Julia Gillard has suffered another two humiliations this week, firstly as the mining report recommended refunding all state royalties, and secondly, with the collapse of the green loans scheme.

Next for the chopping block is the cash for clunkers and perhaps even the NBN.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/gillard-retreats-on-levy-to-save-hide/story-fn6nj4ny-1225974698079

WAYNE Swan has copped another hiding over another mining tax and another prime minister has had to retreat to save their political reputation.

Within 24 hours of the Gillard government defending its attempt to renege on a deal signed with Australia's biggest miners over compensation for state royalties under the planned new mining tax, Labor has given way, given in to the miners and sought a new fight with the states.

The Treasurer's backdown is palpable and Julia Gillard's predicament is clear: stick with an unconscionable argument or lose a mining war, a fate that cost her predecessor his job. This is probably a policy advance but it is undoubtedly a political humiliation.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/m-payout-as-green-start-stops/story-fn59niix-1225974703151

TAXPAYERS will fork out $30m to pay thousands of energy efficiency assessors to complete or upgrade their qualifications for jobs that no longer exist.

This comes after the Gillard government shelved its Green Start scheme.

The decision to abort the $212m energy-efficiency program, cutting the government's financial and political losses from another bungled Kevin07 election experiment, also exposes taxpayers to compensation claims from 4400 assessors contracted to work for the Environment Department.

it only goes to show
govt isnt there to protect the people
smokers get an immediate new tax increase

a few miners get endless discussion/negotiation..
then an eventual back flip..because they get the big tax fre bucks..acces the peoples assets..for pennies

i thought the issue now was about any increase..needing to be compensated...but wtf...govt backflipping..now there is a thing you only see them do..for the allready rich

as for the green scam[sceme]...about time govt wokeup
ditto giving 2 billion to the wealthy enough..*to buy a new car

as for the nbn...cant wait till they drop that too
[ok after we get back the egsisting infastructure..jonny howhard..SHOULD NEVER HAVE SOLD IN THE FIRST PLACE]

all.. form,s of government..has become self-serving
doing as the allready rich..tell them to do
doing as gm..[etc]..wants them to do

and meanwhile the poor get poorer
lets make them backflip on privatisation of our water/power...roads

oh no thats a state issue
get rid of the lot of em

party loyalty is TREASON
ban party politricks

hold the publuic service to account

they all get base pension
not the overly generouse graduated/subsidised..super..they set up for them-selves and polititions...time to end govt cars too..let each use taxies...and use a limited travel allowence..

when in the coiurse of govt affaiors
governance has become too collusive...

its time the lot of em..got a wake-up call
NO MORE PUBLIC MONEY...to private enter=prize

and media will never do it
police wont do it

maybe we could get china to do it
naw the unionists allready sold us out
party politics is treason..audit the lot of em

The greens are right to with-draw, since the people of the world are being convinced by other influences. ( Capitalists still dealing the cards on both sides of the fence ) Oh dear.

BLUE

Becoming a bit boring but not unexpected.
I feel, true, comment so far in this thread is uninformed at best.
The product of these mines is not owned only by overseas interests.
The tax is meant to be a once only payment, that is all it can be, to Australia.
Badly put together at first, redrafted but subject to this inquiry, we have got a seeming consensus.
With at least the big mining company's.
Best results are never one sided but negotiated settlements.
Two solid conservatives,seem to support the Greens RADICAL VIEW that its not enough, bringing us right back to the idea [one I do not agree with]that mining will suffer.
The one thing we can see if we wish to, is this settlement is the best result all sides can expect.
I feel it wasts my time, but level headed fair minded people, with the ability to think clearly, not all have this ability.
Know in a hung Parliament consensus and changed policy's are normal.
Holding the firm belief no open balanced debate with SM is possible this is my only post here, thanks however SM for again underlining the lost nature of conservative politics.

The mining companies need to pay more. This is a simple fact.

The problem is that Swan is a total incompetent, as was Rudd. They have been comprehensively outplayed by the mining companies. That should never have been allowed to occur.

If the gov't believed that the resourcs profit tax was only meant to cover current royalties, they should have said so.

What they need to do now is agree that it must cover all future royalties increases as well. The gov't should then tell the states that any increases in royalties (which will be a gouge of Federal money) will be met by a similar decrease in the GST monies funelled back to the states.

The reciprocal trade, requires Australia to take in goods from the countries, and this opened up a trade of goods which has been destructive to our industries - the clothing and other fabric industries, Tool and other such manufacturing including that of our suburban rail units and the steel fabrication required for dam construction. Our companies such as Coles, Woolworths, with their subsidiaries and Lowes and another hundred companies get these foreign made goods only because they are cheaper, and they are only cheaper because the powerful countries put pressure on the third world countries like Australia, to sell their valuable non-renewable resources at a pittance of their value. Our stupid politicians – state and federal, have bowed to these countries, “acknowledging” that we are a “3rd world”country with no intelligent life form in our political community.
The Political parties which have been in power over the last 40 years have only produced a recession or three, there is no coherence in them as providers of a good economy nor have they provided any security for the wage earners, they have found this out, or at least Wayne Swan bragged to the world stage, that “we”were better off because out top tax was higher. We don't like living in a country with a destroyed economy.