Before the last election, Prime Minister Tony Abbott promised Australians  a “no surprises, no excuses government”, focussed on stabilising the economy and “stopping the boats”.  More importantly, he promised that he would lead a government of lower, simpler and fairer taxes.

It’s hard then to imagine what he was expecting when he announced a debt levy, a short-term boost to Treasury coffers directly targetted at reducing the Budget deficit.

Mr Abbott made a point of calling his new tax a levy, not a tax. He then argued that his promise wasn’t broken because it was temporary in nature.

Nice one Mr Abbott.

Mr Abbott’s tricky wording reminds me of similar clever use of language employed in the Middle East. Selling sex is strictly forbidden in the Islamic world. Yet, having lived there, I’ve observed that the vast majority of transactions are completed without attracting the attention of police – why?

A most interesting cultural element, present in both Sunni and Shi’ite faiths, that is known as ‘temporary marriage’ or ‘pleasure marriage’. Men ‘marry’ women for an hour.  They pay a dowry, consummate the marriage, divorce and then move on.

In their minds, they have not broken the law.
The running joke among expatiates in Dubai is that ‘anything is legal, as long as you call it something else’. 
Prostitution is illegal; temporary marriage is not.

Tony Abbott will undoubtedly argue that he is not increasing taxes.  This move, he will claim, is a temporary measure with no ongoing commitment. Most importantly it’s called something else – a levy, not a tax.  Therefore, he’s kept his promise and moves on to fight another day.

He won’t see that he’s broken a promise, because in his own mind that’s something other people do.
Just like temporary marriage, Mr Abbott’s conscience will be clear.  Words, it seems, not actions, are what matter most. It’s just a matter of perception.

The real question is – how easily are Australians fooled?



- See more at: http://nofibs.com.au/2014/04/30/abbott-and-the-temporary-marriage-scam-e2mq173-comments/#sthash.jfUwzsqv.dpuf

Andrew Elder worth reading too: http://andrewelder.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/the-commission-of-magical-thinking.html

[quote author=rough.ready link=1399116098/0#0 date=1399116098]Before the last election, Prime Minister Tony Abbott promised Australians  a “no surprises, no excuses government”, focussed on stabilising the economy and “stopping the boats”.  More importantly, he promised that he would lead a government of lower, simpler and fairer taxes.

It’s hard then to imagine what he was expecting when he announced a debt levy, a short-term boost to Treasury coffers directly targetted at reducing the Budget deficit.

Mr Abbott made a point of calling his new tax a levy, not a tax. He then argued that his promise wasn’t broken because it was temporary in nature.

Nice one Mr Abbott.

Mr Abbott’s tricky wording reminds me of similar clever use of language employed in the Middle East. Selling sex is strictly forbidden in the Islamic world. Yet, having lived there, I’ve observed that the vast majority of transactions are completed without attracting the attention of police – why?

A most interesting cultural element, present in both Sunni and Shi’ite faiths, that is known as ‘temporary marriage’ or ‘pleasure marriage’. Men ‘marry’ women for an hour.  They pay a dowry, consummate the marriage, divorce and then move on.

In their minds, they have not broken the law.
The running joke among expatiates in Dubai is that ‘anything is legal, as long as you call it something else’. 
Prostitution is illegal; temporary marriage is not.

Tony Abbott will undoubtedly argue that he is not increasing taxes.  This move, he will claim, is a temporary measure with no ongoing commitment. Most importantly it’s called something else – a levy, not a tax.  Therefore, he’s kept his promise and moves on to fight another day.

He won’t see that he’s broken a promise, because in his own mind that’s something other people do.
Just like temporary marriage, Mr Abbott’s conscience will be clear.  Words, it seems, not actions, are what matter most. It’s just a matter of perception.

The real question is – how easily are Australians fooled?


The real question is – what's the difference between kneeling down and bending over, do Australians know?

