Just shows how stupid these idiots are.


Quote:

Who'd say no to the deal of a lifetime? Tony Abbott would, and it's our tragedy. The 10-year bond rate is the rate at which the government can borrow for 10 years at a fixed rate of interest. Right now it's just 2.55 per cent, an all-time low. It’s rare to be offered money for nothing. All we would need is confidence in the worth of our ideas.  By way of comparison in the 1970s it exceeded 10 per cent, in the 1980s it passed 16 per cent, in the 1990s it passed 10 per cent, in the 2000s 5 per cent, and until now in this decade it has usually been above 3 per cent. It dived below 3 per cent at the end of last year and is now just 2.55 per cent, the lowest in living memory. If Australia was to borrow, big time, for important projects that took the best part of a decade to complete, it would have no risk of ever having to fork out more than 2.55 per cent a year in interest. The record low rate would be locked in for 10 years. Australia's inflation rate is currently 2.3 per cent. Although it will almost certainly fall in the wake of the collapse in oil prices when it is updated next week, the Reserve Bank has a mandate to keep the rate centred at about 2.5 per cent. That means that right now our government is being offered billions for next to nothing, billions for scarcely more than the expected rate of inflation. If Abbott was the chief executive of a company with good prospects he'd grab the money and borrow as many billions as he could without impairing his credit rating. In Australia's case that's probably an extra $100 billion. That's enough to build the long-awaited Brisbane to Sydney to Melbourne high-speed rail line, or to build Labor's original national broadband network, or Sydney's $11 billion WestConnex road project plus Melbourne's $11 billion metro rail project plus Melbourne's $16 billion East West Link plus something big in each of the other states. And it would cost next to nothing. All each of these projects would need is a positive real rate of return (which several of those listed above lack) and we would get ahead. All we would need is confidence in the worth of our ideas. It's rare to be offered money for nothing. It's happening because interest rates in the rest of the world have dropped to near zero. Japan's 10-year bond rate is 0.24 per cent, Germany's is 0.40 per cent, Britain's 1.54 per cent. Even in the United States, where the economy is improving, the 10-year bond rate is just 1.81 per cent. Without the ability to earn decent returns in the nations to our north, investors are flocking here and buying our government bonds. In order to get them they are prepared to bid down the rates we have to pay them to all-time lows. It mightn't last. In October, Reserve Bank assistant governor Guy Debelle warned of a "relatively violent" correction in bond markets. He said as soon as it looks as if interest rates will climb, the purchasers of bonds will demand much higher rates in order to cover themselves for what's likely over the next 10 years. The opportunity will vanish. If we are prepared to grasp it, there's no shortage of projects that would set us up for decades to come. In education, in health, in the delivery to railway lines into suburbs that are at present barely accessible - in all of these areas there are projects whose benefits would exceed their costs and exceed them by more than enough to pay the minimal rate of interest being demanded. Some are visionary. Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Saul Eslake says if Australia was to get serious about reducing its dependence on coal it would consider paying coal producers to close, and speeding up the commercialisation of battery technologies that would allow Australians with the next wave of solar panels to live off the grid. The risk is that bad projects would be chosen over good ones and the money wasted. Abbott himself provides reason for concern. Despite promising during the election to "require all Commonwealth-funded projects worth more than $100 million to undergo a cost-benefit analysis by Infrastructure Australia" his first budget funded scores of road projects without such approval. Some of the cost-benefit studies weren't even published, in others the figures were massaged to make them look better than they were. The Grattan Institute's John Daley suggests setting up an independent statutory authority along the lines of the Reserve Bank to vet proposals for spending big money. Its members would be appointed by the Governor-General for terms of five to seven years, it would report directly to parliament and would publish of all of its findings, complete with the assumptions behind them. He says even cheap money should be spent well. Could the Coalition grab the opportunity before it vanishes? There are some good signs. With help from the Greens it axed Labor's debt ceiling. Since taking office it has run up an extra $78 billion in debt. But it is unorganised, behind in the polls and a prisoner of some of the silly things it said about debt while in opposition. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It'll slip through our fingers.

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/low-10year-bond-rates-are-the-deal-of-the-century-but-abbotts-not-at-the-table-20150120-12tq4j.html

Check out the construction work being done upgrading roads to and near the new airport at Badgery's Creek.

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 21^st, 2015 at 7:16am:

Check out the construction work being done upgrading roads to and near the new airport at Badgery's Creek.

Someone obviously didn't read.

All Liberal PM's are infrastructure prime ministers: that is no-infrastructure.

A minimum 7% ROI guaranteed, 2.55% interest rate—lets stop pandering to Murdoch and build us a real NBN! FTTH I mean, not some fools paradise built on rotten Telstra copper or obsolete HFC!

What are we waiting for? An invitation? Let’s go!

Hopefully these economic conditions last until the next election, so labor can continue to build the true NBN, not the Malcolm Turnbull Mess.

Also, hopefully the NBN isnt "rolled out" in my area until labor returns so I get fibre to the premises.

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 21^st, 2015 at 7:16am:

Check out the construction work being done upgrading roads to and near the new airport at Badgery's Creek.

filling potholes is now building infrastructure ?  ;D ;D ;D ;D

Dnarever wrote on Jan 21^st, 2015 at 7:34am:

All Liberal PM's are infrastructure prime ministers: that is no-infrastructure.

This government have made some stupid infrastructure decisions.

No urban rail.

No high-speed internet access.

Why? To save money? Where's the cost-benefit analysis for cancelling these? There isn't one - these have been cancelled purely on ideological grounds without even a hint of independent analysis to justify the decision.

