I'm so happy at the moment

[Kaotac]

With another Lib resigning, it really feels like we're seeing the implosion of the Coalition. I can only hope that there are no lies that Howard can spout to save them now.
Hello, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd!

[Esra Star]

1. It looks pretty good right now, but you are being over optimistic.

The little scumbag will probably have some tricks worked out.
I'll bet they have a team of spooks trying to find a picture
of Rudd in bed with a sheep.
The desperater they gets, the weirder the tactics.

[gemini_liberal]

2. You should always be happy and optimistic

however, the memory of the Australian people is notoriously short and, as long as the corporate media (remember most people get their news from 7 and 9) keep reminding them, are convinced that the economy is doing great - despite the fact that they are probably in severe debt, fighting to keep their house etc.

I am optimistic about this year's election, but it's still a very uphill battle. A Minister resigning is not going to break their backs.

Although, I am proud of Rudd for not taking the bait when he has been given the opportunity to make a character attack on the Government. To some short-sighted critics it may look weak and gutless, however in the long term it really makes him contrast with Howard, by making him look like the positive alternative.

[Matilda]

3. Rudd has handled the smear campaign beautifully, IMO.

Always dignified. The only glitch I saw was Wayne Swan's accusation that
Howard dined with a porn king - that was so weak, and coming down to
their level. Thank God it passed quickly.

Howard will throw money at the sheeple, and he may have a terror scare up
his sleeve, and there will be many willing to fall for it, but we can
hope that it's not quite enough to save his bacon.

At least it is good to know there's a chance - so different from the past
ten years. Howard's looking like a cranky old man these days, and it's
not a good look.

[hot_ice72]

4. Still a lot left to happen

As critical as i am of the liberal party - for their obsequious war in Iraq, and their feeble care of education, i'm still concerned about seeing the ALP running parliament. It is a bit of a stale argument that the ALP have injured the economy, but there is some truth to it. Interest rates around 18% in 1991, unemployment around 9% from 1990 through to 1994, lots of debt. I'm becoming pretty fond of what Rudd is suggesting policy wise, but so far i haven't heard him say what he's actually going to do, or really, how he's going to do it. Rudd becoming the opposition leader is one of the best things that could of happened for Australia politically, we're bound to see the Liberal Party on their toes and desperately coming up with policies that will do good for Australia. I'd also be very happy still if the ALP come up with good policies and win in a landslide.

Are there any issues which have got people to conclude that the Labor Party is the party back? I'm don't have a real comprehensive knowledge of Australian politics, but from what i know now, i won't be satisfied voting for either party.

[Djinn]

5. The thing about economic indicators

is that they are much like religious tomes - can be used to support any argument.

The highest interests rates this nation has ever had were when John Howard was treasurer, the actual number isn't the important thing however.

Rates may be techically lower now than under the ALP, but the average Australian is spending MORE of their income than EVER BEFORE on their mortgage.

Yes Howard has kept the interest rate down - guess how? By keeping real wages low. This benefits the sponging class enormously but for those who relie on their income it's a disaster.

You also need to look into the REASONS for the economic situation we currently have - it is built on the back of a SHORT TERM resources boom (and the decimation of real wages in that sector) It is NOT sustainable and Howard has done NOTHING to provide for when the boom ends.

Not to mention the "debt truck" remember when the Libs used foreign debt to beat Keating over the head with? Look into what that level is now.

The "Libs better with the economy" is a total con, their "management" will help you if you are at the top of the heap, but for your average working shlub, the right's attitude to fiscal matters is disastrous.

[hot_ice72]

6. and the positives for Labor?

I'll consider those statements are true for a moment and wonder, why should i vote for Labor? Are they just the lesser of two evils? Earlier today i heard that Rudd wants to fund public and private schools equally, so much for the lone ALP policy i knew.

"Howard has done NOTHING to provide for when the boom ends" The creation of the Future Fund is the first thing to refute this, and there's also the 2.3bn injection into Australia's roads and the 500 million dollars put towards the Murry-Darling Basin which we saw in the last budget.

Your right about Howard as treasurer, but at the end of the day it's the central bank which handles monetary policy, so it's rather incorrect to accredit him with that interest rate spike, or him keeping interest rates low for the past decade.

To say that the Liberal Party has only maintained economic growth due to the commodity boom is also not quite right, with them maintaining solid growth over the East Asian Financial Crisis.

I've got a feeling i'll just be doing a donkey vote come federal election.

