http://australianpolitics.com Resources, News & Commentary from Malcolm Farnsworth Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:23:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= Resources, News & Commentary from Malcolm Farnsworth AustralianPolitics.com no Resources, News & Commentary from Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://australianpolitics.com/category/issues/budget-issues http://australianpolitics.com/2011/11/29/abbott-responds-to-myefo.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/11/29/abbott-responds-to-myefo.html#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:20:01 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4600 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/11/29/abbott-responds-to-myefo.html/feed 0 Andrew Robb,Joe Hockey,MYEFO,Tony Abbott Tony Abbott has described the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook as a "crisis mini-budget." - Speaking at a joint press conference with Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey and Shadow Finance Minister Andrew Robb, Tony Abbott has described the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook as a "crisis mini-budget." Speaking at a joint press conference with Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey and Shadow Finance Minister Andrew Robb, Abbott claimed there is now no buffer against international economic problems because of the incompetence of the government. Listen or watch Abbott, Hockey and Robb speak on MYEFO. PLAY Transcript of joint press conference with Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott, Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey and Shadow Finance Minister Andrew Robb. TONY ABBOTT: Today the Government has finally admitted what the Coalition has been saying for months. Namely, there is a crisis in Europe, there is a global economic slowdown and it will impact on Australia. I want to make the fundamental point that this is a government which is imperilling our ability to respond to this global problem. It is imperilling our ability to respond to this very serious set of international economic numbers. This is a government which is making a bad situation worse with its new taxes and with its continuing waste. There is no good time to introduce bad taxes but this is the worst possible time to be introducing a carbon tax and a mining tax which are going to damage Australia’s international competitiveness. This is a government which is continuing to waste the taxpayers’ precious dollars. We’ve seen the pink batts disaster which has become a byword for government incompetence, where they spent more than $1 billion putting pink batts into roofs and then spent $1 billion taking them out again. We’ve seen the school halls which this government couldn’t build without rip-off after rip-off and now of course, the daddy of them all, the National Broadband Network which we learned yesterday is going to cost $15 billion, at least, more than the Government is telling us. There is now no buffer against international economic problems because of the policies and the incompetence of this government. Under the former government we had a $20 billion surplus, we had $70 billion worth of net assets. That has been completely blown because of the policies and the incompetence of this government. We have now seen the four biggest deficits in Australian history delivered by Wayne Swan. There’s the claim of a tiny, wafer-thin surplus next year – a surplus which is just 0.1 per cent of GDP and is obviously hostage to international events and of course we’ve seen the debt blow out and out and out and today we have the revelation that the debt is not $107 billion, but well over $130 billion. The final point I want to make before throwing to Joe and then to Andrew is that we saw in the parliament last week a Prime Minister who would do whatever it takes to make her parliamentary numbers stack up but today we’ve seen a Prime Minister who will do whatever it takes to make her budget numbers stack up. But frankly, they don’t stack up. They are just not believable and I’m now going to ask Joe to elaborate on those points. JOE HOCKEY: Thanks very much, mate. The Government claims that it is being responsible with spending. The numbers today reveal that they are increasing government expenditure by $11 billion over the forward estimates, in six months since the budget was announced. $9 billion of that increase in expenditure is coming from their own policy decisions. The Government claims that Europe is having an impact on their revenue and yet they’re only revising down revenue by $9 billion over four years and that represents just .6 of one per cent of revenue that they claim will be lost because of the economic downturn. The fundamental point is you have to look at what Labor does, not what they say. They claim that they are going to have the biggest fiscal consolidation in modern history and yet the budget deficit this year is blowing out by $15 billion. Now, in 12 months alone the budget deficit has tripled in size. So, AustralianPolitics.com no http://australianpolitics.com/2011/11/29/myefo-predicts-small-budget-surplus.