By cancelling these, the government has given Australia another decade of costly inefficiency.

We will see traffic gridlock in our major cities for another decade or more, with no Federal investment in rail alternatives to take cars off the road. Studies have shown that in large cities, the time taken for traffic journeys tends to be the same as the public transport alternative. The slower the public transport, the more people will use their cars "because it's quicker" until this is no longer true. This is why we need to invest in roads and rail, not just roads.

Australians - whose average internet speed is already ranked outside the top 20% and below that of several developing nations - are destined to see their internet speed slip further behind. Already the slow internet is constraining business growth and stifling new business opportunities.

Investment in these kinds of projects pay for themselves, especially with a 10-year bond rate of 2.55%. The current government clearly does not recognise this.

Infrastructure requires SPENDING - anathema to these grubs.

Infrastructure creates JOBS - also anathema to these grubs.

Infrastructure spreads WEALTH - totally against their ideology.

Abbott and Hockey are taking credit for projects that were proposed and funded by Labor.....The only infrastructure the Coalition is building is stuff nobody wants like their crap NBN!!!

http://www.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/coalitions-infrastructure-spending-how-much-is-new-20140512-zraap.html

http://www.afr.com/p/australia2-0/why_the_coalition_is_pouring_money_r5Fs06PHiAH5GGik3p3JXO

>:( >:( >:(

They cut Labor’s program of infrastructure building then announced the projects as theirs  :D

Just stopping the NBN FTTH rollout is going to be a brake on this country’s progress and prosperity!

I notice the village idiot is the only Tones supporter to have a go.

They still must be listening to the 12 hours of Tones policy ideas.

Surely this is the straw that breaks the camel's back? Because of their ridiculous mantra that all public debt is bad we are now missing out on the potential for BILLIONS in infrastructure. We are in a massive mining down turn at the moment - isn't it wise to borrow virtually free money and to get building back into the boom? Imagine fast tracking rail, road, port infrastructure; imagine what it would do to the economy! 

but no, the idiots have truly gone insane. As if they aren't trying to work out how to capitalise on this themselves, only for personal gain.

If you were being honest you would say that no govt has built serious public infrastructure since Labor started the Snowy scheme and Menzies finished it.

It's not some miracle policy failing that Abbott has suddenly discovered.

However, having said that, can you imagine the chances of getting any such plan through the present senate, with the Greens finding endangered species (excluding humans) everywhere and the ALP tightly focussed on denying the Coalition any runs before close of play.

bogarde73 wrote on Jan 21^st, 2015 at 10:11am:

If you were being honest you would say that no govt has built serious public infrastructure since Labor started the Snowy scheme and Menzies finished it. It's not some miracle policy failing that Abbott has suddenly discovered. However, having said that, can you imagine the chances of getting any such plan through the present senate, with the Greens finding endangered species (excluding humans) everywhere and the ALP tightly focussed on denying the Coalition any runs before close of play.

Why would you once again blame the senate? Has this even been PRESENTED to the senate, bogarde?  No, this mob hasn't even contemplated it!!!! 

And the point is that we actually have a chance to spend big on infrastructure, and this mob is letting is slide by us for some stupendous ideological reasons.  We should be angry bogarde, VERY angry indeed.  These buffoons are going to set us back decades.

sir prince duke alevine wrote on Jan 21^st, 2015 at 10:12am:

bogarde73 wrote on Jan 21st, 2015 at 10:11am: If you were being honest you would say that no govt has built serious public infrastructure since Labor started the Snowy scheme and Menzies finished it. It's not some miracle policy failing that Abbott has suddenly discovered. However, having said that, can you imagine the chances of getting any such plan through the present senate, with the Greens finding endangered species (excluding humans) everywhere and the ALP tightly focussed on denying the Coalition any runs before close of play. Why would you once again blame the senate? Has this even been PRESENTED to the senate, bogarde?  No, this mob hasn't even contemplated it!!!!  And the point is that we actually have a chance to spend big on infrastructure, and this mob is letting is slide by us for some stupendous ideological reasons.  We should be angry bogarde, VERY angry indeed.  These buffoons are going to set us back decades.

Why? Because I'm a realist not a dreamer.

bogarde73 wrote on Jan 21^st, 2015 at 12:13pm:

sir prince duke alevine wrote on Jan 21st, 2015 at 10:12am: bogarde73 wrote on Jan 21st, 2015 at 10:11am: If you were being honest you would say that no govt has built serious public infrastructure since Labor started the Snowy scheme and Menzies finished it. It's not some miracle policy failing that Abbott has suddenly discovered. However, having said that, can you imagine the chances of getting any such plan through the present senate, with the Greens finding endangered species (excluding humans) everywhere and the ALP tightly focussed on denying the Coalition any runs before close of play. Why would you once again blame the senate? Has this even been PRESENTED to the senate, bogarde?  No, this mob hasn't even contemplated it!!!!  And the point is that we actually have a chance to spend big on infrastructure, and this mob is letting is slide by us for some stupendous ideological reasons.  We should be angry bogarde, VERY angry indeed.  These buffoons are going to set us back decades. Why? Because I'm a realist not a dreamer.

you mean I'm dreaming if I wish for a decent government that's filled with politicians who actually have brains?

bogarde73 wrote on Jan 21^st, 2015 at 10:11am:

If you were being honest you would say that no govt has built serious public infrastructure since Labor started the Snowy scheme and Menzies finished it.

Rubbish ... labors NBN was serious infrastructure that would have served us for decades to come ... the current idiot PM stopped it .