What are your thoughts on the performance of the Rudd government so far?

Excellent, my thoughts exactly Banks_vz. I'm currently an apprentice, i don't earn much but i earn enough, and in four years time i'll be earning quite a hefty salary. I don't really want to look forward to having to pay a hefty portion of my income to help the random bludgers roaming around town - that's looking into the future - labor should try it

 

Lateral Thinking?

I find this thread very interesting reading.

First, let me be honest. I have voted ALP more than Liberal over the course of my life. I can convince myself that sometimes my ALP vote was defendable in hindsight. However, other occasions such as the days of EGW, I can only be embarrassed at my stupidity.

IMHO, there are a major myth regarding the ALP:

The ALP is the party that looks after the battler. In fact, ALP policy tends to look after the worker, probably because of their union power base. If you do better by the worker, then business does worse. Business then hires less workers. So the chardonnay set increase social welfare so that they don't have to feel guilty. Oops, that puts taxes up, and slows the economy. What! Less jobs again. In my time as a voter, I have noticed that unemployment does worse under a federal ALP government than a coalition.

For all the whining be generation whatever, it is worth noting that housing affordability is not the worst ever. It is just the worst for the last twenty years. People had it tougher in the first half of the 1980's.

Back when I started on the path to be a capitalist pig (or was that chauvinist pig? - my memory is fading), I had to work two jobs. I worked as a bouncer while I put myself though university. After graduation, I continued that work as a second job for two weeknights and the weekend just so I could get ahead.

Then I decided to buy a house. Well guess what? To get any loan, I needed at least 15% of the purchase price, with a sound savings history with a building society over a couple of years at least. That would have given me a loan at 17%. I could not afford the repayments at 17%.

The other option required 30% cash available with at least a four year saving history with a bank. That gave me a loan at 13.5%.

So for four years, I worked two jobs, scimped and saved and went without. When I got my loan, there was no living standard shock. I had been doing without for four years already.

IMHO, there are those in the younger generations who want everything, and they want it now. A successful economy run by the Howard government actually gave them some apparent chance of getting it. Just consider the $95B government debt cleared (who remembers the recession we had to have", the $220B government liability for superannuation that is now funded, and the various future funds that have been created. Here was a government putting money away in good times so that the bad times would be less unpalitable. Give credit to the mining boom too, but remember that Hawke/Keating yelled long and loud about the resources boom in their day but spent the money before it eventuated, hence huge government debt.

The ALP successfully played on the fears of voters that they might be missing out on the good times. "If things were so good, why am I struggling." They would think.

Well, HELLO!!!! Even good times require effort, and it is not all plain sailing. In fact, I would suggest that in good times, I have been worse off than in bad times. I have had a lifetime of good reliable income, and in bad times was able to take advantage of bargains and low interest rates that might be available. My personal situation was not so good in the good times.

No, IMHO those who benefit in good times are those who miss out in bad times. Those who lose their jobs during recession. Those who want to work, but can't get a job when unemployment is high.

So I think that the current government successfully played on the selfish sentiments of many voters who could not understand why they were still struggling when things were supposedly so good.

What has Rudd done so far. Other than irritating symbolic gestures, he has reversed workchoices. What will be the result of that? Well, under the "worker-friendly" laws introduced by Hawke/Keating, employers decided to hire casual/part time employees wherever possible. Under workchoices, the number of full time jobs soared as a percentage of jobs created. What has happened since the dismantling of workchoices became apparent? Well about 80% of the new jobs being created are casual/part time. Those in jobs will be OK. Those entering the workforce will struggle to find full time work. That will help them buy houses, etc.

I hate it when business takes unfair advantage of their workers. But I also understand that business will not hire someone unless they think they can make money from it. Thus I predict a lot less full time jobs being available in the foreseeable future. The unemployment rate might not suffer too much in the short term because you only need to work a few hours a week to be classed as employed.

Thus my view of the Rudd government so far is that the only thing of note that they have done has been to take strong action to generate a them and us battle for full time jobs between the generations. The young kids of today will pay dearly for this for a while now. Not as bad as the days of EGW, but not looking good.

Sorry for the long post.

 

I guess there is one possible upside. A bloody good wake up call for all the Generation Y whingers out there...

 

I didn't vote for rudd (nor Howard...didn't matter I live in a Labour stronghold).
All I wanna know is what he does to curb inflation, then I'll see if he gets my vote.

I earn a decent wage and it'll be increasing in the job I'm in. Thats why you invest wisely and offset your tax. Thats how smart rich people do it....mind you I aint rich.

