mikk, you know damned well what he said was he can't give a timeframe until we all know just how bad things are. Also, niether party has told us just how much it will cost, or is likely to cost, to fix up labors monumental stuff ups.

The big tax you refer to is an additional 1.5%, not he 30% proposed by labor. Now if his 1.5% is 'big', what does this make labors 30%?

You labor lovers sure do know how to condure up the old 'spin', hey!

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

As for the rest of you labor pupets, you can crow as much as you like, but the fact is we would have been broke in less than one year if the libs had left the economy in the position that your lot have managed to get it two now. From +20billion to - 60 odd billion and a huge mess to clean up.

History shows that Labor have held office twice in the past two decades and on both occasions they have placed us in serios debt.

And the big picture,
Qld labor - BROKE, NSW labor - BROKE, federal labor - BROKE!

Nothing to crow about!

Foxy, I suppose I'm lucky. I have made my choice, & have switched off. It really is a relief to switch off the drivel we get from the commentators.

A couple of weeks ago I had no idea who I would vote for. Julia started hinting at the right stuff for me, but after a while I realised she was only kidding. She has a real problem trying to balance her academics, real people like you & belly, & swing voters like me.

Even if I had not decided she was trying to con people like me, the tripe from Swam this morning would have decided me we just can't afford any more voodoo stuff.

For once it is good to be in a marginal, my vote just may count.

and...DD? Your point? Are you able to improve upon stamping out a $96 Billion Debt that Labor caused prior to Peter Costello spending thousands of hours devising ways and implementing concepts; thereafter overseeing the processes, in order for Australians to have pressure valves released in their daily lives for a few years? More money in their pockets for a few years, less pressures with personal debt, costs lowered, improved inflation rates, the economy was functioning at its best during the years Peter was Treasurer.

That man worked 24 hour days DD throughout most of his career; he out of the many public servants in parliament deserves his super long service, retirement funds and payouts.

Why are you not performing the job with all of its pressures?

Costello also lost a billion on currency swaps, sold off most of our gold reserve to the Chinese and flogged off almost all our government assets.

More money leaves the country now as a percentage of GDP as share dividend payments to new overseas owners of what were our own companies - than was being paid as interest payments.

The surplus he claimed to create out of thin air was a windfall from the minerals boom - most of which was used to bribe voters instead of investing it in infrastructure and about a third was actually HECS debt - some of which may never be paid.

The surplus was never a big vault full of cash under Parliament House where Costello used to swim around like Scrooge McDuck.

It's also been reported that Treasury actually did most of the work and that he was "lazy" when it came to serious budget work.

The only thing he would have done 24 hours a day would have been to whine about when it was going to be his turn to be PM.

If we're "borrowing" $100 million a day and that represents 4% of GDP it means that the government is actually taking in $2.5 billion per day. The amount coming in will grow with the economy while the amount paid back on loans will be reducing to zero within the next few years.

Maybe you'd prefer to be in a deep recession instead and spend the surplus on dole payments to the masses of unemployed?

The thread is a mirror,a spotlight on this election campaign.
Cynicism runs free a forgetfulness that allows insults to Gillard but forgets Tony Abbott is the man who put Barnaby Joice in charge of our country's finances.
Who said yes no definitely no/yes maybe to climate change.
Who holds the view abortion drugs should not be used ever.
A strange shift in the way media is hiding the real Tony Abbott from us crafting news to undermine one side and elevate the other.
Australia could be the biggest victim, if we are unable to see Abbott's past we will not see our possible future.

Hasbeen,people in the IT industry know it's all BS.This again are the large corporates influencing our Govt.$43 billion more debt for no gain.It must be also corruption.Who are getting undisclosed kickbacks?

They must think we are mad.On one hand bring on the clean feed and slow down the net via censorship,then pay a needless fortune to speed it up a bit.