and its a real cooincidence but...

[sms316]

Where's tg01?

[Yossarian]

Moe awesome call.

[Lucasto23]

That's just pure gold MOE :)

[Hux]

http://images.newsphotos.com.au/images5/Lores/91120386.jpg

Hi, I'm Sascha Baron Cohen and I pretend to be something I'm not to please many with limited intellect.

Hi, I'm Kevin Rudd and its a real co-incidence but...

:smt038:smt038
ROFLMAO

KRudd is an invented character. He is a chameleon - watch him go from greasy diplomat to the blokey folksy "mums&dads of Australia" PM in the blink of an eye.

[gazgolf1]

I did'nt vote for Rudd and I did'nt vote for Peter Beatty or Anna Bligh here in Qld and they are in the process of or already have f#%ked the place.
Hux is right, Rudd is the most fake, greasy, prick I've ever seen. I reckon he's got a book of Aussie colloquialisms at home that he flicks through at night then trots em out the next day to appear Aussie. Fair shake of the sauce bottle.

[BrisWesty]

http://images.newsphotos.com.au/images5/Lores/91120386.jpg

Hi, I'm Sascha Baron Cohen and I pretend to be something I'm not to please many with limited intellect.

Hi, I'm Kevin Rudd and its a real cooincidence but...


Lock down the thread, we have a winner!


Do you think Mary McKillop will have a better chance with the Pope now that Kevin07 has given him a six-pack of dessert wine and a copy of Kevin's greatest speeches?

[Yossarian]

:lol:

Pause for breath

:lol:

[Fishman Dan]

I think he's doing a fabulous job. In fact all politicians deserve our praise.

Thommo - your man-love for the Liberal Party has now exceeded your admiration of Shane Watson. Coincidently, both of them are into endless amounts of self-harm.....

[gazgolf1]

In fact all politicians deserve our praise.


Yeah they're all stellar human beings. :roll:

[Moe Norman]

I think he's doing a fabulous job. In fact all politicians deserve our praise.

Thommo - your man-love for the Liberal Party has now exceeded your admiration of Shane Watson. Coincidently, both of them are into endless amounts of self-harm.....
I think you'll find the liberal party contains women as well, but more to the point I don't love the liberal party and I don't hate the labor party - I just hate Kevin Rudd. I don't actually hate Swan, I'm just embarassed for him. Gillard is quite intelligent, but should not be allowed to speak in public until she learns correct diction.

I'd have little problem with someone with substance like Beazely as the PM.

[just]

I'd have little problem with someone with substance like Beazely as the PM.
Bwahahaha! The only substance Beazely had was around his stomach. He lacked conviction and would have been worse than useless as a leader.
I dislike Rudd on a personal level as well, much in the same way as found John Howard distasteful on the two occasions I met him, he was a slimey individual who cared for nothing but his own opinion.

[Moe Norman]

At least we knew what Beazley stood for (not that I liked it, but I knew) he just had trouble come campaign time.

[Grunt]

Hey maybe Peter Tunks (former Bulldog,Souths Front rower) is right when he refers to QLDers with this as his standard quote.

They Cheat, They Lie, They Steal.

He does it every year around Origin Time.

[razaar]

Hey maybe Peter Tunks (former Bulldog,Souths Front rower) is right when he refers to QLDers with this as his standard quote.

They Cheat, They Lie, They Steal.

He does it every year around Origin Time.
Front rowers aren't known for their intellect, Grunt.

[Spider Lover]

To answer the original post. NO WAY. Rudd is a slimey weasel, who doesn't have an ounce of leadership quality in him. I won't rave about policies but labor is stuffing the country at both state and federal level. Most of them seem like a bunch of houso's done good. Still shite for brains.

[razaar]

Well there you go, with an ID like Spider Lover, I would have bet the house you would be a Labor supporter.

[Spider Lover]

I can see what you mean. Might change it to Isty Bitsy.

[DrRob]

Wow, a forum with politics! Cool! :)

I think it is harsh to blame the Labor govt for any deficit it incurs, had the Libs still been in there would still have been a deficit. How much of a deficit is the telling question though, as it is strange that the RBA may very well lift interest rates while Mr Rudd is still on a spending spree. To have conflicting policies like that doesn't seem advantageous to anyone, unless of course Mr Rudd thinks it may buy him a few more votes.

[Oldplayer]

I agree about Rudd being insincere. His publc utterences seem contrived and his "good bloke" persona just dosen't wash. All politicians are super aware of image of course but Rudd's efforts to be a leader give me the creeps. I think the government, like most, have got some things right, but stuff up the majority of policy execution. If we are talking labour leaders, Beasley was hopeless and ineffectual; I would rather see someone like Keating at the head. He was smart and at least he was genuine and was clear about what he stood for.

[Veefore]

You were never in doubt with Keating, that's for sure. He really should have been a Liberal because he was so right wing. As much as people hated him (and we ALL hated him!) we are still seeing the benefits of some of the policies that he rammed through, often against the advise of his own party.

