lexi,
you are delusional. Of course polls don't trump policy. The trouble for labor is they have no credibility since they trashed the policy they presented to the electorate at the last elexction and their behaviour since has been to try to influence the monthly polls with what turne out to be atrocious or unfundable policy.

lol. Here is the current Australian definition of delusional:

Taking labor seriously or thinking people will take one seriously when they attempt to defend labor. It can be applied to anyone who attacks their opponants as liars, frausters or incompetents.

lol

Julia's nutter says;

"definition of delusional ... can be applied to anyone who attacks their opponants (sic) as liars, frausters (sic) or incompetents."

Precisely what Tony Abbott and Co. have been calling Julia Gillard and her government - liars, fraudsters and incompetents.

Ergo - Tony Abbott and Co. are delusional.

"Is there perhaps a double standard with regard to the political parties? Or women in politics?"

Well, you go on believing that if it makes you feel better. No doubt in forty years the same kind of people who now claim that Gough Whitlam was an economic genius will be telling us that Julia Gillard was driven from power by a sexist cabal of wicked men who couldn't stand her righteous denunciations.

Dream on...

The implacable labore supporter dear Alan comes out with some more malarkey.

His base point is that Swan's "measures' during the GFC served Australia well; they included giving everyone $900 to spend as they wanted, cash for clunkers and set-top boxes; in fact no expenditure by Swan had any lasting effect.

A comparison with China is revealing. China's GFC response was to increase Fixed Asset Investment [FAI]; Australia has done no such thing; the pink batts fiasco and the BER must be counted as monumental wastes of money while the NBN is already a white elephant which still has no cost/benefit analysis.

And this is the point. Labore is incapable of a measured, disciplined approach to anything; Swan's out and out LYING about the surplus and the size of the deficit illustrate this; Gillard is simply a conniver who promises things such as the NDIS with no realistic expectation of paying for it even with increasing the medibank levy, another broken promise.

Simply put Australia is doing well In Spite of the gross incompetence of this wretched government.

This government's "fiscal profligacy" is well illustrated by the size of the national debt which now stands at $258 billion:

http://www.aofm.gov.au/

It is irrelevant that this is 'only' a 1/3 of GDP or less than other nation's. Australia stands alone in terms of natural assets and any comparison with other nations is meaningless for that reason.

None of this will change dear Alan's crusade because he is a died in the wool labore supporter, even justifying the carbon tax which is the single biggest dud tax policy ever; and how clever dear Alan for Australia to tie our carbon tax with Europe's; what is the price of carbon there? And how clever was Combet to say the plummet of the carbon price was a good thing for Australia because it would cost Australian business less! What a lie.

And that's who dear Alan is defending: liars and cheats and incompetents.

But what a great nation Australia is; where anyone can get a platform to sprout rubbish.

There you go, on queue - cohenite is delusional as well.

lol

'Most data comes from tradingeconomics.com, Runner. Do you recommend other sources? Happy to read further. '

It would be a pretty good start for you to state how much money Australia had in the bank 5 years ago and how much debt we now have. Then it would be good for you to tell us what we have to show for the billions of wastage instead of quoting meaningless selective stats that try and hid Labours waste and incompetence.