Chris Berg
This is about what you would expect from a libertine neoliberal ideologue but we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
His analysis of the various papers floating around the media as evidence in favour of the redistribution of wealth through the taxation system is cogeant and well expressed. His conclusions are risible.
Does reducing inequality increase economic growth? Questionable. Is it just, fair and desirable? Absolutely.
Picketty paints a bleak prognosis for the world economy of low growth - around 2% - well below the level required to create jobs and reduce unemployment, and that this is an inevitable reversion to historical levels experienced throughout history up until the anomaly which occurred between 1945 and 1970. We witness this occurring now.
He notes the extreme imbalance in the world balance sheet and P&L due to the black economy, tax havens and market-based subversion, and suggests increased transparency be imposed as a matter of urgency. A tax of 1-2% on all accumulated wealth is also recommended.
These things are not a huge imposte but will be fought to the death by the vested elites because the status quo is in their interest.
Our continuing dabble with unfettered free markets as the be-all and end-all of policy is frankly dangerous and inevitably leads to the obscene levels of inequality we now have.
Chris Berg might like to think about these things and write about them on the ABC rather than try to convince the ALP it is barking up the wrong tree.
Wednesday 29 April 2015
Monday 27 April 2015
There is a Principle Here
Paula Matthewson
Electoral reform needs to be about making the system more democratic.
At present you can vote, and manually allocate your desired preferences, only to have your preferences stollen and allocated to someone you would never vote for on a fit. This is undemocratic to say the least and in extreme need of reform. It amounts to a manipulation of the electoral system for the benefit of the major parties. Voters need to take back control of the system somehow.
Paula meanders about in this article talking about what effect everything has. That is all well and good (possibly a little bit overanalytical), but it's a smoke screen obscuring the main point of this discussion, which is that when a voter votes, the full expression of that vote, including stated preferences, should be allocated as the voter stated, not to anyone else.
If fulfilment of this principle has the effect of making the greens a mainstream party, or restricting the number of splinter parties in the Senate, or any other effect, that is how the system is supposed to work, as long as the defining principles of the system are followed.
The system as it stands is dysfunctional and needs to change. This article fails to point this out.
Electoral reform needs to be about making the system more democratic.
At present you can vote, and manually allocate your desired preferences, only to have your preferences stollen and allocated to someone you would never vote for on a fit. This is undemocratic to say the least and in extreme need of reform. It amounts to a manipulation of the electoral system for the benefit of the major parties. Voters need to take back control of the system somehow.
Paula meanders about in this article talking about what effect everything has. That is all well and good (possibly a little bit overanalytical), but it's a smoke screen obscuring the main point of this discussion, which is that when a voter votes, the full expression of that vote, including stated preferences, should be allocated as the voter stated, not to anyone else.
If fulfilment of this principle has the effect of making the greens a mainstream party, or restricting the number of splinter parties in the Senate, or any other effect, that is how the system is supposed to work, as long as the defining principles of the system are followed.
The system as it stands is dysfunctional and needs to change. This article fails to point this out.
Saturday 25 April 2015
Thanks ABC For Some Balanced Journalism
Val Noone
Bruce Haig
You won't find anything like either of these articles anywhere in the mainstream media for the simple reason that they are mythbustingly antimilitaristic and would be lambasted and discredited as unpatriotic. They both make valid points though.
I remember catching something about all this in high school but Val Noone brings it all back. OK, sure, it was just another trade war, but it was a trade war between world straddling empires, and everything began to change until the second part of it finished the job. It was always going to be messy, costly, and deadly, and as such must be remembered so that it can never happen again.
As to the supposed need for a nation to have a creation myth, we live in a time of internationalism. As noted previously on this blog, labour, the third factor of production, is finally internationalising, and this should herald the advent of the Keynesian/capitalist utopia and world government.
Indeed, one point of contrast between the first decades of the 20th and 21st centuries is the dominance of nationalist thought in the former and internationalist thought in the latter.
The Bruce Haig piece is a little harsh on our Bill Shorten. Bill hasn't shown his hand yet, and you won't see it until the coming election, but as I have said on theses pages. We are crying out for the imposition of a true leader, and we await his or her arrival.
With bated breath I might add.
Bruce Haig
You won't find anything like either of these articles anywhere in the mainstream media for the simple reason that they are mythbustingly antimilitaristic and would be lambasted and discredited as unpatriotic. They both make valid points though.