It was always going to be difficult for Abbott to keep that promise about no new taxes and no surprises. It's a promise he shouldn't have made given that even I knew there would be some nasty surprises in store for him when he and Hockey took over from Rudd/Gillard/Swan. Still, I fully agree with his measures to pay down Labors' record debt.

Armchair_Politician wrote on May 4^th, 2014 at 8:54am:

It was always going to be difficult for Abbott to keep that promise about no new taxes and no surprises. It's a promise he shouldn't have made given that even I knew there would be some nasty surprises in store for him when he and Hockey took over from Rudd/Gillard/Swan. Still, I fully agree with his measures to pay down Labors' record debt.

Spare us please - "Liberals are economically responsible adults - labor are irresponsible children" - its been done to death and is wrong.

http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1399014360

I too are in agreement with measures to pay down debt, but not in the current economic and socially irresponsible 'throw out the baby with the bathwater' agenda. This is not good policy it is dumb ideology.

Armchair_Politician wrote on May 4^th, 2014 at 8:54am:

It was always going to be difficult for Abbott to keep that promise about no new taxes and no surprises

funny how you've never once said that it would always be difficult for Gillard to keep her promise of no carbon tax given that the labor party didn't win enough seats in its own right and had to form a minority govt.  ;D ;D ;D ;D

one set of rules for labor, another for the libs, right armpitt? If anything, Abbott knew exactly what he was getting and deliberately lied ... Gillard did not know she would have to deal with a minority govt.

John Smith wrote on May 4^th, 2014 at 9:10am:

Armchair_Politician wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 8:54am: It was always going to be difficult for Abbott to keep that promise about no new taxes and no surprises funny how you've never once said that it would always be difficult for Gillard to keep her promise of no carbon tax given that the labor party didn't win enough seats in its own right and had to form a minority govt.  ;D ;D ;D ;D one set of rules for labor, another for the libs, right armpitt? If anything, Abbott knew exactly what he was getting and deliberately lied ... Gillard did not know she would have to deal with a minority govt.

Best summary I've seen.

John Smith wrote on May 4^th, 2014 at 9:10am:

Armchair_Politician wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 8:54am: It was always going to be difficult for Abbott to keep that promise about no new taxes and no surprises funny how you've never once said that it would always be difficult for Gillard to keep her promise of no carbon tax given that the labor party didn't win enough seats in its own right and had to form a minority govt.  ;D ;D ;D ;D one set of rules for labor, another for the libs, right armpitt? If anything, Abbott knew exactly what he was getting and deliberately lied ... Gillard did not know she would have to deal with a minority govt.

That's entirely different circumstances and you know it. On the one hand, Abbott is trying his hardest to salvage the budget from six years of Swan's ineptitude and probably shouldn't have made the promises he did knowing what Labor is like. On the other hand, Gillard's promise of no carbon tax was iron-clad. All that would have occurred if she had honoured that promise would be that she'd have still gotten the support of the Greens because Bob Brown would never have sided with Abbott. She didn't need the carbon tax to save her skin - it just shows what a weak person she is and how desperate she was to stay in office. Hardly the actions of someone who is supposed to be governing for all Australians, not just her own selfish ambitions.

Armchair_Politician wrote on May 4^th, 2014 at 10:25am:

John Smith wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 9:10am: Armchair_Politician wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 8:54am: It was always going to be difficult for Abbott to keep that promise about no new taxes and no surprises funny how you've never once said that it would always be difficult for Gillard to keep her promise of no carbon tax given that the labor party didn't win enough seats in its own right and had to form a minority govt.  ;D ;D ;D ;D one set of rules for labor, another for the libs, right armpitt? If anything, Abbott knew exactly what he was getting and deliberately lied ... Gillard did not know she would have to deal with a minority govt. That's entirely different circumstances and you know it. On the one hand, Abbott is trying his hardest to salvage the budget from six years of Swan's ineptitude and probably shouldn't have made the promises he did knowing what Labor is like. On the other hand, Gillard's promise of no carbon tax was iron-clad. All that would have occurred if she had honoured that promise would be that she'd have still gotten the support of the Greens because Bob Brown would never have sided with Abbott. She didn't need the carbon tax to save her skin - it just shows what a weak person she is and how desperate she was to stay in office. Hardly the actions of someone who is supposed to be governing for all Australians, not just her own selfish ambitions.

not sure if you are just sprouting that crap for the benefit of your party or if you actually believe it ... either way all you've done is cement your place as one of this forums dumbest posters ....

