SQRS I do not have a leader, i have a political party which i favor for some reason. Maybe its the party that governs for all Australia, and not the chosen ones.
If you can not come up with a breakdown of figures, it is useless of you down talking the economy. You say things got a whole lot worse, can you explain what you mean.
Endless rhetoric says nothing.
It's interesting to see our more learnerd friends have not weighed in, excluding Arjay of course, maybe they know better than to rubbish the economy.

I tend to agree with you, Ludwig, that our economy is a house of cards. I think, though, that the economies of most developed capitalist nations are. As we rely on taxes, we need businesses to hand over the money. When times are tough, they are tough for businesses and, as a result, the revenue slows down. When times are good, they are good for businesses and the revenue speeds up. Add in another layer of complexity - times are tough for tourism but good for resources, or times are tough for retail but good for manufacturing. If we put all our eggs in the one basket, we have to protect that basket, often to the detriment of other baskets.

So a house of cards it is. A house of cards can stand up for a long time, but it needs external forces to serve as windbreaks and stabilisers in case of a cyclone or an earthquake. And that's why, in my opinion, we tend to talk our economy down. Times are going well for us, our basket or two of eggs seem pretty safe despite a lack of protection and our house of cards is standing up. Sadly, I share many of my fellow Australians' lack of faith in our government (or our shadow government) to provide the stabilisers and windbreaks that will be needed when times change. Our house of cards looks grand for now, but we can't spend too much time admiring it while ignoring the fact that it could fall down.

Hmm ... sorry for talking in riddles today.

Brilliant, that should be published on OLO and compulsory reading.
I knew there was some learned persons here besides meself and Belly.
An outstanding comment.
Tell me what is wrong with the Carbon Tax.
Do we have as is, or as the opposition wants it, individuals pay $ 1300 / yr and this is supplied to business.

So for those of you who think we are in good shape, ask yourself a few simple questions.

1. What'd you see labor doing that will kerb their spending?
2. If we have the same four years as the past, where will we be in four years from now.
3. Where would we be if we didn't have th money in the bank prior to labor gaining office?

Being number one doesn't always make you the best, it can just mean that the rest ar really bad.

I for one feel That unless some serious changes are made, amd fast, we will end up goimg down the toilet.

All the subsidizing in the world means nothing if those being subsidized can't stand on their own two feet.

Offering rewards for buying locally made cars would be worth considering, like cheaper petrol and rego.

It's always better to build a business rather than try to save it.

And Belly, if you honestly think our welfare system is just fine and not in need of serious changes, aimed at eliminating waste, the you are either blind, ignorant, or both.

To think we live in a society that can almost track our every move, yet we can't fix this ongoing problem defies logic.

Quarantining the wasteful recipients money and drug testing of those who can't, or won't get a job would be two good places to start.

Anyone who watched Eric Campbell's report on those companies in Bavaria a couple of days ago would have realised how pathetically bad practices are here. No wonder things ain't good & are going to get worse. We could possibly weaken the impact if Australians are smart enough to change Government.