SM That debt went a long way keeping us away from the depression that much of the world is in.
Abbott wants to create his own depression paying down debt in three years. The fourth year is spent trying to patch his image up so he can be elected again. To late he has already got the ars.
Why not over 10 years, and avoid depression.
Middle class welfare, won't win elections.

Daffy,

With Howard being the profligate spender as stated, one has to wonder how he managed, despite this, to turn a labour governments deficit which he inherited into an undeniable surplus. The present government inherited a robust and booming economy, and have turned this into an all time record deficit which our children will inherit.

You may not be concerned about this, but many of us are.

The younger generation are content to pay high credit interest to have instant gratification, while we older and wiser ones know it is not good fiscal management, and in the long run will cost them dearly.

I view this present government as setting an extremely bad example to these young people with their let's live on credit policy. Tomorrow will come!
So, do we bury our heads in the sand and allow debt to increase, or do we realise that it has to stop, and we'll have to bear the austerity needed to reverse this.
As I see it, these are the only two options.

Costello put the cogs in place for the debt reduction before Howard was there. Howard just rode on the mining boom.

Every so often, a real gem appears.

>>The present government inherited a robust and booming economy, and have turned this into an all time record deficit which our children will inherit<<

That IS funny. And a little sad.

Which rock have you been hiding under, worldwatcher?

Does the acronym GFC mean absolutely nothing to you? And if you have heard about it, do you actually know what it stands for? And if you know what it stands for, do you have the faintest clue what it means? And the impact it has had on the US, Europe, China etc., and world trade in general?

Clearly, not.

That was not, by the way, a Party political broadcast. I think this government is one of the weakest I have ever had the misfortune to have experienced. But still, to cast stones in that particular direction is plain daft - particularly as the Coalition has never, at any stage, offered a remotely workable alternative plan. In fact, all they have done is sit on the sidelines and chirp. No doubt secretly hugely grateful that they didn't have the problem on their plate. I hate to think where we would be if the grinning blimp had had control over the economy...

Julie Bishop has just enunciated what the next election will be all about. She is setting the tone for the election. In the coming months Abbott will re-inforce the coalition strategy. Positive policy, spending cuts and reduction of Canberra workforce.

The lefties here have used the defence the Gillard Government will use.

Three points:

The Government defence is not credible.
The Government will be defending.
Abbotts policies are and will be positive, funded and realistic.

-

Julianutter: the devil as always is in the detail. Of the three final points you make, what are the details exactly. Nothing, and I mean nothing, that Bishop, Hockey, Abbott et al have said so far inspires the remotest confidence and would lead any rational person to think they had the answers to anything.

If you have read Bishop's periodic contributions to OLO you would have less confidence. About the only sure thing one would know about the Coalition's foreign policy for example, is that they will faithfully carry out their instructions from Washington. This is not to say that Labor are any better, and I agree with Pericles that they would have to be one of the worst governments inflicted on Australia in a very long time. I don't mean that in a purely economic sense because the GFC made policy incredibly difficult and on balance, some spectacular fiascos notwithstanding, they did a reasonable job, as several international assessments have made clear.
Abbott will have to do more than prance around in speedos or a hard hat to persuade me to preference his lot anywhere single digits.