With the minimg tax and to a lesser extent, the carbon tax being, revenue raisers, it's a real pity, courtesy of labor, that our very survival relies on them, as labor have simply wasted so much money, in such a short time , that I doubt we can survive without these taxes.

The mining tax in particular should at the very least be put aside as savings, not relied upon as a life line.

This posses a huge delema for TA, so it will be interesting to see where he goes with the next election.

My tip is he will run with the axe them line, then pull the old, things are worse than we thought line, once they win the election, which by the way is a given.

I am afraid it the old three strikes and your out, for labor, NSW, QLD, now the NT. All floggings of the labor brand.

yes toney should know
ya cant say no to everything...

im noting the femail bias line...against him..with threee sisters threee daughters and one wife..

if anyone deserves or has earned a right..to treat them COMPLETLY..not delicatly EQUAL*..its toney..how cheap the shots that he is sexist..direct from the joan kirner manuel of femail sis order/nanny state mate

of course toney cant fight sexism..no man can reply the question..ARE YOU STILL beating your wife...i never did....

its the smart arse summation from the shiela playing the delicate flower card..when toney knows from his life experience..they are more than equal..

i reserve my contempt for them TOO DElicate flowers
to deligate..wemust be gratefull they prefer not to breed[as a mans prime duty is to pick his childrens mother..

govt should be like a mother
treating all the peoople as special..NOT CASH COWS..or children needing policing and taxes..and others treats and bailouts

our jail is full of petty crime
major criminals dont go to jailsTHEY INVEST IN THEM*

reduce the public service
the vics are privatising public service,,two more points down for toney..

bah im so over the lawyers running a prison planet..for criminals owing prisons/jails public services..and our polititions

plus the parties..media security war machines
tonies dill lemmon@ is reducing the bloated public service running cash COWS*..to get to the nice free govt cash flows...or trust funds set up for free..

but the silence signifies glass houses
the game is filthy

Abbott is a dilemma, Back to the golden years of Howard, work choices. No ideas of his own, has to have a hero.
Dr no, Nauru, Blood pledges, Wind back time. Can't read ,drugs, no politics, no idea.

579, if what you say is right, you must be very dissapointed/ worried, cause unless you are from a different planet,you have to accept that Julia and labor are in for the thrashing of their life.

To think you support this lot defies logic.

Also, if you get the chance, please thank them for the mess they have made, that's from the rest of us.

I know I sound like a broken record, but if only they were accountable.

BTW, work choices rewarded good workers, and didn't really care much about the rest.

While I don't want to see WC make a comeback, we do need to find middle ground.

But then again, you're one who thinks we are powering.

The so-called "carbon" tax should obviously go (it barely pays for administrating it anyway), but the mining tax can stay.

The mining tax is in effect a federal form of royalties on the treasures we have underground. So long as the minerals under the ground belong to the state, there is nothing wrong with charging the rest of the world as much as we want for losing them. In fact, restraining mining has the benefit that Australians will not all go digging and lose their production and agriculture skills which will be required for a rainy day.

Ultimately, the right thing to do instead, which should make for the tax revenue and much more, is to sell land-owners (mainly farmers) the full rights to the minerals under their land, then it's up to the farmers to charge their own royalties (or refuse mining altogether).

As for the budget deficit, over half the government offices are redundant, so closing them will provide a surplus for generations (until Labor returns to waste it all over again).

Butch you haven't got a good track record when it comes to predictions.
Abbott is backing CN in QLD, that tells you something, or is that another golden years dilemma. Belching Joe won't be dead while CN is alive. Be careful of politicians with Hero's

Keep going 579, you are doing a good job there !

rechtub please strop telling poster supporting this government deifies logic!
You must be aware I once considered you a mate.
And that I am avoiding you.
WHY
Well bloke you constantly put your views, but lay silly charges against any one who differs.
You did that here, in this thread.
As a trained trainer I want you to consider my advice, that is all it is, no matter what label you give it.
Leave room for your verbal opponent to save face IF WRONG.
Always consider is it you who is wrong?
Now test me, with todays seeming back down/outbreak of common sense, [You would be fully informed about it].
Abbott or more likely his replacement, will keep it.
Mining tax? you being much better informed than the rest of us will know.
Is seen as bad only by the rich over seas investors who pay it, and invest in record figures in even more mining.
You too know Abbott is the servant of power money influence not the Aussie battler.
I have no option, but to avoid you, I am not copping the constant abuse for daring to think different than you, enjoy your thread.

LIBERAL MP Steven Ciobo has called for a return to individual contracts and changes to unfair dismissal laws after former prime minister John Howard suggested the Coalition should restore key elements of its controversial Work Choices laws.

Treasurer Wayne Swan today said Mr Howard’s comments had let the cat out of the bag for the Coalition as he also called for Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to apologise for running a negative campaign on the economy while Mr Howard praised the state of the Australia's financial position.