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/11/29/myefo-predicts-small-budget-surplus.html#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2011 03:42:33 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4595 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/11/29/myefo-predicts-small-budget-surplus.html/feed 0 Andrew Robb,Bob Brown,Joe Hockey,MYEFO,Penny Wong,Tony Abbott,Wayne Swan The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, has released the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO). It forecasts an increased budget deficit for 2011-12 and a small surplus in 2012-13. - Key points from MEYEFO: - The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, has released the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO). It forecasts an increased budget deficit for 2011-12 and a small surplus in 2012-13. Key points from MEYEFO: 2011-12 budget deficit has increased to $37 billion from the budget forecast of $23 billion. The budget surplus for 2012-13 has been downgraded from $3.5 billion to $1.5 billion. Deteriorating economic conditions have cut $20 billion from revenue over the four-year forward estimates. Additional savings of $11.5 billion over four years have been announced. The baby bonus has been cut from $5400 to $5000. A 2.5% efficiency dividend, on top of an existing 1.5%, will produce savings across government departments of $1.5 billion. The federal and High Courts, and cultural institutions such as the Australian War Memorial have been been protected from cuts. There will be a crackdown on living away from home tax concessions, an increase in the eligibility age for the dependent spouse offset. Gross Domestic Product is now forecast to grow by 3.25%, down from 4.25%. Unemployment is expected to be 5.5% in 2011-12 and 2012-13, slightly up on budget forecasts. The complete AustralianPolitics.com no http://australianpolitics.com/2011/05/18/hockey-budget-reply-speech-2011.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/05/18/hockey-budget-reply-speech-2011.html#comments Wed, 18 May 2011 06:03:41 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4240 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/05/18/hockey-budget-reply-speech-2011.html/feed 1 Joe Hockey,National Press Club,Peter Martin The Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey, has delivered the traditional Budget reply speech to the National Press Club, in Canberra. Listen to Hockey's speech (31m) PLAY - Listen to Hockey's responses to questions (29m) PLAY - The Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey, has delivered the traditional Budget reply speech to the National Press Club, in Canberra. Listen to Hockey's speech (31m) PLAY Listen to Hockey's responses to questions (29m) PLAY Listen to Hockey's r... AustralianPolitics.com no http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/28/gillard-clashes-with-neil-mitchell-over-flood-levy.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/28/gillard-clashes-with-neil-mitchell-over-flood-levy.html#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 04:40:12 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4021 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/28/gillard-clashes-with-neil-mitchell-over-flood-levy.html/feed 0 Andrew Fraser,Anna Bligh,flood levy,Julia Gillard,Neil Mitchell,Wayne Swan The debate over the Gillard government's flood levy got willing today as the Prime Minister clashed with Neil Mitchell on Melbourne radio station 3AW. - Towards the end of the interview, Gillard and Mitchell clashed over Cabinet support for the levy a... The debate over the Gillard government's flood levy got willing today as the Prime Minister clashed with Neil Mitchell on Melbourne radio station 3AW. Towards the end of the interview, Gillard and Mitchell clashed over Cabinet support for the levy and oversight of the flood recovery spending. Listen to Gillard and Mitchell: "Don't patronise me, Neil." (3m) PLAY For the complete context of the encounter, listen to the complete Gillard-Mitchell interview. (20m) - transcript below. PLAY Later in the morning, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Treasurer Andrew Fraser held a press conference to outline infrastructure rebuilding plans. Listen to Bligh and Fraser. (26m) PLAY In a speech this afternoon to the CEO Institute in Brisbane, the Federal Treasurer, Wayne Swan, defended the government's plan for the flood levy. He argued that in a growing economy it is important "to pay your way as you go". Swan said it would have been irresponsible to borrow to fund the rebuilding program. Listen to Wayne Swan's speech. (25m) PLAY Transcript of Julia Gillard's interview with Neil Mitchell. GILLARD: Good morning, Neil. MITCHELL: Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it. Prime Minister, with your Government’s history of mis-management, like the insulation program, school re-building, who are you going to put in charge of the spending of this money you’re going to take from us? GILLARD: Major-General Mick Slater is the chair of the Queensland recovery authority. MITCHELL: But he’s a soldier. Is he going to be in charge of the money? GILLARD: So, Queensland has created a recovery authority just like Victoria did when we had the very devastating bushfires. We’ve made Mick Slater available. He’s obviously going to bring all of his Defence Force experience to that role, and then of course the authority will employee professional people, just like the recovery authority did in Victoria, to roll out funds. We will also have an agreement with the Queensland Government with strict guidelines around expenditure, but we do need to get on with this job, Neil, and start the re-build. MITCHELL: Look, I couldn’t agree more, but with due to respect to the Major-General, he’s probably a terrific organiser and soldier, but he’s not an accountant. He’s not a money man, and Defence hasn’t got a great record of managing its money. How can you guarantee us that it won’t go the way of the insulation program and the school rebuilding? Putting a soldier in charge doesn’t fix it. GILLARD: Well, the money will be spent through the recovery authority, which will obviously engage the professional staff it needs, the accountants, the- MITCHELL: -So who’s accountable? GILLARD: Well, the recovery authority has Mick Slater as the chair. There is a committee there that will run the authority. Obviously, the authority will report to the Queensland Government and we will receive reports from the authority, and we will have an agreement with the Queensland Government. I will, the Federal Government