[Matilda]

7. Are you sure you've come to the right place?

If you want to mount a defence of the Howard Government, I'm sure there
are other places where it might be more appreciated.

[Djinn]

8. I've got a feeling

a donkey vote would be entirely apt

[hot_ice72]

9. not exactly a defense

I was just hoping for an opinion of someone who is certain who'll they'll vote for, and why. I did not state that little economic history for the sake of defending the liberal party, but to find out good reasons to vote for a good party. I do not want 'half-truths', but accurate and reasonable facts for who to vote for. If i have to play devil's advocate then I'll do that.

[Matilda]

11. It looks as though you've gone down the path of so many other

"pragmatic" people, voting purely on the economy - mortgages, tax cuts, interest rates. What these
people forget is that there is a price to pay for these econmic "miracles" in the form of cuts to
spending on welfare and the infrastructure. So for those who are lucky enough to have reduced taxes
(tax cuts have never reached me) or minimal rises in their mortgage payments, thousands experience
the lack of government support for state schools and the hospital system, deteriorating standards in
our universities, and many truly needy people having their welfare benefits cut. I for one am
outraged that my tax dollars go to pay a baby bonus to wealthy women who don't really need the money,
and that women whose husbands can well afford to keep a family in fine style will be paid a non-
means tested parenting allowance, while a single mother will be forced back into the work force while
her child goes into care, because her benefits are cut. Similarly the disabled, who in many cases
work as much as they can simply to retain a sense of independence, have to reach impossible standards
in order to obtain a pittance to supplement their usually meagre income.

There's a true saying in politics, that opposition parties don't get elected, governments get voted
out, and I think more people are now looking not just at why they should vote Labor, but why they
shouldn't vote for John Howard. I wasn't happy voting for Kim Beazley, because I really don't think
he had any policy other than the latest buzz around Canberra, but I could never vote for a leader
who thinks it's okay to attack the most vulnerable people in the country - refugees (especially the
children), the disabled, the single parents, and the struggling battlers, and who really believes
that if you can't afford to pay full fee for your education or health care you don't deserve to have
it. I don't like a leader who thinks that workers are just insignificant cogs in the machine and
who is quite content to see real wages cut for those at the bottom - and in the middle as well -
while CEOs take home obscene pay checks. I don't want a leader who works only for those at the top
of the pile (and many of them have got there by very dubious means), while the rest of the population
can go hang. I don't want a leader who refuses to deal meaningfully with climate change because it
would mean some hard decisions for big mining and industrial corporations, because it will be my
children and grandchildren who will have to try to live in an increasingly inhospitable world if
nothing is done now. I don't want a leader who is ready to condemn Aboriginal violence while
refusing to acknowledge the role white settlers have played in the degradation of the indigenous
people and their culture - I don't like a man who is unable to say "sorry", or show any willingness
to try to right past wrongs, but continues to encourage the erosion of Aboriginal land rights to the
interests of mining companies and pastoralists. I don't like a man who thinks Australia should
remain a colony in the 21st century instead of being proud that we should stand up and be our own
masters. I don't like a man who has always appealed to the most ugly side of human nature, and
shamelessly and willingly exploited people's greed, fear and xenophobia at the expense of tolerance,
openness and compassion. I don't like a man who thinks that any Australian citizen anywhere in the
world doesn't deserve help from his government when he's in trouble, whether or not it might be
through his own actions. I don't like a leader who, if you believe him, has no idea what goes on
in the government departments for which he's responsible, who never listens to anything anybody ever
tells him, and doesn't see any wrongdoing right under his nose as long as the perpetrators are on
his side. And I, very personally, don't like a leader who puts artistic and cultural activities at
the very bottom of his priorities, because I believe that a country's cultural life is an expression
of its very soul.

It all depends on whether you believe that our country and its people should be judged by our
economic record or by the way we treat the most marginalized in our community, and whether you
believe that future generations will judge us by the size of our budget surplus or by our humanity.

For all of those reasons and because I once again want to feel proud to be Australian, I will vote
against John Howard, even if it was the drover's dog running against him.

[Violet_Crumble]

14. The baby bonus...

I for one am outraged that my tax dollars go to pay a baby bonus to wealthy women who don't really need the money,
and that women whose husbands can well afford to keep a family in fine style will be paid a non-
means tested parenting allowance, while a single mother will be forced back into the work force while
her child goes into care, because her benefits are cut.