Armchair_Politician wrote on May 4^th, 2014 at 10:25am:

John Smith wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 9:10am: Armchair_Politician wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 8:54am: It was always going to be difficult for Abbott to keep that promise about no new taxes and no surprises funny how you've never once said that it would always be difficult for Gillard to keep her promise of no carbon tax given that the labor party didn't win enough seats in its own right and had to form a minority govt.  ;D ;D ;D ;D one set of rules for labor, another for the libs, right armpitt? If anything, Abbott knew exactly what he was getting and deliberately lied ... Gillard did not know she would have to deal with a minority govt. That's entirely different circumstances and you know it. On the one hand, Abbott is trying his hardest to salvage the budget from six years of Swan's ineptitude and probably shouldn't have made the promises he did knowing what Labor is like. On the other hand, Gillard's promise of no carbon tax was iron-clad. All that would have occurred if she had honoured that promise would be that she'd have still gotten the support of the Greens because Bob Brown would never have sided with Abbott. She didn't need the carbon tax to save her skin - it just shows what a weak person she is and how desperate she was to stay in office. Hardly the actions of someone who is supposed to be governing for all Australians, not just her own selfish ambitions.

On the one hand, Abbott is trying his hardest to salvage the budget from six years of Swan's ineptitude

A view refuted by the worlds economists?

On the other hand, Gillard's promise of no carbon tax was iron-clad

Typical that you accept that Abbotts promises are not iron clad. Are they cellophane clad

not just her own selfish ambitions

Doing the right thing for climate was never going to impact her ambitions ?

Hmmm...

---

Dnarever wrote on May 4^th, 2014 at 12:50pm:

Armchair_Politician wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 10:25am: John Smith wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 9:10am: Armchair_Politician wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 8:54am: It was always going to be difficult for Abbott to keep that promise about no new taxes and no surprises funny how you've never once said that it would always be difficult for Gillard to keep her promise of no carbon tax given that the labor party didn't win enough seats in its own right and had to form a minority govt.  ;D ;D ;D ;D one set of rules for labor, another for the libs, right armpitt? If anything, Abbott knew exactly what he was getting and deliberately lied ... Gillard did not know she would have to deal with a minority govt. That's entirely different circumstances and you know it. On the one hand, Abbott is trying his hardest to salvage the budget from six years of Swan's ineptitude and probably shouldn't have made the promises he did knowing what Labor is like. On the other hand, Gillard's promise of no carbon tax was iron-clad. All that would have occurred if she had honoured that promise would be that she'd have still gotten the support of the Greens because Bob Brown would never have sided with Abbott. She didn't need the carbon tax to save her skin - it just shows what a weak person she is and how desperate she was to stay in office. Hardly the actions of someone who is supposed to be governing for all Australians, not just her own selfish ambitions. On the one hand, Abbott is trying his hardest to salvage the budget from six years of Swan's ineptitude A view refuted by the worlds economists? Any of them work or live here? Yeah, didn't think so. On the other hand, Gillard's promise of no carbon tax was iron-clad Typical that you accept that Abbotts promises are not iron clad. Are they cellophane clad He shouldn't have made that promise and a BIG reason Labor lost is due to her carbon tax. not just her own selfish ambitions Doing the right thing for climate was never going to impact her ambitions ?

She was desperate to stay in office - the environment was never a major consideration for her.

