The reaction of Australia's media to Opposition leader Tony Abbott' Budget reply speech last Thursday was a surprise to some.
Observers familiar with Australia's economy would have noticed in the presentation several stated or implied falsehoods and other curious claims. And might have expected some criticism from the commentariat.
Well, not only was media reaction completely devoid of fulmination against the fibs, but it seemed none had even been detected. Somewhat bizarre.
So what were the problematic propositions? There were more than twenty. Here's a top 12.
1. "Our musicians, artists, actors and film-makers are making their mark all over the world."
Thanks to whom? Advancing the arts was a major focus of the Hawke-Keating years – resisted by the Coalition. Labor after 1983 boosted arts funding enormously with impressive results.
The Gillard Government has also revamped
support for the arts. The Coalition
opposes this also.
2. "The Coalition's Plan has two objectives: first, to take the budget pressure off Australian households."
This implies pressure has been put on. The opposite is true. Of course, many are struggling. But pressure on households has been reduced significantly.
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development recently reported on taxation around the world.
It
asserts that taxes on wages in Australia are now among the lowest in the developed world, with only five small countries taking less; households are paying less now than during the Howard years; and the biggest tax breaks have gone to the poorest.
Other pressures alleviated include interest rates and costs of imported products.
3. "Only by delivering a strong economy can government deliver a sustainable National Disability Insurance Scheme ..."
Implying Australia's economy is not strong now? In fact, Australia's economy was ranked 12th in the world in 2007. It is now clearly
number one. Switzerland and Canada are jostling for second. But no
economist disputes Australia's ascendancy – on virtually every measure.
4. "In the second line of this week's budget speech the Treasurer said that it was a budget for jobs and growth. In fact, unemployment increases and growth decreases."
The problem here – and an embedded difficulty throughout – is ignoring the global financial crisis. The GFC devastated economies worldwide. None was spared.
Average annual
increase in Australia's gross domestic product was 3.65% during the 11 Howard years. Then down to 2.44% under Labor.
But here's the thing: Australia's average through the Howard years was about the same as equivalent countries. The
USA averaged 3.04%.
Canada 3.3%. Some European countries were higher.
Luxembourg averaged 4.78%.
Then the GFC knocked the stuffing out of every economy – except one.
In the five years under Labor in Australia, growth has been 2.44%. But in the USA 0.54%, in Canada 0.94% and Luxembourg 0.52%. And the
Euro Zone negative 2.3%!
Economists around the world regard this as a major pointer to the Australian Government being the world's best
economic manager. Mr Abbott should not claim the opposite.
5. "That's why good governments are at least as careful spending the money they hold on trust from the people as you are when making decisions that affect your family's budget."
Only twice has there been careless spending in Australia's history, according to a January
report by Harvard economist Dr Paolo Mauro and others, published by the International Monetary Fund.
They examined 200 years of finances in 55 countries and found two periods of "fiscal profligacy" in Australia – both during the Howard years. None since.
6. "This government has [made your life harder] with its … skyrocketing debt."
Australia's borrowings, according to many independent analysts, are at the right levels for the times.
New York-based Moody's international credit rating agency reassessed Australia's economy after last week's Budget.
"Consolidated government debt is still low compared to other Aaa-rated countries at well under 30% of GDP," Moody's stated. "Australia's relatively low level of government debt has been one of the factors supporting the Aaa rating."
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