I remember catching something about all this in high school but Val Noone brings it all back. OK, sure, it was just another trade war, but it was a trade war between world straddling empires, and everything began to change until the second part of it finished the job. It was always going to be messy, costly, and deadly, and as such must be remembered so that it can never happen again.
As to the supposed need for a nation to have a creation myth, we live in a time of internationalism. As noted previously on this blog, labour, the third factor of production, is finally internationalising, and this should herald the advent of the Keynesian/capitalist utopia and world government.
Indeed, one point of contrast between the first decades of the 20th and 21st centuries is the dominance of nationalist thought in the former and internationalist thought in the latter.
The Bruce Haig piece is a little harsh on our Bill Shorten. Bill hasn't shown his hand yet, and you won't see it until the coming election, but as I have said on theses pages. We are crying out for the imposition of a true leader, and we await his or her arrival.
With bated breath I might add.
Friday 24 April 2015
Friar Tuck, The Robbing Hood and Barnie Rubble
Tim Dunlop
And Again
GoooooooTimDunlop
Tim Dunlop for PM now.
I'll print the bumper stickers, you start the campaign.
"on the way to becoming a police state"?
Depending on debatable definitions we may already be living on a police state.
This incompetent government will eventually pass, but unfortunately we must keep our cringe meter to the fore and tolerate these buffoons for now. Friar Tuck, The Robbing Hood, and now Barnie Rubble and his mining mates will continue to make a mess of everything, stealing the common good, and enriching the already rich, but there will be an eventual reckoning with the electorate, and a change of government, where hopefully a capable operator is installed.
We in the West were hoodwinked into electing Barnie Rubble, bequeathing him a state debt of three billion dollars in the midst of the most spectacular mining boom yet seen. After six and a half years the boom has turned to bust - as all booms eventually do - and the state debt has been ramped up to $ 30 BILLION. Yes folks that is a tenfold increase of the state debt in the space of 6 & 1/2 years. Six and a half of the richest years in the state's history, with royalties and revenues through the roof, and the mining companies ripping out and exporting untold riches which are gone for ever, these caricatures managed to debase the state's credit rating, increase the state debt tenfold and also actively prevent all of us from ever seeing a red cent for all of the riches-now-gone-for-ever, by preventing a tax being imposed on the mining companies.
It is economic common sense that you save during the good times, putting some money away in expectation of the turning. The Times have now turned Barnie and you manage the situation by crawling, cap in hand, to Canberra, with the other hand out in supplication begging for more revenue to squander.
Once the political times turn who ever wins will be hamstrung to implement any policy by the extreme scarcity of capital with which to do so. The choice will be to wait and save up for it, or acquire more debt with which to implement the policies in their first term.
The behaviour of these non-governments borders on criminal negligence and our system is set up to reward them for it.
And Again
GoooooooTimDunlop
Tim Dunlop for PM now.
I'll print the bumper stickers, you start the campaign.
"on the way to becoming a police state"?
Depending on debatable definitions we may already be living on a police state.
This incompetent government will eventually pass, but unfortunately we must keep our cringe meter to the fore and tolerate these buffoons for now. Friar Tuck, The Robbing Hood, and now Barnie Rubble and his mining mates will continue to make a mess of everything, stealing the common good, and enriching the already rich, but there will be an eventual reckoning with the electorate, and a change of government, where hopefully a capable operator is installed.
We in the West were hoodwinked into electing Barnie Rubble, bequeathing him a state debt of three billion dollars in the midst of the most spectacular mining boom yet seen. After six and a half years the boom has turned to bust - as all booms eventually do - and the state debt has been ramped up to $ 30 BILLION. Yes folks that is a tenfold increase of the state debt in the space of 6 & 1/2 years. Six and a half of the richest years in the state's history, with royalties and revenues through the roof, and the mining companies ripping out and exporting untold riches which are gone for ever, these caricatures managed to debase the state's credit rating, increase the state debt tenfold and also actively prevent all of us from ever seeing a red cent for all of the riches-now-gone-for-ever, by preventing a tax being imposed on the mining companies.
It is economic common sense that you save during the good times, putting some money away in expectation of the turning. The Times have now turned Barnie and you manage the situation by crawling, cap in hand, to Canberra, with the other hand out in supplication begging for more revenue to squander.
Once the political times turn who ever wins will be hamstrung to implement any policy by the extreme scarcity of capital with which to do so. The choice will be to wait and save up for it, or acquire more debt with which to implement the policies in their first term.