The voters have made their minds up, the women bashers times up. ;D ;D ;D

It's a pity there's been so much bad publicity surrounding the budget before it's released. The Abbott government pays a fortune to the social media to ascertain the public mood - and now they're getting all this for free.

The budget will be mild contrary to speculation to ensure that the Coalition get a second term.

Is Abbott stupid enough to blow it so soon?

The media should have kept quiet and let Hockey shock us. This would ensure the government wouldn't be re-elected.

Labor were indeed inept.
stupid carbon tax.
let the miners roll them.

Laborites like to blame howard for being too generous with tax cuts and middle class welfare but why would you bank any money as a liberal PM?

Moronic people like rudd and Gillard are always waiting to come in and spend all that hard earned money on Bullsh^t plans.

But getting back to tony and hockey.
They know what needs to be done.

Slash spending on the programs with the structural problems

the pension
super concessions
health spending.
NDIS
gonski
defence.

I can find little evidence that ANY of the above contribute to economic growth.

Now , redirect those billions into scrapping regulation and reducing taxes on small business, family companies and individual tradespeople.

Increase the taxes on the big end of town with a tax on large business (say 2 % on coles/woollies) and roll that back into concessions for farmers.
Scrap the diesel rebate for multi billionaire miners but keep it for struggling, worlds best practice farmers.
Put infrastructure in for tourism, not cycle paths for inner city green voters .

its all just common sense.

reward the productive elements of society and ruthlessly punish those who aren't productive.

And an old aged pensioner sitting on a family home worth 2 million in inner Sydney who thinks they are "owed" a pension needs to face a ruthless assets test, including the family home
Dirty stinking selfish old farts.
What a terrible example they are setting with their selfishness.

Woo boy, what a cascade of rubbish we are getting from the Lib fanbois here!

Firstly, Hokey and the simian knew the state of the books before the election: the 13/14 Budget, MYEFO, PEFO. As someone said—one good thing Costello did, Charter of Budget Honesty.

So the promises before the election were made in full knowledge of the state of the books. The Audit was a worthless waste of time and definitely not an audit.

The debt we have is small. If it was a real worry we would not have had the 9As reconfirmed recently.

Most of the debt is due to Costello (and Rudd/Swan contributed one cut) cutting income tax too much. We have a revenue problem not a spending problem. The spending is supporting the economy. Gillard/Swan tried fiscal consolidation, i.e. cutting spending but thankfully gave up getting a surplus as the fiscal consolidation was causing unemployment to increase.

There is a type of wasteful spending that can be cut without affecting private sector spending—those tax expenditures, those asset millionaire getting full or part Old Age Pension.

Just think on that last bit—Boomers are retiring, the Old Age Pension is going to balloon out yet we are paying the pension to people owning their own home PLUS a million dollars in assets! Crazy! Weed out all that rubbish—the Budget will be $75Bn the better! $75Bn! Enough to boost NewStart and the Old Age Pension which will boost massively private sector spending.

The reason for the deficits has been revenue weakness. The Treasury estimates for each Budget were out as revenue was weaker than expected. That is because Costello cut income tax too much. So the “levy” needs to be increased and made permanent.

Making people work until they are 70 is just going to see record numbers go on the DSP.

aquascoot wrote on May 5^th, 2014 at 7:19am:

Laborites like to blame howard for being too generous with tax cuts and middle class welfare but why would you bank any money as a liberal PM?

for a rainy day .... why else

John Smith wrote on May 5^th, 2014 at 8:22am:

aquascoot wrote on May 5th, 2014 at 7:19am: Laborites like to blame howard for being too generous with tax cuts and middle class welfare but why would you bank any money as a liberal PM? for a rainy day .... why else

As a farmer, this makes very good sense.
unfortunately, why would you work hard and store hay , when those useless socialist rats and other vermin are going to be the beneficiaries ;)

Howard was interested in only ONE thing: getting re-elected.