 

Ya nailed it banks:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

IF ALL THE LIBERAL VOTERS WANT TO MOVE TO AMERICA, PLEASE DO......

THAT IS WHAT AUSTRALIA WILL BE LIKE UNDER YOUR RULE.

THE POOR GET NOTHING, CRIME IS HIGH, EVERYONE PAYS FOR WHAT THEY WANT.

$100 to see a doctor, $100,000 - $200,000 to go to uni, bumbs sleeping everywhere on the street. You will probably have health insurance, but will still have to sell the house if you have a heart attack. Their economy is doing real well to.........

 

If you are so concerned about the underprivileged in this country, why don't you use your investment shares to help them, rather than buy a SV5000 or 5th Anniversary HSV

 

I work so I can buy what I want. I would prefer my tax help others have the same opportunity.

 

Well thats not very socialist is it?

 

Mmm your dreaming:bang::bang:.

 

A good social security system helps the economy, not make it worse. As seen throughout the world.

 

I had an interesting conversation with an underground miner a few years ago.

Being a good unionist, and Labor party supporter, he was of course a self declared socialist.

I overheard him talking to his mates about one of his investment properties and how he was having difficulties finding a tenant.

I casually said "Being a good socialist, why don't you rent it out for $50 a week, or even for free, so you can help your fellow man"

Of course, all of a sudden all those socialist principals didn't apply to him in this situation. Goddamn hypocrite. Also, earning $120k a year also didn't look good when he bleated socialism.

Like I said before, most of the Labor party supporters are just claytons socialists. They like to sit around and talk about it because its the in thing to do, but when it comes to the crunch, they choose capitalism every time.

 

At least they know how to run an economy, Howard's policies achieved some pretty damn good levels economically speaking...with unemployment only around 3-4% that is damn good....Labour has been proved to be a joke when it comes to managing the economy...The current Rudd government is full of ex unionists...unions who could wreck a business in seconds...Leave the managing of an economy to businessmen who happen to make up a great deal of the Liberal party

not saying that Liberal are perfect...

but...

 

:whistling :wax:

 

Your a farking dreamer:bang:kids will just buy 750ml bottles or buy more drugs because they are cheaper.**** when I was 18 I never bought cans,it was always a 750ml bottle and 1 or 2 bottles of coke:thumbsup:

There is always going to be racial hatred not because of there color(**** some are whiter than me)but while they get hand outs and get **** given to them for nothing.They even get money for the school canteen,does the government give that to my kids.NO:bang:,Then you got the new cars,**** they dont work so how do they afford that???
Be a realist go and buy a house next to them and then come back and tell me how you feel
And why should they say sorry??them kids could have been killed,raped and bashed.Most got brought up and brought up well

 

Rudd is doing fine by me.

Some polices will take time and some will work short term, Some long term.

It's more a wide spread of polices and cut backs then just a single cut back.

Some things hurt me directly some benefit me overall I'm 45-55.. But I'm not alone the country is being hit by hard times and hard decisions need to be made for a better future. We might all be suffering but we suffer in different ways. And you find more and more it's every person for themselves.
Unless you count the same old same old groups with there foot soldiers who dredge up quotes form the same BS bottomless pit they did last year:whistling

Once i spoke of higher food prices and was howled down for it with a poor excuse of high inflation being the sole cause. This has been proven to not be the sole reason behind it when you compare food prices to inflation around the world we are 30-50% higher And we all have high fuel prices and higher overheads the same as they do,
Greed is number 1 reason, And all this impacts in the long run on us.
Some things put in place will help but again it's long term, But I'm sure in 5 years we will see more supermarket chains open across the country because of it. With a much greater time to establish themselves better for competitiveness in an area of no competitiveness right now.

I have been on this forum for bloody years. And all i here is get a better job stop moaning about your **** pay and get a better education. It's assumed that "poorer less better off people" are whiners and moaners or some like to use my colourful language to describe them.
When in fact it's the "more better off people" That do nothing but whine and moan all the time about money and little pedantic things that affect there fun, Such as alcohol tax,
Which is hypercritical when they complain if someone wants a better weekly wage.
Which I'm sure they make sure they get every cent extra they can.
It's only natural to try harder to earn more it;s just some look down on others for doing it, When they see them as useless or hopeless for not doing better then some ****ty job they have they look down on them because it pays ****. and they assume they don't work hard.

 

:whistling :wax:

 

It's probably the rich that turn to drugs more then the poor.

I'm sure if a study was done you would find more financially better of people abuse a substance "illegal or not" more on a regular bases.