The behaviour of these non-governments borders on criminal negligence and our system is set up to reward them for it.
Thursday 23 April 2015
The Internationalisation of the Final Factor of Production
Jeff Sparrow
As usual, Jeff Sparrow contributes entertaining insight.
We are witnessing the final spurt to the Keynesian/Capitalist utopia where all material needs and many wants are available and accessible to everyone.
Financial capital has been moving across borders for centuries leading to the creation of multinational conglomerates of capital, which even threaten to displace nation/states as the ultimate source of sovereignty.
In the centuries-long conflict between human and financial capital the human element is now expressing itself in the demographic pressure across the edges of nations. Land borders are not defendable and sea borders lead to this sort of thing.
This is the beginning of a transition to world government and the Keynesian capitalist utopia.
As usual, Jeff Sparrow contributes entertaining insight.
We are witnessing the final spurt to the Keynesian/Capitalist utopia where all material needs and many wants are available and accessible to everyone.
Financial capital has been moving across borders for centuries leading to the creation of multinational conglomerates of capital, which even threaten to displace nation/states as the ultimate source of sovereignty.
In the centuries-long conflict between human and financial capital the human element is now expressing itself in the demographic pressure across the edges of nations. Land borders are not defendable and sea borders lead to this sort of thing.
This is the beginning of a transition to world government and the Keynesian capitalist utopia.
Of Political Leopards and Spots
Lewis and Woods
"Favouring the rich" is what conservative governments do. I know these guys are telephone pollsters but seriously, what else could anyone possibly have expected, knowing the colour of these guys' political stripes.
At the time of the last election I naively thought that the electorate was too intelligent to fall for the rhetoric of the LNP. I mean, OK the infighting and backstabbing of the ALP was pretty bad, to put it mildly, but the Gillard government had, what I thought was a good track record of consensus-driven progressive legislation even though a lot of it possibly was not progressive enough for my liking. Sure, the shock jocks were ranting against her, but really, that is what shock jocks do. Little did I know.
Superficially, these rantings were the misogynistic ravings of an alcohol affected boys club. Surely the electorate wasn't like that. No but it wouldn't tolerate disunity.
I suppose one could say that it has been interesting to watch all of this unfold. I might further characterise it as disheartening, even depressing, but the basic fact remains that the LNP never altered its stance one whit on any issue. Political leopards never change their spots.
Most of the commentariot has said that the change back to Rudd saved the ALP from annihilation but really the infliction of this non-government on us was a punishment for disunity and I think it possible, if not likely, that Julia Gillard may have beaten Friar Tuck in a fair fight.
We will never know, but this all speaks to the self-imposition of topical myopathy by voters, and the media is largely to blame. Yes it is the media which insists on a 24-hour news cycle, the reduction of every issue to a sequence of sound bytes on the television and the obfuscation of reality with white noise. No one forces them to. To write it off as simply an unavoidable byproduct of advances in IT is incorrect.
But that can wait for another post.
"Favouring the rich" is what conservative governments do. I know these guys are telephone pollsters but seriously, what else could anyone possibly have expected, knowing the colour of these guys' political stripes.
At the time of the last election I naively thought that the electorate was too intelligent to fall for the rhetoric of the LNP. I mean, OK the infighting and backstabbing of the ALP was pretty bad, to put it mildly, but the Gillard government had, what I thought was a good track record of consensus-driven progressive legislation even though a lot of it possibly was not progressive enough for my liking. Sure, the shock jocks were ranting against her, but really, that is what shock jocks do. Little did I know.
Superficially, these rantings were the misogynistic ravings of an alcohol affected boys club. Surely the electorate wasn't like that. No but it wouldn't tolerate disunity.
I suppose one could say that it has been interesting to watch all of this unfold. I might further characterise it as disheartening, even depressing, but the basic fact remains that the LNP never altered its stance one whit on any issue. Political leopards never change their spots.
Most of the commentariot has said that the change back to Rudd saved the ALP from annihilation but really the infliction of this non-government on us was a punishment for disunity and I think it possible, if not likely, that Julia Gillard may have beaten Friar Tuck in a fair fight.
We will never know, but this all speaks to the self-imposition of topical myopathy by voters, and the media is largely to blame. Yes it is the media which insists on a 24-hour news cycle, the reduction of every issue to a sequence of sound bytes on the television and the obfuscation of reality with white noise. No one forces them to. To write it off as simply an unavoidable byproduct of advances in IT is incorrect.