If Howard & Costello had kept the record income—the credit fuelled real estate boom would not have been so big. That would have made things a LOT easier now. But they kept pumping money—tax cuts for the rich and pork and rewarding those who voted Lib—into the boom! A FAIL as far as economic management goes. That is why Costello didn’t get nominated as Finance Minister of the year and why they didn’t get the 9As.

Some money could have been spent on infrastructure. Instead—infrastructure, health and education budgets were robbed to increase the size of the surplus, of the tax cuts and pork!

We can fix our Budget woes overnight: get rid of the last of Howard’s spending from the Budget and rescind the last 2-3 income tax cuts.

St George of the Garden wrote on May 5^th, 2014 at 8:16am:

Woo boy, what a cascade of rubbish we are getting from the Lib fanbois here! Firstly, Hokey and the simian knew the state of the books before the election: the 13/14 Budget, MYEFO, PEFO. As someone said—one good thing Costello did, Charter of Budget Honesty. So the promises before the election were made in full knowledge of the state of the books. The Audit was a worthless waste of time and definitely not an audit. The debt we have is small. If it was a real worry we would not have had the 9As reconfirmed recently. Most of the debt is due to Costello (and Rudd/Swan contributed one cut) cutting income tax too much. We have a revenue problem not a spending problem. The spending is supporting the economy. Gillard/Swan tried fiscal consolidation, i.e. cutting spending but thankfully gave up getting a surplus as the fiscal consolidation was causing unemployment to increase. There is a type of wasteful spending that can be cut without affecting private sector spending—those tax expenditures, those asset millionaire getting full or part Old Age Pension. Just think on that last bit—Boomers are retiring, the Old Age Pension is going to balloon out yet we are paying the pension to people owning their own home PLUS a million dollars in assets! Crazy! Weed out all that rubbish—the Budget will be $75Bn the better! $75Bn! Enough to boost NewStart and the Old Age Pension which will boost massively private sector spending. The reason for the deficits has been revenue weakness. The Treasury estimates for each Budget were out as revenue was weaker than expected. That is because Costello cut income tax too much. So the “levy” needs to be increased and made permanent. Making people work until they are 70 is just going to see record numbers go on the DSP.

Rubbish George, we have a spending problem.
All of these "structural ' things
health
NDIS
pensions
super concessions

are growing at levels much above the growth in GDP.
hospital costs are growing at 10 %, and the pensioners are starting to bulge the curve even more in terms of demanding these services.

We also had one of the worlds highest rates of debt growth , coming off a very low level.
This low level was totally thanks to Costello.

Stop bagging Costello.
His track record is like black caviars...winner after winner.
Lets look at swans,  a total f^^king disgrace.
Should have been sent to the dog meat factory after his first 2 years.
Only the international socialists would give such a clown an award.  Oh , that's right , they did ;) ;) ;)

aquascoot wrote on May 5^th, 2014 at 8:27am:

John Smith wrote on May 5th, 2014 at 8:22am: aquascoot wrote on May 5th, 2014 at 7:19am: Laborites like to blame howard for being too generous with tax cuts and middle class welfare but why would you bank any money as a liberal PM? for a rainy day .... why else As a farmer, this makes very good sense. unfortunately, why would you work hard and store hay , when those useless socialist rats and other vermin are going to be the beneficiaries ;)

when society benefits we all benefit ....

Costello spent like a drunken sailor! He paid for tax cuts with asset sales and a boom. Booms never, ever last. He was a FAILURE as Treasurer! He did not get the 9As, he did not get FM of the year and to prove it even more—he did not get that high paying job in private industry. Industry knows what a failure he was. Until you and other Libs recognise that you cannot manage the economy! With the private sector still heavily indebted radical measures will just see private sector spending slump. That will cause more unemployment and so more paid out as NewStart, less income tax coming in—and a HIGHER deficit!

The revenue projected for each Budget in the last few years, including Hokey’s, proved over optimistic. Time therefor to beef up revenue and cut the last, HUGE chunks of Howard’s irresponsible spending and while we are at it: remove negative gearing.