To be honest, economically we would be in the same boat regardless of who is in charge. the economy is like a machine and the politicians don't have that much, if any, real control over it. They may tinker around the edges and cost us or save us a few dollars here and there but overall public perception and demand has more effect on the economy than government.
I work for Treasury (WA) and even without the stimulus packages we were heading for a major deficit this year. Massive reductions in income but increasing costs made sure of that. But that is the way it works. Surplus in the good times and deficit in the bad times. It is the government spending in the bad times that helps to soften economic slumps and the only way to do that is deficit. If governments tried to cut back spending things would be a LOT worse.

[Coffs_Hacker]

Read today that the Liberals want to scrap the Mine tax, tax cuts to workers, the national broadband scheme, cut the super increase and cut the small business tax cuts. But they will sell medibank, which after howard sold everything else to show a profit, I think this leaves only Australia Post as the only Gov owned national company (might be wrong there). Typical Libs. Sell Sell Sell

[markTHEblake]

Someone has to pay back all the money Rudd threw out of the helicoptor in the name of "Recovery".

[MegaWatty]

Someone has to pay back all the money Rudd threw out of the helicoptor in the name of "Recovery".
Um. That'd be you and me and every other Aussie!

How about FMG putting some of their expansion on hold due to the mine tax today. 30 000 less jobs in WA. Great stuff Kev.

Out in '11 I say.

[Daves]

RSPT = Really Silly Politicans' Tax! Talk about killing the Golden Goose!

[Yossarian]

This could get interesting.

[MegaWatty]

I've se the bait. Now I'm just gonna let Blakey keep them all at bay.

Hey, where's the religion thread?

[markTHEblake]

I've se the bait. Now I'm just gonna let Blakey keep them all at bay.

Its a conspiracy! massively inflate the currency supply then tax the lights out of the miners so they wont dig up anymore gold. ;-)

Rudd is probably a Knights Templar as well.


Hey, where's the religion thread?They all chickened out.



Out in '11 I say.

Kevin11 send him to heaven

[MegaWatty]

I don't use Facebook, but a mate showed me this group last night.

http://ml-in.facebook.com/group.php?gid=122887607722556 (I'm not sure if the link will work or not).

[markTHEblake]

Seriously though, do you think that any other govt or leader would have done any different. Johnnie would have printed just as much cash as Rudd did, and screwed up the country all the same, just holes in different areas.

[razaar]

This is the spending spree we had to have.....no wonder we have boat loads of aliens trying for some of the action.;)

[just]

Ray
I can see why you are pissed. The spending spree ensured our economy survived the GFC with barely a slow down, unlike most economies, and ensured a pensioner like yourself survived reasonably well, unlike pensioners in many countries who have suffered cuts. Pretty ****ing terrible really. Horrible, I can see why you hate it. Sure there have been problems and the government should be roundly and harshly criticised. But stick to the problems not the spending package as a whole.

Mega etc...
If you believe the 30, 000 jobs number you are an idiot, plain and simple. Most economists and independent commentators acknowledge that this type of tax is a good thing although the settings may need to be played with to get it right. The mining industry are just setting up the massive opposition now to strengthen their bargaining position for weaker settings for the tax. Even most of the mining industry don't believe their own excessive hyperbole.

Finally, vote for Labor, don't vote for Labor, who gives a toss, as Henno alluded to yesterday, there really is only about 1* of separation between the major parties to the point where you could easily move most of those in the middle of both parties comfortably between the parties and not notice a difference, they both deserve much hate. But for ****s sake when you crap on about policy at least educate yourselves about it and argue on some substance, don't spout some pathetic headline based on your own particular bias. This irritates me as much as grammar and spelling annoy Henno and mike.

[Veefore]

Saw an interesting article the other day. Mentioned that the government DOES want to slow down the mining sector. They are afraid of following in the tracks of other nations that banked their future on commodities. Historically, any nation that has relied on commodities for more than 20% of their GDP has had their economy suffer severe economic collapse. When all of the infrastucture evolves to support one sector others slowly die. One or two major mining shutdowns would actually benefit the economy overall was the crux of the article. Take WA for example. We are already too reliant on mining.


I was also told two weeks ago from a senior figure in Treasury that the state government in WA believes that the super tax was the fed's grab at trying to wrestle revenue away from the states, wa in particular.

[razaar]

Justin

Pensioner??? WTF. Self funded retiree is me.

[Daves]

You don't realise what you have got till it is gone! Man can he still put a point of view;

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/KGBTV?ReadForm&vid=1713682&vidkey=bd9e20903b9a5130ea00&

[Yossarian]

Vote green baby!

[PeteyD]

You don't like your car?

[Yossarian]

I hate cars, and progress, and poor people trying to get rich. And the japanese.

Likes long walks on the beach, whales, trees and distorted perspectives.

[PeteyD]

Do you like pina coladas?

[just]

I like whales too! In burgers and oil lamps, that is.

[PeteyD]

mmm Whale meat.

[Yossarian]

I would assume the greens do like getting caught in the rain.

[just]

What about making love in the dunes of the Cape? Or is that the whole long walks on the beach thing.

[Yossarian]

I think one leads to the other. Insert 70's porn guitar and the image of bob brown and....

[PeteyD]

6613

[Bruce]

Did Hockey really pull out the "interest rates will be lower under the Liberals" canard again?

[Yossarian]

I haven't heard him say that, and I caught most of the speech. He may have though.