The Federal budget, it wasn't all bad

[zultan (Mike)]

$188m for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder and Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescopes.

http://www.news.com.au/money/federal...-1226642450043

[icytailmark (Mark)]

dont forget they are finally helping disabled people in this country!!!

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by zultan

$188m for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder and Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescopes.

http://www.news.com.au/money/federal...-1226642450043

At least that's going towards something constructive in Science not like the 68% of our GDP pIssed on welfare. Sounds we're heading for another surplus in 2017 though. All good. Go Swannies!

[pgc hunter]

All I can say is.... roll on September

[icytailmark (Mark)]

yes bring on september i will be voting for labor for finally helping disabled people.

[Deeno]

Originally Posted by icytailmark

yes bring on september i will be voting for labor for finally helping disabled people.

.....or another unfunded broken promise

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by icytailmark

yes bring on september i will be voting for labor for finally helping disabled people.

I'm all for this. Taking care of the disabled and the oldies first. But with what money now? What's left after paying the young ones at home doing f'all for the past 7yrs? You reckon they remember what work is?

[casstony]

It would be a lot easier to care for the underprivileged if the ministers took up meditation instead of dreaming up grandiose schemes that waste billions of dollars.

Good to see a little money going to science.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by casstony

It would be a lot easier to care for the underprivileged if the ministers took up meditation instead of dreaming up grandiose schemes that waste billions of dollars.

It's only a grandiose farce now where ever you look. What budget?... The bottom line is that they've run us into the ground and below and that's riding a mining boom. Did you hear the surplus predictions and all the talks. It's fraking embarrassing... What about cutting gvt spending instead of taxing more? Too complicated?

[casstony]

Originally Posted by multiweb

It's only a grandiose farce now where ever you look. What budget?... The bottom line is that they've run us into the ground and below and that's riding a mining boom. Did you hear the surplus predictions and all the talks. It's fraking embarrassing... What about cutting gvt spending instead of taxing more? Too complicated?

I didn't bother listening to any of the budget - history is the best guide for future expectations. Remember we are much better off than the rest of the world - we're still at the top of the cliff

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by casstony

I didn't bother listening to any of the budget - history is the best guide for future expectations. Remember we are much better off than the rest of the world - we're still at the top of the cliff

Same here. Just noise to my ears. Had to have a look for a laugh though. Now that the AUD is going down hopefully we get some export going. But we need to go back to a gvt half the size of what it got to now for no reasons. That's gotta hurt a lot of people unfortunately.

[Steffen]

Originally Posted by multiweb

What about cutting gvt spending instead of taxing more? Too complicated?

Take another look, most of the raised money comes from spending cuts, rather than taxes. The Medicare levy increase serves to fund the bulk of the NDIS scheme. Of course, a lot of the money also comes from making big business actually pay the taxes they ought to pay already.

Cheers
Steffen.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Social security and welfare are the biggest area of govt expenditure accounting for 34.68% of total spending. Of this the largest slice goes to the aged (13.75% of all spending) followed by assistance to families (8.77%) and assistance to people with disabilities (6.4%). The unemployed and sick combined get 2.4% while indigenous Australians get 0.26%. The whole welfare sector costs 0.94% to administer (or 2.7% of total welfare expenditure) and that covers capital and wages costs.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-0...tax-go/4682404

The fact that our economic system is structurally unable to provide work for all is not the fault of the unemployed. Naturally the unemployed lose hope - and not just in the last 7 years. I saw it in the early 1980's when I dispensed the dole. Fraser announced that everyone on the dole would be interviewed every 6 months to see if they were genuinely seeking work. If you were in Wollongong you had a 50% chance of seeing me. There were no staff to follow up interviews (not even non-attendance) so no one was ever cut off and the whole 'program' was a great waste of money. None-the-less it was pretty easy to see who was genuinely looking for work and who wasn't. Of course there was differences but overall the longer people were unemployed the less motivation they exhibited and those who had had a job in the past were more motivated than those who had never worked. Once one discounted those who had given up seeking work (and often had become unemployable) there was still far more people seeking work than there were jobs available. I believe nothing has changed. Of course we were told back then that the unemployed were the source of the problem, not it's victims. As I said, nothing has changed.

