For those wanting some austerity - we still have $80 billion in state health and education budget cuts coming our way in 2017.

"They obviously want to be re-elected, & equally obviously, with the reaction to last years mild budget, would not have any chance of re-election, if they actually did anything as tough as we really do need."

You're right on the button there, Hasbeen.

This puts it even better....

http://www.theshovel.com.au/2015/05/13/hockey-postpones-budget-emergency-until-next-labor-government/

"Hockey Postpones Budget Emergency Until Next Labor Government"

"The Budget Emergency that has wreaked havoc on the Australian economy over the past eight years has been put on hold and will not be brought back until the Coalition is next in opposition.

“The Emergency has done a great job over these past few years, but we’ve come to a point where there’s no longer a need for it, at least not right now,” Treasurer Joe Hockey explained.

He said that while he could not find a place for the Emergency in this year’s budget, he had made allowances for its return in the future. “The Budget Emergency is there in the forward estimates,” he said.

Mr Hockey said the Budget Emergency had served the Government well. “I’d like to thank the Budget Emergency for the work it has done to date, and I look forward to working with it again in the future”."

Dear Graham,

I can certainly understand your consternation. This is a stimulus budget and if a large part of your mantra in opposition was about the waste of the last stimulus then I'm not sure where the 'wedded on' are going to hang their hat.

If you really think there is no place for stimulus spending now then I'm afraid you do not have much of a handle on the underlying small business economy, it is bloody bleak out there.

Whatever you think of the decision by the Coalition to so dramatically remove support for manufacturing in this country there is no denying it has not only served to feed the unemployment rate but also to trash business confidence. I have a fair bit to do with a diverse range of separate small businesses and it will be interesting to hear their take over the next few weeks. My suspicion is they will welcome the immediate asset write-off amount increasing to $20,000 (it should be noted that Hockey slashed it from Labour's stimulus amount of $5,000 back to $1,000 but now it seems it is back in flavour). They will also have a bit of time for a tax cut to small businesses but since so many are sailing very close to the wind at the moment it will not be a game changer.

I am in an area where several large manufacturing companies have shut down and several others are on borrowed time. As their workers tighten up trying to save as much as they can before the tap on the shoulder the squeeze it has put on small businesses in this neck of the woods is dramatic.

But you are right there is a difference between Rudd/Swann and Abbott/Gillard. The former did what they did in the belief that the GFC was going to wreak havoc on this country knowing, according to Bob Katter, it was probably going to end their political careers. The latter are doing it to save theirs.

Good luck.

No Rhrosty, it was a full blown heart attack. They had put one stent in after the first, opening up an artery that was 95% closed. I was lucky enough to be in town for that one, & just minutes from the hospital.

They had not put a stent in another that was 55% closed, as they thought it would be OK. I should not have waited 25 minutes for the ambulance before jumping in the car, as this was the one that did the damage. 20 minutes in the car would have been about 35 in the lumbering great 4 ton vans they are using today, & perhaps too long.

The doctor said another 10 minutes & I might not have made it at all. As it is now, a hundred meters walk is like a mile race for me today.

Abbott/Hockey, claimed to be a pair of economic gurus in opposition, but have proven themselves to be nothing more than economic gubers in government. The sad fact is these no ideas men have no plan, no direction, nothing what so ever mapped out for Australia's future. As Ross Gittins said in yesterdays SMH; "This is the budget of a badly rattled government that has put self-preservation ahead of economic responsibility".
Even the most sycophantic Abbott Government supporter must by now realise they were conned into voting for these ideologically driven conservatives, who if allowed to remain in office long term, can only reap even more havoc on Australia.