In a recent speech to a business forum, leaked to media today, Mr Howard reportedly argued that it was a mistake to remove the no disadvantage test protecting workers and said a return of individual employment contracts was required.

He also argued for changes to unfair dismissal laws, claiming small businesses were struggling to dismiss workers without making huge payouts to workers.

Herald Sun Digital Pass

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Australian Dollar

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"I actually think that Work Choices, although it played a part in our defeat, wasn't the main reason,'' Mr Howard reportedly said.

"The received view is that it was and therefore that's had an impact on the commentariat and an impact on the Coalition.

"I think we have to address this issue again. There is no reason why this country should not go back to the workplace system we had between 1996 and 2005 where you had individual contracts.

"But one addition to that is that you have got to do something about unfair dismissals.''

Mr Abbott this morning attempted to hose down the issue.

“Work Choices is dead, buried and cremated,” he said in a statement.

The Coalition has insisted it will not reveal its policy until closer to the election but has promised to return laws closer to the centre, flagging changes to increase flexibility and cracking down on union militancy.

EVERY time Opposition Leader Tony Abbott opens his mouth, I feel like I need a shower.

He's such a grubby piece of work - so naked in his ambition, so willing to stretch any truth to score a quick political point and so unimaginative.

When he started picking over the carcass of Olympic Dam this week, he might at least have had the decency to wipe the smug look from his face.

He might have taken five minutes to get his facts straight on the reasons for BHP shelving the $30 billion project. And it wouldn't have hurt to workshop a few credible arguments on how Gillard policies have had an impact on BHP's cost pressures, instead of lazily (and incorrectly) parroting his "great big taxes" line.

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Actually, if he had been really strategic he would have been a statesman - saying very little about the demise but announcing a Coalition plan to work with key states and mining companies such as BHP on new strategies to keep investment flowing in a volatile resources market.

Alas, that's not Mr Abbott's style. He's a kick-heads-now-ask-questions-later kind of guy.

That's OK when you're bull ... . ing over a few beers around a barbecue, where you can mouth off without fear or favour and your words aren't thrown back at you on national TV.

It's not so cool when you're keen to run a country of 23 million reasonably well-educated people, many of whom would quite like the political discourse to rise above three-syllable slogans.

With Labor's polls beginning to rise (albeit from a pathetically low base) and Mr Abbott continuing to languish near Ms Gillard in personal approval ratings, you would think party strategists would be single-minded in branding the Opposition boss as The Next Leader of Australia.

But Mr Abbott seems incapable of transforming himself from masterful antagonist to credible alternative.

Which begs the question. Is this man a one-trick Tony?

One trick pony 579 that is only the publicity.

Clearly Abbott is a complex and dangerous ideologue. He has continued the Howard brand of confrontation politics and is the better exponent of the art, this of course has nothing at all to do with what's best for Australia it's inhabitants or the future.

We now hear all people even moderates in the LNP always talking up the the down side, always dissing our country, our economy and our Govt. To what avail, so a bunch of inward and backward looking ideologues can get back to their program of increasing the gap between the rich and the poor ?.

Expect further tightening of the screws on peoples rights in the workplace, further tax assistance for big business, more incentive to pollute, more deregulation in the prices sector so business will be able to charge the working person anything they like for essential services that the business sector will all but control as these sick ideologues will continue to privatise and sell off assets (including the magnificent and visionary NBN project) too their mates for a song.

Abbott in opposition is one thing 579 , Abbott in Govt another.

Finally the only thing the LNP actually talks up, is it's prospects at the next election, an election some 17 months away, and as we know 1 day is a long time in politics ladies and gentlemen, and I would contend that Abbott is un-electable as a candidate for PM.

And that is something my friends that the LNP will have to deal with way down the track when that election actually happens.

On the other hand Julia Gillard seems to be doing a serviceable job of building her own slow burn credibility. This is currently gaining traction with at least some of the electors swinging back a little in recent polling.

In addition she is leading an economy that is currently the envy of the world, not the investment basket case that the opposition claims, but instead the envy of the world.

With low unemployment and inflation, a bright investment future including sectors beyond a continuing resources boom. And should a publicly owned NBN infrastructure resource become fully operational, a massive incentive will exist for a smarter future in Australia. A future where the tyranny of distant stands a chance of being eliminated at last at once and for all. Cars will be less necessary etc and so on.

Gillard in opposition remains marked over as singular mistake, a statement in the heat of the moment over carbon tax, but Gillard as PM has shown remarkable resilience and a record of achievement, as a PM leading a hung Parliament.

Her success is obviously due to her own negotiating capacity alone, negotiating shark infested waters, remaining cool under pressure, and getting a consensus Govt's agenda up confirmed by legislation, despite an opposition spitting snake venom , blocking, delaying and frustrating at every opportunity. This I think, (if it continues despite the attempts of The Australian newspaper to besmirch her character) will provide her some opportunity to run on her record at the next election that I predict will occur when the Gov't runs it's full term.

579, I have a very good record with predictions.