Yr not the only one who feels that way. The baby bonus came into being long after I had my child, but having gone from a struggling single mother who did rely on govt benefits to get by to now where I'm earning a high income and don't need any govt help to raise my child. It really does offend me that not only is the baby bonus not means tested, but that all the criticism of the baby bonus in the media hasn't once complained about that because they're too busy complaining that single mothers pop out babies just to get the baby bonus and put it through the pokies blah blah blah. And because they are forcing single mothers back into the work force, there's even more of the giving with one hand and taking away much more with the other when they reenter the workforce and find their rights as workers have been eroded away due to WorkChoices...

[biggles1]

12. You sound like yet another who has bought the "only the Libs

can run an economy" spiel.
Bollocks!
As you concede yourself, the major forces which shape the movements of our economy have LITTLE to do with the complexion of the party in government. The economy moves in well-defined cycles of boom and bust and has done for decades - governments don't guide these cycles, they just take the credit for the upswings and blame their opponents for the downswings!
It's the main reason why I DON'T vote on the basis of so-called 'economic management'.

[Djinn]

16. so did you go donkey?

if you're gonna claim:

Earlier today i heard that Rudd wants to fund public and private schools equally

then you're either ignorant or a Lib stooge, neither of whom help anyone by voting

Oh and when Howard was Treasurer, KEATING hadn't dereg'd the dollar yet, so unlike Keating Howard DID have more control as Treasurer.

Seems as well as being a bit ignorant of the Libs economic shortcomings you're also ignorant of the MASSIVE economic reforms of Hawke/Keating which created the economy that Howard took credit for.

Seriously dude, seen better analysis from Hun readers

[oscarmitre]

10. It seems from reading the online blogs

even in The Australian that it's very bad news for the Coalition. Now I know that the blogs aren't a surefire indicator and those of us left of centre in Australian politics are more likely to have a go in writing online but the counter-posts from the Coalition supporters seem to be very light on argument and are really all about smear (there's an echo) or scare tactics. I think the negative campaign style, the Crosby/Textor (genuflection to Karl Rove) approach has blown up in the faces of the Coalition. Howard is being perceived, rightly, as finished. Keating's choice of the word "dessicated" was, I think, designed to produce the meme of "arid" or "dried up". I read where someone else had likened Howard to an Iced Vo-Vo, which I thought was extremely funny, but Keating being Keating delivered the blow extremely effectively.

Rudd is winning over the swinging voters by being moderate in his responses. Meanwhile the wrecking crew of Downer and Abbott is smashing everything in sight. They're like a bunch of gatecrashers at someone's 21st birthday party and I think the electorate doesn't like it.

[hot_ice72]

13. It does seem like a time for change

Although, what we could have tomorrow is rather uncertain. I am rather pragmatic and i do consider economics to be an important part of politics. Because it doesn't matter how brilliant your policies are if you don't have the economy to make them happen. It's similar to the interplay between intentions and results. If a person had the best intentions, yet the worst always happened, you wouldn't want to give that person any real power.
I agree that the economy should be there solely for other purposes, such as enhancing culture and making lives Feel valuable. One thing to note is it is factual that the economy doesn't simply run itself, i did mention that monetary policy (the controlling of inflation with interest rates and such) isn't handled by the government, but fiscal policy (the budget, which influences economic growth) is. Anyway, i don't think the Labor Party could do significant damage to the economy, if worse came to worse, so i think i'll go with this wave of change and see what happens.

[biggles1]

15. Sorry to disagree with you again Ice, but I can't accept

your premise that it's governments that shape the economy. The Libs (backed by their mates at the big end of town) have beaten that particular drum for years. (You know, the guys who promised just a year ago that interest rates would ALWAYS be lower under their watch?!)

It's bollocks...to repeat myself!

Our economy is shaped by the movements of markets around the world - full stop. When the US sneezes, we get the flu.... when China booms, we benefit from the windfall. And THEIR fortunes run in well-defined cycles.

Now, fiscal policy? Sure, that's within a government's ambit to make change - BUT it is most certainly NOT a major "influence (on) economic growth". All that fiscal policy can achieve is to REACT to the macro-economic forces in play...it doesn't SHAPE them.

The economic dice will fall wherever they may for WHOMEVER is in power. Be reminded again that it was Honest Johnny's mob who presided over the highest ever interest rates in the nation's history, that it was Keating who took the initiative in floating the dollar, that the amazing growth streak we've enjoyed (which Johnny and Costello never stop taking credit for) has been running since 1991, halfway through the last LABOR term!

With respect....