will, make sure that the guidelines are there and that they’re adhered too so that we get value for money. MITCHELL: You keep talking about Queensland. Does any of this money come to Victoria? GILLARD: Yes, of course, Neil- MITCHELL: -So who oversees it in Victoria? GILLARD: We’ll work with Baillieu Government on that, and see what sort of arrangements Premier Baillieu wants to strike- MITCHELL: -and what about Tasmania? Same thing in Tasmania? GILLARD: Well, yes. Neil, I think we’ve just got to take one step back here. Special arrangements in terms of a recovery authority are being made in Queensland because of the size and scale of the devastation – 75 per cent of the State natural disaster declared – but yes, we’ve got rebuilding to do in other parts of the country, including in Victoria. Now, the damage is there, AustralianPolitics.com no http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/28/impact-of-floods-on-economy-swan.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/28/impact-of-floods-on-economy-swan.html#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 23:55:18 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4029 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/28/impact-of-floods-on-economy-swan.html/feed 0 flood levy,floods,Wayne Swan This is the text of a speech delivered by the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, to the CEO Institute, in Brisbane. Listen to Wayne Swan's speech. (25m) PLAY - The Impact of the Floods on our Patchwork Economy - This is the text of a speech delivered by the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, to the CEO Institute, in Brisbane. Listen to Wayne Swan's speech. (25m) PLAY The Impact of the Floods on our Patchwork Economy Thanks very much for having me and for t... AustralianPolitics.com no http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/27/flood-levy-details-fact-sheets-and-reaction.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/27/flood-levy-details-fact-sheets-and-reaction.html#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 04:59:07 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4003 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/27/flood-levy-details-fact-sheets-and-reaction.html/feed 1 Anna Bligh,Christine Milne,flood levy,floods,Julia Gillard,Rob Oakeshott,Tony Abbott Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a package of measures including a one-off levy to pay for the flood damage in Queensland and elsewhere. Full Text and Audio of Julia Gillard's National Press Club Address Listen to Gillard's speech. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a package of measures including a one-off levy to pay for the flood damage in Queensland and elsewhere. Full Text and Audio of Julia Gillard's National Press Club Address Listen to Gillard's speech. PLA... AustralianPolitics.com no http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/27/flood-levy-announced-by-gillard.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/27/flood-levy-announced-by-gillard.html#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 03:48:06 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4000 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/27/flood-levy-announced-by-gillard.html/feed 1 Budget,flood levy,floods,infrastructure,Julia Gillard Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that a one-off levy to pay for flood damage around Australia will be introduced from July 1. - The levy will only apply to individuals on incomes of more than $50,000. It will be levied at a rate of 0. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that a one-off levy to pay for flood damage around Australia will be introduced from July 1. The levy will only apply to individuals on incomes of more than $50,000. It will be levied at a rate of 0.5% on ... AustralianPolitics.com no http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/25/wayne-swan-cpi-floods-budget.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/25/wayne-swan-cpi-floods-budget.html#comments Tue, 25 Jan 2011 06:58:51 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=3982 Treasurer Wayne Swan held a doorstop press conference today to comment on the release of the latest Consumer Price Index figures. Swan also talked about the impact on the federal budget of the floods.

• Listen to Wayne Swan's media doorstop. PLAY

]]> http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/25/wayne-swan-cpi-floods-budget.html/feed 0 CPI,floods,Wayne Swan Treasurer Wayne Swan held a doorstop press conference today to comment on the release of the latest Consumer Price Index figures. - Swan also talked about the impact on the federal budget of the floods. Listen to Wayne Swan's media doorstop. PLAY Treasurer Wayne Swan held a doorstop press conference today to comment on the release of the latest Consumer Price Index figures. Swan also talked about the impact on the federal budget of the floods. Listen to Wayne Swan's media doorstop. PLAY AustralianPolitics.com no http://australianpolitics.com/2008/11/07/liberals-focus-on-swans-embarrassing-press-conference.html http://australianpolitics.com/2008/11/07/liberals-focus-on-swans-embarrassing-press-conference.html#comments Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:54:34 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=399 http://australianpolitics.com/2008/11/07/liberals-focus-on-swans-embarrassing-press-conference.html/feed 0 http://australianpolitics.com/2008/10/14/details-of-rudd-governments-economic-security-strategy.html http://australianpolitics.com/2008/10/14/details-of-rudd-governments-economic-security-strategy.html#comments Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:00:04 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=262 http://australianpolitics.com/2008/10/14/details-of-rudd-governments-economic-security-strategy.html/feed 3