Banjo,

The government is paying less than 3% on it's debt, and that will go down if there is further turmoil in europe.

The pink batts was proven to be a Coalition / media beat-up. You didn't read the results of the inquiry? It showed the deaths that occurred could not be attributed to the program, which had higher safety requirements than the State's. It also showed that the number of fires from new installations under the scheme was much, much less than fires from installations prior to the scheme.

We have one of the strongest economies in the world and one of the lowest debts in the OECD. All the key indicators are as good as they were under Howard when we were in the middle of an economic boom. Investment in mining, power etc is still continuing strong despite the fear campaigns about the carbon price.

And all of this with a minority government. I cannot see how Abbott/Hockey or anyone else could've possibly done any better

David,

Your comment "unless you can prove Gillard was planning to introduce a carbon tax, it is clearly not a lie, but a broken promise. I'm sorry, but if you think that is what constitutes a lie, you have a deficient understanding of the meaning of the word." is at best playing with semantics. The alacrity with which Juliar abandoned her solemn promise that both she and Swan made to the Australian public just prior to the election is evidence that the promise lacked any sincerity. Any further election promises she makes cannot be believed.

The government is paying about $7-8bn p.a. on its debt. The bond rate presently is an indicator of what bonds are selling at now, not what they sold for earlier. The NDIS could be funded just from repayments. And the only reason the country is doing well is because of the huge increase in demand from China, with tax revenues from mining increasing nearly 4 fold from 2007.

It is well and truly a fact, we have the worlds best treasurer.
Gillard and swan are a formidable team.
AU economy at an all-time high.
Retail trade was worth more than Chinese iron ore.
The Abbott and Hockey show, continues the negative approach and talking the economy down.
How can anything so negative be any good.
Abbott has not yet won a round.
Pledges in blood, crap, no, shat happens.
Overdue for another foot in mouth disorder.

Banjo wrote:

"I would not say Labor in general, but the last almost 5 years of this Labor government is the worst in my living memory and i can hardly wait to be rid of them.

"...

"The sooner this totally incompetent lot are kicked out the better."

That's the same mindset that caused Australians to vote for Howard in 1996 and look where that led us:

* Howard slashing and burning services in 1996 on the pretext of the "Beazley Black Hole".

* The attempt to break the maritime union in 1998.

* The "never ever" GST after the rigged 1998 elections.

* The illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003

* The privatisation of Telstra (http://pandora.nla.gov.au/tep/45522)

* "Work Choices"

* Destruction of the Commonwealth Employment Service

* The emsaculation of Medicare

* etc, etc

Whatever can be rightly said about the way that Julia Gillard is running the country, that doesn't give Abbott the right to romp in to office and inflict tyranny on this country again as Howard did in 1996.

It's time we questioned the choices presented to us at general elections and considered voting for alternatives, such as, for example, community independent Mark M. Aldridge from South Australia (http://www.markmaldridge.com - watch the broadcast - most impressive).

malthusista,

Both you and 579 seem confused about what is your opinion and what is fact.

e.g. "the rigged 1998 elections" really, have you any proof?

"The illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003" What law was broken?

What about the carbon tax lie, The schools halls incompetence, and the pink batts disaster.

Whine Swan being declared the worlds best treasurer is like me being declared the world's fastest driver while sitting behind the wheel of a Ferrari formula I car.

Mr Swan is the worlds best treasurer, stated by overseas financial economists.
Banjo and SM live in the past. Pink bats [ debunked ]
Au is in sound economic management.
The people of AU are not stupid as Abbott suggests.
Abbott doesn,t even trust the AU people with money. That is so far out of it, the man is a snake, and he wants us to bye his snake oil.
I will not be voting coalition, while Abbott, Hockey, and Bishop are anywhere in site.
We seen abbott's form when he was in Howard's team. Even Costello has no confidence in Abbott, an economic illiterate.
They will wreck medibank, if they ever get a chance.
Up GST, and decimate hospitals.
This has been the noalitions agenda for decades.