Jay Of Melbourne - The cost of these welfare for lifers is borne by all citizens because the money could be better spent on services etc for Australians. That .20cents the unemployed got could have been more for 1 thing, better hospitals. Even schooling after all that is where the future lies not in importing people who do not want to assimilate into Australia or even learn the language.

one under god - you have been smoking too much weed.

I wonder which is the greater cost figure, the refugees or the military involvement ? Whilst our troops are fighting in Afghanistan, Customs are ferrying those Afghans to Australia. I know economics is an intricate business but spending billions to keep them out whilst spending billions to bring them in ahead of genuine migrants doesn't really add up in my view.
As I stated several times, if we want to solve the problem of helping these people then help them on their own soil, don't import their troubles here. It doesn't make sense.
Our money should be responsibly managed not irresponsibly squandered. It's not very smart to throw so much of our money at those who want to run us down.

In one or two years, it will really hit the fan.
Australia will join such countries as Spain in a financial crunch.
Our debts are rapidly moving into a state where they will not be repayable.
Our GDP has been falling and worse, I understand from what I have read,
is increasingly made up of services payments.
Thus the growth is largely unreal and not made up of manufacturing widgets.
The part of our GDP that is resources taxes and royalties is also declining.
For these two reasons our real GDP has fallen more than is shown by the statistics.

When/if Tony Abbott becomes PM, Hockey will walk in one morning with
an ashen faced look after a night with treasury and give Tony an
ultimatim, "We are broke and cannot pay our debts.".
"Everything will have to be cut to ribbons."
Then Tony or whoever is PM will be abused from here to eternity.

Why is this happening ?
Well, something that has been called peak (there is that word again) debt.
World debt has reached a level where it cannot be repaid.
Therefore financial sources cannot add to their risk.
The governments issuing pixel money, otherwise known by that strange
name "Quantative Easing" has become ineffective.
The banks are not lending it out because they know it may not be repaid.

It all may fall apart earlier than expected if the US falls into
default on 1st January 2013. A lot will depend on who wins their
election and the Republicans do as they promised if they win.

We need real GDP to pay our debts which is why some say we should use
disposable income instead of GDP, then we would really know where we stand.
At present it is all smoke and mirrors.

The figures came out quote
"Final 2011/12 budget deficit was $43.7bn" The refugees cost is over 4 billion so effectively 10% is wasted on them Further proof Labor is a joke that has to go before we end up in debt like America.
Misc note We give money and material aid to Indonesia which in monetary surplus - GO FIGURE THAT.
That is like the beggar giving money to the business man.

I guess it must be a form of therapy.

At least, it's the only cogent reason I can come up with that justifies the presence of so many Chicken Littles on this forum, bemoaning our financial status and forecasting imminent national indigence.

That means you, Bazz. Lighten up, for goodness' sake, or you'll worry yourself into an early grave.

>>Australia will join such countries as Spain in a financial crunch<<

Ummm... the trigger for Spain's demise was a trade deficit that reached 10% of GDP in 2008. Our balance of trade is, admittedly, presently in deficit, having bounced around both above and below the line, but averages out around the 1% mark.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/australia/balance-of-trade

Spain went through a building boom, to the extent that around 25% of the houses built between 2001 and 2007 remain empty. We have no parallel here.

Spain's unemployment has reached 25%. Ours is approximately one fifth of that.

Summary: there is no economic indication that "Australia will join such countries as Spain in a financial crunch", and every indication that we will not.

>>Our debts are rapidly moving into a state where they will not be repayable.<<

Not true. All our debt is fully serviceable into the foreseeable future. Do you have examples to the contrary?

Thought not.

And this is classic muddle-headed thinking:

>>World debt has reached a level where it cannot be repaid.<<

Bazz, just think for a moment what you have written there.

"World debt" is non-existent. By definition, there is exactly the same amount owed, as owing. Therefore "the world" has no debt at all, unless we have secretly opened an account with the Central Bank of Ursa Minor.

Individual countries can, and will, settle their inter-country accounts in some manner or the other. And sometimes it will be painful. But to get all-of-a-fluster because the numbers are pretty mind-blowing compared with what's in your personal piggy-bank is to ignore the fact that we are well-placed to survive it all without even having to tighten our belts much at all.

You made some reasonable points there Pericles.
I think you are mistaken with the belief

"World debt" is non-existent. By definition, there is exactly the same amount owed, as owing.

Well people who had money in those investments that went down the
gurgler with Salmon Bros don't see it that way.

The money which was earned by somebody was lost, so their labour was lost.
That is a real loss.
Our income is falling but the government is increasing spending into
some years in the future.
Growth is needed to repay debt and we are one country that still has
some growth, but many do not. Our growth will reach zero as the
available energy growth disappears.

The problem is the whole energy and finance system is changing with
the limits of resources being reached but government and the
financial system has not realised it yet.

The only possible solution is a steady state economy & a steady population.