perceptions_now wrote on Jul 26^th, 2013 at 11:27pm:




hey perc?.... has your life worked out exactly as you planned it 40/50 years ago?????..

I am not sure how anyone plans for "earthquakes".that may or may not happen in their lives.. but you must have done.

People need to realise that only the Coalition can effectively manage economy. Which party was it that repayed the $96 billion of debt they inherited, and left their successors with a surplus of $22 billion, which would then only be wasted on failed schemes like the BER and home insulation disaster?

buzzanddidj wrote on May 20^th, 2013 at 8:54am:

What do we thing that dropping revenue will do to projected targets ??

And what do we think the budget impact will be from Abbotts over $100 Billion of unfunded spending before considering his unfunded plan to build multiple cities in the far north is considered all occurring with a dwindling income base?

longweekend58 wrote on Jul 27^th, 2013 at 2:48pm:


You assume too much, as usual! A solution, for everything, there is NOT!

As usual, you statements do not reflect the truth! I have no problem with Debt, Spending Cuts or Economic Stimulation measures, in the appropriate circumstances, of which there have been many, over the years, BUT NONE OF THEM WILL WORK NOW, FOR THE SHORT TO MEDIUM TERM, as the entire system has been destabilised over the last 40-50 years!

http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/18164803/labor-razor-gang-faces-dilem...

The Federal Government is facing a budget dilemma, with the ABC learning revenues are around $8 billion lower than the May budget predicted.

The Government's razor gang met this morning to debate whether to implement painful budget cuts before the election or delay the return to surplus, currently scheduled for 2016-17.

The budget is in a tough position with the mining tax underperforming and revenue from other taxes also lower than expected.

Treasurer Chris Bowen today said Australia was also facing "dramatic reductions" in its terms of trade, but reaffirmed the intention to return to surplus on schedule.

The Government has got decisions to make on any potential cuts, but insiders insist the easy cuts have all already been made.

One Labor source questioned whether the Government should cause budget pain for the public at a time when Labor is just starting to perform better in the polls.

The Government will release its fiscal update next week, and Treasury will release its own accounting, the pre-election fiscal outlook (PEFO), early in the election campaign.

Earlier Friday, Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey questioned the motives for the release of the Government's fiscal update so close to the PEFO.

"Why is the Government releasing a comprehensive economic statement just a few days before the pre-election fiscal outlook? It is about trying to bully the Treasury into a fixed set of numbers," he said.

Mr Hockey questioned the independence of Treasury by saying the Coalition would not rely on its figures to frame its policy costings because they could not be trusted.

That was despite earlier in the year saying "the only numbers than we can rely on are the PEFO numbers released by the heads of department during the course of the election campaign".

Mr Hockey now says every time the Government publishes budget figures they are "dead-set wrong".

He says the Coalition will instead base its policy costings on figures from the Parliamentary Budget Office, state Coalition governments and independent advisers.

The Treasurer has rejected Mr Hockey's assertions about Treasury's independence.

"It is an insult not to me but to the Treasury and the Department of Finance, and I am sick and tired of the Opposition trashing the reputation of Australia's public servants," Mr Bowen said.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has backed his treasury spokesman.

"Joe was making the point that figures from this Government have never turned out to be true; never, never, never starting from their very first budget."