Cut the wasteful Howardista spending and NDIS etc can easily be afforded. And the need for NDIS is urgent—boomer parents caring for adult disabled children cannot cope for much longer! Gonski will boost our productivity, innovation and the like. Build the NBN and boost productivity, GDP, jobs and exports.

aquascoot wrote on May 5^th, 2014 at 8:33am:

St George of the Garden wrote on May 5th, 2014 at 8:16am: Woo boy, what a cascade of rubbish we are getting from the Lib fanbois here! Firstly, Hokey and the simian knew the state of the books before the election: the 13/14 Budget, MYEFO, PEFO. As someone said—one good thing Costello did, Charter of Budget Honesty. So the promises before the election were made in full knowledge of the state of the books. The Audit was a worthless waste of time and definitely not an audit. The debt we have is small. If it was a real worry we would not have had the 9As reconfirmed recently. Most of the debt is due to Costello (and Rudd/Swan contributed one cut) cutting income tax too much. We have a revenue problem not a spending problem. The spending is supporting the economy. Gillard/Swan tried fiscal consolidation, i.e. cutting spending but thankfully gave up getting a surplus as the fiscal consolidation was causing unemployment to increase. There is a type of wasteful spending that can be cut without affecting private sector spending—those tax expenditures, those asset millionaire getting full or part Old Age Pension. Just think on that last bit—Boomers are retiring, the Old Age Pension is going to balloon out yet we are paying the pension to people owning their own home PLUS a million dollars in assets! Crazy! Weed out all that rubbish—the Budget will be $75Bn the better! $75Bn! Enough to boost NewStart and the Old Age Pension which will boost massively private sector spending. The reason for the deficits has been revenue weakness. The Treasury estimates for each Budget were out as revenue was weaker than expected. That is because Costello cut income tax too much. So the “levy” needs to be increased and made permanent. Making people work until they are 70 is just going to see record numbers go on the DSP. Rubbish George, we have a spending problem. All of these "structural ' things health NDIS pensions super concessions are growing at levels much above the growth in GDP. hospital costs are growing at 10 %, and the pensioners are starting to bulge the curve even more in terms of demanding these services. We also had one of the worlds highest rates of debt growth , coming off a very low level. This low level was totally thanks to Costello. Stop bagging Costello. His track record is like black caviars...winner after winner. Lets look at swans,  a total f^^king disgrace. Should have been sent to the dog meat factory after his first 2 years. Only the international socialists would give such a clown an award.  Oh , that's right , they did ;) ;) ;)

Simply stunning that there are still people who believe this bullsh1t.

And why this fear and misunderstanding of socialism? Swaggie suffers from the
same misconceptions, you're not related are you?

The Reds haven't been under the beds for decades (if indeed they ever were).

Kat wrote on May 5^th, 2014 at 9:11am:

And why this fear and misunderstanding of socialism

because without it, their ideology is easily proven to be a scam ... they need socialism to justify their own positions.

I always try to be fair and include the one Rudd/Swan tax cut. But we HAVE cut income tax too much, so company tax makes up a significant part of total tax revenues—and company tax fluctuates too much for any confidence to be placed on revenue forecasts.

That is a fact! The boom is gone and some of Costello’s tax cuts ARE NO LONGER SUSTAINABLE! THAT is the big problem with economic management today and no amount of bashing the poor is going to make up the gap.

And the HUGE remains of Howard’s pork and rewarding those who voted for him have to be removed!

