@nostrildamus said in Aussie Politics:

@antipodean said in Aussie Politics:

Judith Sloan

Thanks I could not read that as it was paywalled. Conservative, former board member of the Lowy Institute.

COVID: and now for some facts.

Effects of COVID-19 strains on the Australian economy

None of that is a rebuttal of her point. If you erroneously believe her (valid) criticisms of Dan's government are because she's conservative, then you've not been reading her withering critiques of Morrison's government, nor his predecessor Abbott. Here's an example:

There are 10 weeks until Scott Morrison delivers his first budget. We are in the midst of a fiscal mess, but it’s highly unlikely much will be achieved in terms of repairing the budget in the short run.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott now tells us he wears the 2014 budget as a badge of honour. Frankly, I wouldn’t bother buying a rosette. Not only did the 2014 budget fail to cut government spending immediately, it also contained some very dubious measures that were ill considered or inconsistent with the main message of repairing the budget.

The structure of the 2014 budget was preordained, and Abbott was hoist with his own petard when he told everyone before the election there would be no cuts to health, education, welfare and the ABC or SBS — pretty much everything given the commitment to increase spending on defence.

More:

But here’s the real worry: the Treasurer doesn’t seem to have any more clues than his three predecessors (Joe Hockey, Chris Bowen and Wayne Swan) when it comes to fixing the budget.

We are told the government believes in having a balanced budget across the course of the cycle, which was precisely Swan’s rule. But what cycle are we talking about? We have had uninterrupted growth for more than a quarter of a century, yet a budget surplus has not been recorded since 2007-08. Even on the Treasurer’s optimistic projections, we won’t achieve a budget surplus until sometime in the next decade, and it will be tiny and won’t last.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/judith-sloan/morrison-seems-to-have-no-better-idea-than-his-predecessors/news-story/31cfc3412efb05abde63d0eeb184a32f

Another:

It came as no surprise to learn the Morrison government has taken the coward’s way out and will not stand in the way of the compulsory superannuation contribution charge rising from this July, reaching 12 per cent in 2025.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/scott-morrison-caved-on-super-and-it-will-hurt-lowpaid-workers/news-story/08307da79fe161c3c1c84efb78f0a4a4

The Silver Fern

antipodean