freediver wrote on Nov 15^th, 2007 at 1:20pm:


It's got nothing to do with that.  Unless he is a complete moron he knows the surpluses will dry up under Liebor and he won't have the bucks to spend.  Simple economics.  He is predicting the recession we will have to have under a Liebor government.

freediver wrote on Nov 16^th, 2007 at 9:45am:


I'm not sure if you are aware that the government only has the money the economy generates.

In a recession brought on by a Liebor government they wouldn't have much to spend on anything but their mates.  In the prosperity created by a coalition they can afford to support Australians who need the support.

It is all about how big the pile of cash the government has.

freediver wrote on Nov 16^th, 2007 at 7:48pm:


I think you think the hand outs come first.  The income does.  And that comes from a strong economy.  There is nothing to hand out once you have buggered the economy (hence Kevvum's reluctance to make promises he knows he can not keep).

If Liebor get their snouts in the trough the economy recedes, the handouts stop anyway.

cautious connie wrote on Nov 17^th, 2007 at 5:56pm:


If indeed it was pork-barrelling as you claim it wasn't very enthusiastic.  Only a little over 3% was approved against the recommendations of the appropriate departments.  And as the regions themselves are delighted at the efficacy of the program, Simon Crean's intention to scrap it is one more reason the average punter should support the government and the wonderful Johnny.  For some projects there is no other source of funding - this program is a marvellous example of this government's commitment to the regions.

But Liebor will ensure millions are not directed towards the regions.  I guess they need the money for their Liebor cronies.

freediver wrote on Nov 18^th, 2007 at 2:42pm:



As the coalition holds more country (regional) seats it is axiomatic that more funds will go to coalition seats in a regional fund scheme.  In fact as the federal government hold far more seats than Liebor anyway (due to 2004's landslide win), they can't help but have sitting members in more seats dude.

Mark Vaile made the following statement in response to the outcry from the chronically dim who oppose all forms of support to country folk.

Quote:

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Report of regional funding 'damning' of Govt spending
By chief political correspondent Chris Uhlmann

Posted Thu Nov 15, 2007 8:15pm AEDT
Updated Thu Nov 15, 2007 8:28pm AEDT


In the hours before the caretaker period for the 2004 election began, Nationals MP De-Anne Kelly approved 15 projects in the Regional Partnerships program. (ABC TV)
At the worst possible time for a Government trailing in the polls comes an alleged scandal with echoes of Labor's Ros Kelly whiteboard affair in the 90s.

Again it involves suggestions of federal grant money being spent to win key electorates, and again there's a Kelly at the centre of it.

This time it's Nationals MP De-Anne Kelly and what may have been the most productive half hour in her whole political career.

Between 3.25 and 4.04 in the afternoon of August 31, 2004, the then parliamentary secretary for Transport and Regional Services approved 15 projects in the Government's Regional Partnerships program.

An hour later the caretaker period for the election kicked in.

That is just one of the revelations in a damning Auditor-General's report on the program.

The massive three-volume, 1,200-page report picks apart the first three years of a controversial program which handed out $327 million to more than 1,000 projects, ranging in size from $2,000 to $11 million.

It finds the program fell short of acceptable standards of public administration.

This is the latest hurdle the Coalition will have to jump as it tries to track down a front running Labor Party with the election just days away.

The Opposition's spokesman for regional development, Simon Crean, has seized on the report.

"It's a damning indictment of the way in which the National Party and the Government have used the Regional Partnerships program as a blatant pork-barrelling exercise just before an election is called," he said.


Coalition seats

Minister for Regional Services Mark Vaile defends the program.

"The electorates in regional Australia are mostly represented by Coalition members, well not mostly, but I mean the majority of electorates in regional Australia are represented by Coalition members," he said.

"A significant number of those are the disadvantaged electorates across Australia, the ones with, for example, the lower-level household incomes in them.

"This program is about strengthening local economies, providing job opportunities, strengthening the social fabric in those communities and it's an incredibly important program to ensure that that takes place and that the prosperity we have in this country is directed in that way.

"Now, we have approached this with a very open mind. My Department has worked very closely with the ANAO (Australian National Audit Office) as they've undertaken this report so we can continue to improve the program."

The Auditor-General agrees with the Minister on one point - that the majority of eligible electorates at the time were represented by the Coalition. But the report goes on to say that Labor electorates were under-represented.

Its analysis shows the ministers were more likely to approve funding for projects that had not been approved by the Department if they were submitted by applicants in Liberal and National electorates.

And they were more likely to knock back approved projects in Labor seats.

Mr Crean says the process is unacceptable.

"They've rushed through, just before the last election, a whole string of programs," he said.

"A number of them, according to this report, and I haven't seen the final number, but they were done against recommendations.

"Clearly this is the pork-barrel mentality of the National Party. We've drawn attention to this criticism before. We've called for urgent recommendations for change to the way the program's administered it; the Government's ignored it.

"The Parliament has recommended certain things, now the Auditor-General's report is damning in the extreme at the way in which this has been run."


No apology

Despite the findings, Labor is not calling for the program to be shut down, but Mr Crean does want the Minister to apologise.

However Mr Vaile is not about to do that.

"The Department accepts all the recommendations in the report and many of those have been implemented," he said.

"For example, we've already made major changes in the program by establishing a ministerial committee to make funding decisions, centralising the assessment of projects in Canberra, to improve the consistency of decision-making and revising the programs guidelines to make them clearer and much more transparent.

"So, a lot of the suggestions, a lot of the improvements that the ANAO talks about, have actually already been implemented."

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd is on the campaign trail in North Queensland and knows a gift when he sees it.

"The Auditor-General, in a three-volume, 1,200-page document, has produced an indictment of a Government which has become arrogant and out of touch in its use and abuse of taxpayer funds," he said.

"Mr Howard must today accept responsibility for the arrogant abuse of this $328 million program.

"Secondly, Mr Howard must today explain to the Australian people how this abuse of such a massive amount of taxpayer dollars occurre

deepthought, no he does not have to get his story straight.
Just say what anyone wants to hear at that time.