But that can wait for another post.
Sunday 19 April 2015
Stealing the Common Good
Paul Krugman
"Elections determine who has the power, not who has the truth"
You Can't argue with the truth of this statement, but this presupposes that there is only one truth: the truth. We all like to believe in a world of absolutes where such a thing exists, yet we delve into the media, innocently believing that we will be enlightened with it, but are hoodwinked not believing in myths.
"A better, more democratic answer would be to seek a better-informed electorate. One really striking thing about the British economic debate is the contrast between what passes for economic analysis in the news media — even in high-end newspapers and on elite-oriented TV shows — and the consensus of professional economists. News reports often portray recent growth as a vindication of austerity policies, but surveys of economists find only a small minority agreeing with that assertion. Claims that budget deficits are the most important issue facing Britain are made as if they were simple assertions of fact, when they are actually contentious, if not foolish."
Public education is a good topic. Conservative political elites who have gained power through devious means such as these are notorious for having as one of their core beliefs, the debasement of public education to produce a more malleable electorate, more easily fooled into electing incompetent assholes who are good for nothing but stealing the common good.
Briefly reported in the media this week was an Australian professor of economics displayed on tv saying words to the effect that the only good tax reform would be an increase or expansion of the GET.
This is so breathtakingly ignorant it beggars belief, yet it stemmed from the mouth of a teacher of economics at the highest level.
That is all for now. Read this article. It is a good one.
"Elections determine who has the power, not who has the truth"
You Can't argue with the truth of this statement, but this presupposes that there is only one truth: the truth. We all like to believe in a world of absolutes where such a thing exists, yet we delve into the media, innocently believing that we will be enlightened with it, but are hoodwinked not believing in myths.
"A better, more democratic answer would be to seek a better-informed electorate. One really striking thing about the British economic debate is the contrast between what passes for economic analysis in the news media — even in high-end newspapers and on elite-oriented TV shows — and the consensus of professional economists. News reports often portray recent growth as a vindication of austerity policies, but surveys of economists find only a small minority agreeing with that assertion. Claims that budget deficits are the most important issue facing Britain are made as if they were simple assertions of fact, when they are actually contentious, if not foolish."
Public education is a good topic. Conservative political elites who have gained power through devious means such as these are notorious for having as one of their core beliefs, the debasement of public education to produce a more malleable electorate, more easily fooled into electing incompetent assholes who are good for nothing but stealing the common good.
Briefly reported in the media this week was an Australian professor of economics displayed on tv saying words to the effect that the only good tax reform would be an increase or expansion of the GET.
This is so breathtakingly ignorant it beggars belief, yet it stemmed from the mouth of a teacher of economics at the highest level.
That is all for now. Read this article. It is a good one.
Saturday 18 April 2015
What a Good Turn of Phrase
Darrin Barnett
"But with polls out this week confirming Abbot and Hockey are doing laps of the toilet bowl, waiting for someone to push the flush button, Morrison might be singing to a different audience."
Need I say more?
Friday 17 April 2015
My Cringe Metre Has Settled Down Now
Greg Jericho
Well written Grog.
Barnie Rubble, our fearless leader here in the West, continues to show his true colours: blue LNP as you would expect.
After declaring bankruptcy so I could afford my anticringe medication, I nonetheless tried to be admitted to our fabulously expensive Fiona Stanley Hospital due to complications caused by my catching a glimpse of him on the news, only to find that the management contractor forgot to hire the specialist.
Well written Grog.
Barnie Rubble, our fearless leader here in the West, continues to show his true colours: blue LNP as you would expect.
After declaring bankruptcy so I could afford my anticringe medication, I nonetheless tried to be admitted to our fabulously expensive Fiona Stanley Hospital due to complications caused by my catching a glimpse of him on the news, only to find that the management contractor forgot to hire the specialist.
Saying Goodbye to Sovereignty
Mungo MacCallum
Always a good read is Mungo.
'"If anybody in this country doesn't minimise their tax they want their head read. As a government I can tell you that you're not spending it so well that we should be paying extra."'
I of course remember this episode as I am sure many people do. A good starting point. At the time I thought it was roughly fair enough and a good point. However, I only remember the first part, and tax minimization is what you pay accountants and lawyers to do for you isn't it?
The sarcastic ridicule which follows is truly a thing of beauty. But that just keeps you entertained.
