JC Political Thread - For All Things Political Part 2

[burnz]

Surely they should have learned from the Workchoices legislation. It's good to learn from your own mistakes - awesome when you can learn from others.

Reaper

might wan't to inform barry o'farrel on that one.

 

[minux]

When I think about it now, it was a clever bit of politics.

Abbott knew that it had little chance in succeeding - Labor and the independants instantly screamed the house down about it, and thats what Abbott would have wanted. He wants to remind people that the ALP and co have no intention of seeking a mandate or letting the public have a say, and intends to constantly remind voters about Gillards lie and how he had the intention of seeking the public's opinion.

On the other hand, had Gillard accepted it, then it would have shut Abbott up for ages and given her breathing space and a chance for a backflip to negate her pre-election lie about the carbon tax.

Labor once again tripped up and played this very poorly for the amatuers they are.

Labor have own goaled on this one for sure.

I doubt Juliar will see out past Christmas to be honest. She is toxic, the brand is toxic.

 

[Reaper]

might wan't to inform barry o'farrel on that one.

No idea what you are talking about. Other than a massive landslide victory a few months ago I don't follow NSW state politics other than a passing glance.

Reaper

 

[minux]

No idea what you are talking about. Other than a massive landslide victory a few months ago I don't follow NSW state politics other than a passing glance.

Reaper

I think that statement by burnz was a unicorn statement. You know the type "look over there at the unicorn" to distract someone from the real issues at hand.

I really feel for incoming governments after the NSW Labor fiasco.

 

[Calaber]

No, I think Burnz was referring to O'Farrell placing a restriction of 2.5% wages growth on the public service for the next financial year. Labor are making big noises (well, as big as 20 Labor pollies in a parliament of 99 can make, anyway) about it being typical of the Libs and symptomatic of a return to Workchoices.

This State is broke, big time and O'Farrell was elected to fix it. Everybody will have to bear a bit of pain and public servants are no different.

I was a member of the NSW Public Service for many years and it used to amaze and disgust me, how much we were paid in annual increases, when state services and infrastructure were becoming more and more decrepit every year. It's time the NSW Labor movement and Public Service woke up to the fact that they had a gravy train running for years under Labor and the train has now stopped.

 

[MasterOfReality]

I left NSW in 2007 so never kept that close an eye on proceedings down there. I think Iemma was still the premier when I left.

How much has the public service in NSW grown over the last 10 years?

 

[Calaber]

I left NSW in 2007 so never kept that close an eye on proceedings down there. I think Iemma was still the premier when I left.

How much has the public service in NSW grown over the last 10 years?

I don't have figures but some departments grew substantially whilst others encountered cut-backs. Overall though, during the Labor term of 16 years,the cost of the Public Service salaries far outstripped the CPI. I can recall 3 year wage agreements of 4% per annum (ie 12%+ over 3 years), when the CPI was running at 3% or less per annum, and that was only over the past decade. Big wage increases for some PS sectors have been the norm for many years.

 

[Full Spectrum]

I agree, but lets face it. Its not really about the actual vote. Its putting pressure on Gillard...and its working.

I got to hand it to abbot on this one. he's hitting the right buttons with people on this. the pocket!. nothing gets in the way of a persons pocket. and he has played this perfectly well. can it last the distance ?, maybe.

Do you honestly think that it would get a "yes"??? I say bring it on. If he looses it'd be the end of Abbott. If Gillard looses then she will be in a lot of trouble. At the very least the public have a say on a tax which both major political parties had explicit policies against during the last election.

Reaper

Does it matter ?. neither party is going to give a giant back cave missile drop either way after the outcome. it's allways brought up "wasting money", this is nothing but a waste of money and my time. abbot has now committed to removing or no tax (even if formally in government backed it as the only way) so if he doesn't want it and wins the next election - he can remove it. the people will vote on it at the election like they did with work choices. once they got the chance they voted it down. same can happen with this once given the chance to vote.

 

[jules]

I don't have figures but some departments grew substantially whilst others encountered cut-backs. Overall though, during the Labor term of 16 years,the cost of the Public Service salaries far outstripped the CPI. I can recall 3 year wage agreements of 4% per annum (ie 12%+ over 3 years), when the CPI was running at 3% or less per annum, and that was only over the past decade. Big wage increases for some PS sectors have been the norm for many years.

in general, public servants, of whom i'm one, aren't well paid compared to the private sector. while we do get higher increases during low CPI (or LPI) periods, we don't get higher ones when LPI increases. so you're only telling half the story.

my experience is that the problem isn't with highly paid public servants, but lowly paid ones who don't want a real job and are just leeching off the public. the highly paid ones usually know what they're doing and get stuff done.

 

[jules]

the views of many posters here on tax are overly simplistic. look at greece, a country where people have taken a strong stand on tax - they just don't pay it. the govt over there has taken a soft line and not chased them up. instead, they have borrowed money to run the country. what could go wrong? oh.. they're now broke and can't get any more credit. the country is royally @$%^d.

maybe there's more to it than just "i doh'wanna a new tax"?