St George of the Garden wrote on May 5^th, 2014 at 9:32am:

I always try to be fair and include the one Rudd/Swan tax cut. But we HAVE cut income tax too much, so company tax makes up a significant part of total tax revenues—and company tax fluctuates too much for any confidence to be placed on revenue forecasts. That is a fact! The boom is gone and some of Costello’s tax cuts ARE NO LONGER SUSTAINABLE! THAT is the big problem with economic management today and no amount of bashing the poor is going to make up the gap. And the HUGE remains of Howard’s pork and rewarding those who voted for him have to be removed!

its sim,ple ... tax cuts = votes, company tax cuts = donations ... asset sales and service cuts = a big bugger u, but thats ok because we can buy back the votes with another tax cut before the next election

St George of the Garden wrote on May 5^th, 2014 at 9:32am:

I always try to be fair and include the one Rudd/Swan tax cut. But we HAVE cut income tax too much, so company tax makes up a significant part of total tax revenues—and company tax fluctuates too much for any confidence to be placed on revenue forecasts. That is a fact! The boom is gone and some of Costello’s tax cuts ARE NO LONGER SUSTAINABLE! THAT is the big problem with economic management today and no amount of bashing the poor is going to make up the gap. And the HUGE remains of Howard’s pork and rewarding those who voted for him have to be removed!

Oh georgie. ;) ;)
Tax rates in south korea and Singapore are around 9 %.
And they have the economic growth that comes with a low tax regime.
We are talking about bumping the top rate up to nearly 50 %.
now why would our best and brightest think it was a good idea to expand, innovate and go hard at that sort of rate ;) ;)

Sweden is dismantling its welfare system and seeing the economic benefits.

Why do socialists always want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. ;)

You don’t get pensions in Korea I'll bet.

The Scandinavians survived the GFC quite well. the Swedes have a right wing PM who wants to transform the economy but we are yet to see how successful he will be or how the economy reacts.

I am talking about Australia. I also think you don’t know the top tax rate.

the latest one from Abbott is a cracker ... Abbott says we'll thank him for breaking his promises  ;D ;D ;D ;D

https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/budget-2014--tony-abbott-says-voters-will-thank-him-for-trying-to-repair-bottom-line-005945476.html

What a lunatic! FFS, how long are the Libs going to put up with him? Not that there are a lot of choices for a successor but Hokey or Turncoat would be presentable figureheads.

St George of the Garden wrote on May 5^th, 2014 at 11:34am:

What a lunatic! for goodness sake, how long are the Libs going to put up with him? Not that there are a lot of choices for a successor but Hokey or Turncoat would be presentable figureheads.

He's very awkward. Always has been. So was Julia.
What we need is Scott Morrison delivering this sort of news .We need Scott putting the boot in hard to the soft underbelly of no-hopers.
Abbott doesn't have the self confidence that comes from being a true unblinkered "believer" in the market and reward for effort.
he was raised by Jesuits and studies to be a priest.
His instincts are always to use big government and big "tax and spend" ideas to try to "help"
This is poison and treason to the right side of politics and he needs to confess that he is the wrong man for the job.

St George of the Garden wrote on May 5^th, 2014 at 11:34am:

What a lunatic! for goodness sake, how long are the Libs going to put up with him? Not that there are a lot of choices for a successor but Hokey or Turncoat would be presentable figureheads.

George there is no way that the Liberal Party can get rid of Abbott as Prime Minister with the way he carry on after Rudd was dump.

Abbott has painted the Liberal Party into a corner by trying to dump him from the Prime Ministership.

There is only one way the liberal party can dump Abbott from the Prime Ministership and you can bet London to a brick on that Abbott won't do it, and that is for someone to tap him on the shoulder and tell him to resign from parliament for the good of the liberal party and government.

John S wrote on May 5^th, 2014 at 12:29pm:

There is only one way the liberal party can dump Abbott from the Prime Ministership and you can bet London to a brick on that Abbott won't do it, and that is for someone to tap him on the shoulder and tell him to resign from parliament for the good of the liberal party and government.

Who would they replace him with? Turnbull or Hockey. Morrison might come across as being competent, but he's a creep.

The electorate is in a dilemma - our choice is either Abbott or Shorten.

I'll stay with the Greens.

I rather like Malcolm Turbull.  If PM Abbott's rating continue to dip, with no signs of recovery, then, it might well be a good possibility.  Afterall, the ALP dumped the popular PM Rudd.   