What is so eloquently described here is a phenomenon noted by thought scoffers and future gazers for some time now. Essentially national sovereignty no longer exists. The legal frameworks and commercial process apparatuses set up by the lawyers and accountants, under the guiding principles of the neoliberal ideology, have created a world economy where every national government is at the mercy of the market. Sovereignty has become a meaningless concept and everybody seems to be happy with this state of affairs.
Thomas Pickety documents the long rise of Capital. He notes that the balance sheet for the world economy is permanently skewed because of the multiplicity of tax havens where wealth is secreted. He concludes, among other things, that much would be improved if transparency were imposed on the financial system. Then there would be nowhere to hide.
We await the world government.
Always a good read is Mungo.
'"If anybody in this country doesn't minimise their tax they want their head read. As a government I can tell you that you're not spending it so well that we should be paying extra."'
I of course remember this episode as I am sure many people do. A good starting point. At the time I thought it was roughly fair enough and a good point. However, I only remember the first part, and tax minimization is what you pay accountants and lawyers to do for you isn't it?
The sarcastic ridicule which follows is truly a thing of beauty. But that just keeps you entertained.
What is so eloquently described here is a phenomenon noted by thought scoffers and future gazers for some time now. Essentially national sovereignty no longer exists. The legal frameworks and commercial process apparatuses set up by the lawyers and accountants, under the guiding principles of the neoliberal ideology, have created a world economy where every national government is at the mercy of the market. Sovereignty has become a meaningless concept and everybody seems to be happy with this state of affairs.
Thomas Pickety documents the long rise of Capital. He notes that the balance sheet for the world economy is permanently skewed because of the multiplicity of tax havens where wealth is secreted. He concludes, among other things, that much would be improved if transparency were imposed on the financial system. Then there would be nowhere to hide.
We await the world government.
Thursday 16 April 2015
Not Yet Bill
Chris Berg
Because this guy is a right-wing ideologue. A highly intelligent and persuasive right-wing ideologue but a right-wing ideologue none-the-less. I've read his book on the history of free speech so I know all about him. Believe me, the point he sits on the political spectrum, makes that on which you sit look like a Gingin hippy festival.
It will therefore be to his interest that you reveal yourself early enough in the electoral cycle for his buddies to capitalise on the fact.
My apologies to Chris Berg but you have to call a spade a spade.
Because this guy is a right-wing ideologue. A highly intelligent and persuasive right-wing ideologue but a right-wing ideologue none-the-less. I've read his book on the history of free speech so I know all about him. Believe me, the point he sits on the political spectrum, makes that on which you sit look like a Gingin hippy festival.
It will therefore be to his interest that you reveal yourself early enough in the electoral cycle for his buddies to capitalise on the fact.
My apologies to Chris Berg but you have to call a spade a spade.
Demonstrably False Assumptions
Raja Janakar
Minimum wages need to be maintained at a minimum subsistence level and this level of income should not be taxed at all for anyone.
This country has been governed by conservative governments for too many years. These governments have seen fit to tax the poor to feed the rich and rely on what they term the "trickle-down-effect" to redistribute these through the rest of society. What a load of nonsense.
Based on demonstrably false assumptions, here is the evidence for this effect.
The only just and equitable policy is that stated above.
Minimum wages need to be maintained at a minimum subsistence level and this level of income should not be taxed at all for anyone.
This country has been governed by conservative governments for too many years. These governments have seen fit to tax the poor to feed the rich and rely on what they term the "trickle-down-effect" to redistribute these through the rest of society. What a load of nonsense.
Based on demonstrably false assumptions, here is the evidence for this effect.
The only just and equitable policy is that stated above.
Wednesday 15 April 2015
Leadership
Terry Barnes
"Above all, Lincoln believed in something greater than himself, and acted on his principles."
"With malice towards none, with charity for all"
Leaders have the ability to see what is right and to force or manipulate events to progress in that direction.
Can anyone see this characteristic in any of our "leaders"?
Or in any of the "leaders" of the political parties we are forced to vote for.
"Above all, Lincoln believed in something greater than himself, and acted on his principles."
"With malice towards none, with charity for all"
Leaders have the ability to see what is right and to force or manipulate events to progress in that direction.
Can anyone see this characteristic in any of our "leaders"?
Or in any of the "leaders" of the political parties we are forced to vote for.
Shirt-front Policies
Trisha Jha
Look at this. Another thought-bubble-non-policy produced by a shirt-front PM at the head of an idiotic government.
