Paul,

A couple of things that will go over your head.

1. Yes the nation debt exploded un the last Liberal Government. But remember almost all of that was to pay for the ludicrous lockdown policies which the ALP fully supported and indeed demanded even more of and which people like Paul were fully in agreement with. It was only after the bills became due that they got prissy about it.

2. 40% (and growing) of the national debt is down to the states and this exploded in recent years since the ALP gained control of state governments. This is especially so as regards Victoria under Chairman Dan where fiscal prudence was a dirty word.

3. Somehow Howard's surpluses were due to sheer luck while Chalmer's surpluses were due to his superior skills. No bias there.

4. "Howard happened to be in office during relatively good economic times". Yeah, like the Asian Financial Crisis!!

"Pauline Hanson and Clive Palmer."

Paul seems fixated on these two. He seems to have a thing for Pauline - the name perhaps?

Neither has a the slightest chance of making any real contribution to the next parliament but they fill Paul's waking hours - and I suspect most of his nightmares.

But laughingly Paul seems to think Hanson's policies are the same as Trump's showing that he, Paul, understands neither.

The two parties now seem to have decided that housing policy is the main game and the issue that fixates the Gen Z and Millennial crowd who, its assumed, care more for their own welfare than they do for the welfare of the nation.

Consequently both parties are throwing all sorts of goodies at these people to try to convince them that they can resolved the so-called Housing Crisis without actually doing the things needed to resolve the faux crisis.

One of the main causes is immigration. Bring in 500,000 new people and you have to find accommodation for them. Building new housing for half that number and, hey presto....crisis. Reduce the number of immigrants reduces the crisis. But neither side is really addressing that, although the Libs have made some half-hearted assertions they'll do some cutting on immigration.

But remember both sides like immigration. Without it, the current government would have been in almost permanent recession, The Libs like new immigrants because business likes new immigrants who provide both new consumers and new workers to keep wages low.

So the one main measure that will address the Housing Crisis is the one measure that's off the table. And therefore we get all these quick fixes to paper over the problem and convince the Millennials that answers are sought.

Smoke and mirrors.

The country's in the best of hands.

The country's in the best of hands.
maze,
Don't give up your Day Job to pursue a career as a Comedian !

There are some champion wafflers here !
I think it is impossible to get government building the number of
houses needed in any reasonable time.
Ask them how they are going with their 22000 solar panels a day.
Now there is a very simple job. Not a bloody hope of doing it.
They just do not understand how difficult it is to get big projects up
and running, so they just blurt it out !
Want half a million houses, no a full million, thanks.
If I was doing the job,(1st I would refuse it);
but there are a few preliminaries;
I would stop immigration, except for building tradesmen from the UK.
They would need little adaption to Australian regulations and rules.
I would advertise for building tradesmen in other countries.
I would call for tenders for the type of small portable houses which
are built in a factory and available today and for a few hundred of
them to be installed somewhere outside of cities and make them
available for young couples who have signed up for a government house.
When their government house becomes available they would then move.
In that time they might have 1 or 2 children which they would have
otherwise put off.
This one factor would be a great advantage to society.
As I see it now, the government of either flavour are completely out
of their depth.

Trumpster please keep up on events;

"Renegade senator Pauline Hanson has bucked her parliamentary colleagues, backing the Trump administration’s move to up-end global trade policy and slug Australia with sweeping aluminium and steel tariffs."

"Despite bipartisan condemnation of the trade barriers, the One Nation Leader endorsed the controversial levies, and said she supported Mr Trump’s push to “protect American industries and manufacturing and jobs in America”

Like you mhaze, Hanson is un-Australian, putting Trump and his disastrous tariff policies before the interest of Australia.