I remember that time - November 2009.  I was with my family friends holidaying in Airlie's Beach.  There was talks of leadership changes in the air.  And PM Abbott came out and said he support Malcolm Turbull 100%, and that he is the leader.   It was then I told my friends (who were not too interested) that there are going to be some serious changes.  And then a day or two later, he was replaced.  And since then, politics had been more interesting.   :)

Never say never in politics. 

tickleandrose wrote on May 5^th, 2014 at 2:20pm:

I rather like Malcolm Turbull.  If PM Abbott's rating continue to dip, with no signs of recovery, then, it might well be a good possibility.  Afterall, the ALP dumped the popular PM Rudd.    I remember that time - November 2009.  I was with my family friends holidaying in Airlie's Beach.  There was talks of leadership changes in the air.  And PM Abbott came out and said he support Malcolm Turbull 100%, and that he is the leader.   It was then I told my friends (who were not too interested) that there are going to be some serious changes.  And then a day or two later, he was replaced.  And since then, politics had been more interesting.   :) Never say never in politics.

They will leave Abbott there until after ICAC has gone through the Feds, and its coming. All politicians are smart enough to avoid look at me moments when ACIC is part of the question.

aquascoot wrote on May 5^th, 2014 at 7:19am:

Laborites like to blame howard for being too generous with tax cuts and middle class welfare but why would you bank any money as a liberal PM?

So they waste it on largesse instead of investing it in infrastructure. Good thinking ... not.

When buying infrastructure, any infrastructure will do - road, rail, internet - as long as it invests in productivity, helps save lives or other similar benefit for the public. This is where Costello went wrong - he had temporary windfall profits from the mining boom and did not invest it in infrastructure.


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Moronic people like rudd and Gillard are always waiting to come in and spend all that hard earned money on Bullsh^t plans.

Such as?


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But getting back to tony and hockey. They know what needs to be done. Slash spending on the programs with the structural problems the pension super concessions health spending. NDIS gonski defence.

This is just your wish list of programs that in your opinion may spend too much.


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I can find little evidence that ANY of the above contribute to economic growth.

Why must they? It's not all about business and damn everything else. Sometimes you need to spend money to ensure a disabled person can replace an old wheelchair before it breaks or to ensure that we have an adequate level of defence. It's about value - something you do not seem to understand very well.


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Now , redirect those billions into scrapping regulation and reducing taxes on small business, family companies and individual tradespeople. Increase the taxes on the big end of town with a tax on large business (say 2 % on coles/woollies) and roll that back into concessions for farmers.

Differential tax rates for business are not a good idea because it provides a disincentive for the business to grow. A single company tax rate is better.


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Scrap the diesel rebate for multi billionaire miners but keep it for struggling, worlds best practice farmers.

You can spare the emotive crap. It adds nothing. I do agree though that the diesel rebate for miners should be scrapped.


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Put infrastructure in for tourism, not cycle paths for inner city green voters . its all just common sense.

No it's not - it's just conservative claptrap.

Cycle paths take cars off the road and so reduce traffic congestion for everyone else. It's about providing real choices, not "our way or sod off" attitude that conservative governments pretend is a choice.


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reward the productive elements of society and ruthlessly punish those who aren't productive.

More conservative rubbish involving punishment for non-existent "crimes". What a sick-minded idea. It's not all about making money for "the man".


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And an old aged pensioner sitting on a family home worth 2 million in inner Sydney who thinks they are "owed" a pension needs to face a ruthless assets test, including the family home Dirty stinking selfish old farts.

Did you overdose on angry pills?


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What a terrible example they are setting with their selfishness.

Part of the problem with such an assets test is that the taxes for selling the home are very heavy. Many of these old people bought their home when it was worth a fraction of what it's worth now. The problem isn't that these people are sitting in homes of great value, it's that the Ponzi real estate market has pushed up prices to unsustainable levels. We need to calm the real estate market.