BTW before it gets lost; I'm glad they are funding the SKA and pathfinder. Pity some parts of the media don't realize that to avoid becoming a third-world economy we need to do first-world research.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Steffen

Take another look, most of the raised money comes from spending cuts, rather than taxes.

This doesn't even add up. Although you used 'most' in the sentence so it could work if most <=0 .

Originally Posted by Steffen

The Medicare levy increase serves to fund the bulk of the NDIS scheme.

This doesn't add up either. The NDIS scheme is a good thing long overdue but they should have planned it ahead and years ago when they still had money.

Originally Posted by Steffen

Of course, a lot of the money also comes from making big business actually pay the taxes they ought to pay already.

Ought to pay? That is the issue in my eyes. You can't make the big ones pay more. It doesn't promote growth. It's biting the hand that feeds you. Big businesses produce. Gvts spend.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

Big businesses produce.

Actually it's workers who produce.

Originally Posted by multiweb

You can't make the big ones pay more. It doesn't promote growth.

If big business won't pay then don't let them exploit our national resources. Take them back. Let Gina wash dishes for a living.

Originally Posted by multiweb

It doesn't promote growth.

The need for growth built into our economic system is the biggest single problem facing humanity.

[Retrograde (Pete)]

Originally Posted by pgc hunter

You've got no idea whatsoever. Thank christ the rest of Australia has finally woken up and smelt the rotting crap that is labor.

Can't wait to see the last of Dillard and its socialist minions.

Sorry but it's you who clearly has no idea whatsoever. Maybe time to re-assess where you get your information from?

The election is all about broadband. The NBN will hurt the business model of electronic media (Foxtel in particular) which is why its owners News Ltd (who own 70% of all newspapers sold in this country) & others like commercial radio & TV have been campaigning against the government rather than reporting the facts.

Lowest ever interest rates, continuing low unemployment, uninterrupted growth, re-affirmed AAA credit rating - yeah the country is in terrible shape.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

Actually it's workers who produce.

Ok, poor choice of word then let's swap by generate money. To pay the workers as well.

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

If big business won't pay then don't let them exploit our national resources. Take them back. Let Gina wash dishes for a living.

Gina's still got to dig it out and export it.

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

The need for growth built into our economic system is the biggest single problem facing humanity.

Growth promotes research and progress. You're talking about over-population.

[avandonk]

The real idiocy was Keven Rudd who stupidly cut taxes by 50 Biliion after he won. It was a trap set by non core promises Howard.


Bert

[Deeno]

Originally Posted by Retrograde

Lowest ever interest rates, continuing low unemployment, uninterrupted growth, re-affirmed AAA credit rating - yeah the country is in terrible shape.

Makes you wonder how we could possibly rack up 300 billion dollars of debt and god knows how many billions are in the budget black hole.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

Ok, poor choice of word then let's swap by generate money. To pay the workers as well.

Actually workers generate profits and so pay the employers.

Originally Posted by multiweb

Growth promotes research and progress. You're talking about over-population.

It is true that historically capitalism had more use for research than the preceding feudal agricultural economy and so promoted research. However it does not follow that capitalism is the only possible economic system that would value and promote research. Unless the whole world were to fall victim to a Pol Pot-like dictatorship any conceivable economic system in this technologically-reliant world will value and promote research, though priorities would certainly change. Cuba, for all its faults and failings, is doing fantastic research in medicine (cancer treatments in particular), though this won't be reported in the mainstream media (I heard this from a friend who is a GP). [And before anyone suggest otherwise, no I'm not suggesting we slavishly follow the Cubans.]

However capitalism has an inbuilt need for growth and this is its great Achilles heel. In the long term permanent growth (implying an increased rate of usage of natural resources and an increased subjugation of the ecosystem to human sustenance) is simply unsustainable. Over-population is part of this problem but the fact that more people can (in principle at least) generate profits quicker will prevent capitalist governments from addressing this problem. It is notable that China (again despite its many many faults and failings) has taken the population issue more seriously than India.