As for CN, While I agree he has gome too hard, too quickly, he really had little choice.

You see, because things were so bad here, thanks to 20 odd years of labor, and thier obsession about waste and mismanagement, he has three years to either fix it, or fail.

He couldn't do that by thinking about it.

After all. As usual, he is the leader of a conservative government cleaning up the mess lelf by labor.

History repeating itself I am afraid.

rehctub.Always check the spelling,ie dilemma especially for a title.I was looking for hidden meaning in your "delema" but found none.

That said I don't trust any pollie including Abbott who is my local member.

Sroy aoubt taht ajray,
but seriously, spelling is over rated, proof being in the fact that you understood what I meant.

Belly, point taken, but I think if you go back through your history, you have downed me time and time again, especially with your 'I'll informed' line, while 579 is my personal objector.

I am happy to draw a line in the sand, but if you wish to take your ball and run, by all means do so.

IR.
We come from different sides of the fence, myself an employer of some 23 plus years, while most of you guys are employees.

You see having a job has gone from being a privilege, to a given right in this timeframe.

The system just can't find middle ground, although I would suggest pre work choices was pretty close.

What I feel is needed is a safety net, then performance bonuses, so those with stronger work ethics get rewarded, without fear of the boss being challenged over it.

Ind contracts protect the employer as well, as the current system sees an employee being able to up ship to a better job, yet an employer can't replace a worker for a better one.

Furthermore, more and more business is done with contracts, and unstable labor causes major problems with these.

Then there are penalty rates.

If you work in a five day industry, that's fine. But in a seven day industry they have simp,y costs hours, if not jobs.

Workers and bossed must be able to come to agreements that suit them, not big brother.

Many like to work Sundays and play golf Mondays, but they can't do that now.

Many mums liked to work Sundays, which gave dad some 'dad time' with the kids. Gone now in many cases.

BHP. Tony has done a Pauline Hansen here, and will be punished for it.

The underlying fact is that mining, is simply another sector that is buckling under the
huge pressures of our unworkable IR system.

If left alone, it will be at our peril.

The only thing wrong with mining is, it's overheating, it needs to draw back to a sustainable level. You can only go so far in the fast lane, before being caught.
How long can China go with such a gigantic growth rate.
Not all happenings have a political meaning, Butch.
Linking the carbon credits to Europe is what the businesses concerned were after.
Looks like it is going to happen.
Seeing the sky has failed to fall in over Tony,s Carbon catastrophe, you might see an improvement for Labor in the all important polls. With 15 months remaining till the next election, there will be plenty of sweat to shed, for Dr no and his alliance.

579, I fully agree that mining should be wound back, so we can at least provide affordable energy for OUR OWN generations to follow.

The problem I see is that last time I heard, we were still borrowing 100 million a day, so, where will this go if mining slows?

Did Abbott mislead parliament. He attended an interview on something he thought was a forgone conclusion. And answered questions as such.
After finally conceding he did not read the statement from BHP. He still says he knows the real reason for BHP's decision.
This mann is very loose with facts, and continues his negative path in blaming everything on the carbon price. Even to the point of telling company heads, what they meant to say.
This is gross injustice, in taking the Australian people for idiots.
Even his most loyal followers have got to be wondering where this man is headed. Can this be a statesman for AU in the making, or a bumbling fool, with an oversized mouth

Simple 579, he had read the BHP chairman's statement as well as the CEO's.

Keep up the good work. At this rate you will have Lexi voting for Abbott !

Bazz . Every day there is a new blunder from the coalition unaligned movement. Double crossing each other, they don't have a single story.
Mr Abbott making thing up as the day progresses, the rest of them can't keep up.
The noalition have already answered their own question where the money is coming from for the dental proposal. For years they have been saying how much excess money there is in the economy, so there you are.
Butch is worried about govt debt; If it wasn't for that money company's and other businesses would be borrowing private money at far greater rates. This would just slow the economy down.
2012 is the peak for govt debt, after 2012 the defecit will decline, future growth will finance debt reduction. As the forward estimates say.

As the forwards estimates say.....

So, tell me, has the forward estimates taken in to account a likely slow down in mining?

If not, what then?

Over supply will always cause fluctuations in demand, maybe miners need quoters, to protect the smaller players from price fluctuations. No doubt the bigger miners will keep the pace, to put pressure on the smaller ones.
A normalization of supply, instead of boom quantities.
The iron ore mining needs a slow down, come back to reality, no boom cycle is going to be there for ever.

579, that has all the characteristics of a politicians answer, as it doesn't answer the question.

Treasury does not take into account inflated figures, Fictitious numbers
China is a long time from being finished.
The golden years are not so golden all of a sudden, they have turned to stone. But with that sort of thoughts running through mr Abbott's head, how can the man be trusted.
The needs for a script writer to plug the gaping hole, is in order.

Mr Abbott and his women trouble started many years ago apparently.
He must be temper driven, to put a female under pressure for winning a school election. No doubt we will hear all about it.