Hi Rosie,

This is excellent! Great article.

What is the specific information you have been chasing that you cannot access?

Do you subscribe to the monthly updates from the Minister for Finance?

http://www.financeminister.gov.au/media/2013/mfs-february-2013.html

Which spreadsheets from the ABS do you find most useful?

And did you know you can get Australia's monthly employment figures earlier than the ABS releases them in Australia by going here:

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/australia/unemployment-rate

Thanks, Rosie. AA

Yes, good sentiment Rosie.

A good start would be a more regular and honest analysis of employment levels, as if the current unemployment figure is accurate.

Great article Rosie. Thanks for pointing us to the BudgetAus website.

Well, Not too much! And thanks for the links. I do know we pay far too much welfare, as welfare for the rich. And not enough on defence, if we are serious about self dependant defence.
I also know we simply don't collect enough tax to meet our social responsibilities, and from now on, with virtually every budget, the structural deficit simply must now grow larger!
If however, we eliminated all the welfare for the rich, Around 26 billion all up, if you include negative gearing, which by the way, seems peculiar to Australia; and means tested all publicly supplied service, including education and health. We'd create sizable surpluses, even with a decent self reliant, (doubled) defence budget.
I do know how we can increase our budget enormously, while simultaneously stimulating the economy, all while simultaneously eliminating compliance costs, which rip on average around 7% from the bottom line.
When one considers some industries are barely breaking even or merely treading water, on around 3% margins, Farmers, supermarkets restaurants, it's not hard to see an additional 7% added to the bottom line, would have a massive effect!
All made possible by simply by eliminating all avoidance. I think I've explained the mechanism?
We play host to a number of multi nationals, with annual budgets bigger than many sovereign nations. Some, around 40%, pay no company tax to anyone!
Others have invented creative schemes which see their real company tax rate vary between 1-4%!
A simple stand alone unavoidable expenditure tax changes all that, and set at 4.8%, increases the average tax take by around 25%!
The accompanying repeal of all other tax measures lifts the bottom line by as much as 30% and increases household disposables, by around 25%!
Which translates into increased savings/increased discretionary spending/and or, a non contributory 15% super immediately doable!
Rhrosty.

Whats always astounded me is the appointment of state & federal treasurers. Any business owner intending to stay afloat more than na few hours chooses a beancounter with qualifications, ability & experience commensurate with the business in question. Obviously state & federal finances constitute a pretty big business, so why do we allow numbskulled clowns who are invariably incapable of handling the money collected at a charity chook raffle to get their grubby paws on hundreds of billions of taxpayer money ?? A couple of times in recent years around federal budget time, I've stumbled across a government website which allowed people to create their own federal budget, and each time I've done so, I've not only cleared the national debt within 15 minutess but have so much money left over that income tax, GST & a whole raft of taxes can be dispensed with. Note that I have no financial / accounting qualifications whatever, nevertheless if a total novice can 'fix' the economy in a few minutes, why can't clowns like the dying duck figure that continuing to spend more than one earns will inevitably end up in financial faeces.