All this for maybe 3% of babies. Lots of budget savings there.
Look at this. Another thought-bubble-non-policy produced by a shirt-front PM at the head of an idiotic government.
All this for maybe 3% of babies. Lots of budget savings there.
Never Ever Again
John Baron
You have give it to them. The GOP is nothing if not resilient. After two consecutive defeats by the forces of the left, the far right-wing elements in American society continue to find expression. Putting a baby face on your candidate and dressing him up in verbiage about the changing of the generations increases your appeal to the youth vote, butt they are still far right ideologues with a far right view of the world and if they ever get elected again they will do irreparable damage to life as we know it.
Now that the hyperbole is gone. John is being a good journalist, writing a balanced piece, marketable but not really saying much. He implies that there is a ghost of a chance of the republicans winning. An objective observer would have to think that the tea-party-policies of the far right could never attract sufficient votes of a rational-cognitive electorate. But let's not be surprised ever again. The electorate in the US is a tiny proportion of the voting public, because the mere act of voting is not compulsory, so almost anything could still happen.
We in Australia are, right now, as the US did in the dubya years, experiencing the consequences of electoral complacency, and the assumption that the electorate (as distinct from the voting public) will act in a rational manner. The cringe quality of Friar Tuck is so reminiscent of that arroused by George dubya himself, that I have to take anti-cringe medication every time I watch the news. If we don't cringe we are tempted to succumb to fits of hysterical laughter, and/or outright ridicule.
Yet these are our elected leaders.
You have give it to them. The GOP is nothing if not resilient. After two consecutive defeats by the forces of the left, the far right-wing elements in American society continue to find expression. Putting a baby face on your candidate and dressing him up in verbiage about the changing of the generations increases your appeal to the youth vote, butt they are still far right ideologues with a far right view of the world and if they ever get elected again they will do irreparable damage to life as we know it.
Now that the hyperbole is gone. John is being a good journalist, writing a balanced piece, marketable but not really saying much. He implies that there is a ghost of a chance of the republicans winning. An objective observer would have to think that the tea-party-policies of the far right could never attract sufficient votes of a rational-cognitive electorate. But let's not be surprised ever again. The electorate in the US is a tiny proportion of the voting public, because the mere act of voting is not compulsory, so almost anything could still happen.
We in Australia are, right now, as the US did in the dubya years, experiencing the consequences of electoral complacency, and the assumption that the electorate (as distinct from the voting public) will act in a rational manner. The cringe quality of Friar Tuck is so reminiscent of that arroused by George dubya himself, that I have to take anti-cringe medication every time I watch the news. If we don't cringe we are tempted to succumb to fits of hysterical laughter, and/or outright ridicule.
Yet these are our elected leaders.
Friday 10 April 2015
oh no
Went to my first ALP Branch meeting last night.
Pretty cool.
Lots of heavy duty ALP faithful, lifetime members, union dudes etc.
And they are all around my age.
Mark Mcgowan, leader of the state opposition, MLA for Rockingham, and the next Premier of Western Australia, attended and spoke to us. We are in a seriously bad situation with the state economy and budget. I haven't been paying attention so I didn't realise how bad. The loss of our triple A credit rating, which I did hear about and commented on, pointed to a bad situation, but I hadn't realised it was a full blown crisis..
He said Barney was gifted with a $3 billion budget deficit on taking office and has so mismanaged everything since then that it has now blown out to $30 billion. Yes that is a tenfold fuckup in the space of six and a half years. These were years of prosperity. The price of iron ore was high. Large royalties were paid.
WHERE IS ALL THAT MONEY!!!???
I am angry. Aren't you?????
Pretty cool.
Lots of heavy duty ALP faithful, lifetime members, union dudes etc.
And they are all around my age.
Mark Mcgowan, leader of the state opposition, MLA for Rockingham, and the next Premier of Western Australia, attended and spoke to us. We are in a seriously bad situation with the state economy and budget. I haven't been paying attention so I didn't realise how bad. The loss of our triple A credit rating, which I did hear about and commented on, pointed to a bad situation, but I hadn't realised it was a full blown crisis..
He said Barney was gifted with a $3 billion budget deficit on taking office and has so mismanaged everything since then that it has now blown out to $30 billion. Yes that is a tenfold fuckup in the space of six and a half years. These were years of prosperity. The price of iron ore was high. Large royalties were paid.
WHERE IS ALL THAT MONEY!!!???
I am angry. Aren't you?????
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