The only restraint on spending Labor had was the desire to change the voters low perceptions of Labor's ability with respect to economic management between it and the coalition, by achieving a surplus.

Now having failed at achieving even their modest goal of a surplus in a growing economy, and combined with the policy failures on border protection, education, health, and defence, Labor has no positive record to take to the coming election.

Spending wildly helped get them over the line in 2010, they will be tempted to try it again.

That is good that you admit we have a growing economy. Swan already said the savings are still on, two quarters to go yet.
Does splurging money buy votes.
I think people just want stable employment, and good outlook.

Usually SM I would agree with you, however, Mr Carr has spilled some very harmful words that will haunt them at any hint of spending money they quite simply dont have.

As I see it, that one sentence, "you just can't spend money you don't have" has all but sealed labor's fait come the next election, which by the way I think will be as late as possible.

They can't splash money around, as there's none left.

They can't run a negative campaign, cause their record is all about failures.

In fact, the only thing they could do is fix the illegals problem. An unlikely event given their alliance with the greens.

Now if they did fix the problem, then that would be just great, but I'm not holding my breath.

So in a nut shell, I recon they're screwed.

rehctub,

Of course they'll splash more money around. After all, they've already spent billions they didn't have in the coffers. Does anyone honestly believe they're not prepared to change their habits?

My thought is that they won't care how much more will be spent prior to an election.

If they lose, oh well, Libs will have just that much more debt to deal with.
If they win, it will prove that the populace can't see further than the end of their noses, and have extremely short memories.

What's the old saying - there are none so blind as those who refuse to see?
May have misquoted that, but you get my drift.

Congrats SM on having the front to posat5 such uninformed rubbish so often in 2012.
And secondary for convincing your self you are right

worldwatcher - I will agree with you on this one but they will probably make outlandish promises that they have not intention of keeping if by a fluke they are re-elected (No carbon tax)

Also in my opinion apart from the way you suggest there only chance is if the Liberals do or say something very stupid, Labor would win by the liberals putting there foot in there mouth.

rehctub - they will lie and blame everyone else.

Belly - Quote "Congrats SM on having the front to posat5 such uninformed rubbish so often in 2012" Now if you elaborate as to what rubbish the gentleman may be able to address your concerns but your comment is so vague as to be of no relevance.
What can I say but you are die hard Labor and will go down with the ship.

579 - Quote "Does splurging money buy votes." YES it does and it has been proven the world over in many countries.

If by fluke, or foot in mouth. Abbott has had his foot in his mouth since the Thomson and Slipper, fantasies were invented.
Fed police now involved. Tony is a little lonely at the moment.
Labor splurge and lib say nothing, sounds pretty right from you.
Wild predictions of elections are not in order, and not conclusive by any means. There is still 11 months to go yet, and 2 quarters left for a surplus. How much has Abbott cost this nation with his wild accusations of the disastrous effects of the Carbon Tax. Not to be heard of any more. Just something else debunked, like Slipper.

579 - THE EFFECTS OF THE CARBON TAX ARE IRRELEVANT THE FACT IS LABOR SAID THEY WOULD NOT INTRODUCE ONE SOUNDS LIKE A LIE TO ME.

I believe it is a bad tax and it will hit very hard in the future.

Philip S.,

It has already made an impact. I can't be the only person who has noticed the coincidence? that prices have already risen since the introduction of the carbon tax.From food to public and private transport, utilities to new home and land prices to mention just a few.
I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. Think far cleverer people than me at the Reserve Bank have already factored this in when calculating future interest rates.

579,

Yes, people do want stable employment and a good outlook. Especially the hundreds who have been laid off work in the last few months.
Take for example the man who was 'let go' after 35 years with the same company. One has to wonder if for him and the others who were also 'let go' he will enjoy Christmas this year, or expects his family's life to perk up in the near future. We who are not in this unfortunate position should count our blessings, and be even more determined to influence change at the ballot boxes.

worldwatcher - I put the comment re impact because for some reason it has all but disappeared from main stream media just like the arrivals of the welfare for lifers boats are hardly reported now.

Also Abbott has shut his mouth on the issue as well.

But as stated in the future the real impact will hit everything like a tonne of bricks.

We can rely on Belly and 579 to make unsubstantiated noise.

579, I acknowledged that the economy is growing, as you tacitly have acknowledged that no Labor policies have worked. Also, a letter written to the police by a Labor MP does not mean the Feds are involved. I think labor are still trying to think of something vaguely illegal that Brough did.

Labor is the government of debt and taxes.

Shadow Minister - You are slipping too much Christmas cheer.

I will correct it for you.

Labor is the government of debt,taxes and approx 30,000 welfare for lifers.

The fed police are not involved, I forgot about the xmas cheers aspect of the letter.
Mel brough is small fish.
The whole lib front bench used the court system to further their political ambitions. That is a fed matter. A sleezy set up.
30,000 lifers , where do you get your info from.
Tip of iceberg Carbon tax. 10%
Struggling to hold it together, tis the lib nat combo, Butch recently had one, a power bill that went from 2000 to 5000, carbon tax again 10%.
No that was a business .3%
2013 will be exciting, more excitement than the world ending

579 - You are very selective in your wording - I wrote "approx 30,000 welfare for lifers." that is the approx figure labor have let in and the projected figure of arrivals for 2012/13 is between 25,000 to 30,000. In 3 months alone we had nearly 7,000 plus.

Since 579 and Belly are the chief advocates for the Labor party can you please provide everyone with 10 reasons why they should be re-elected or are doing a good job. (Please don't provide the list on April 1st)

You mean new australians don't get employment. Where do you get your statistics from.
I wasn't aware i was advocating anyone, i tend to see things as they are without the blindness and B/s of a coalition that has said nothing and done nothing and been totally negative. And yet you can see salvation within.
I want to know what i am voting for before i could contemplate any change.
Why change if it is for the worse, lib govt;'s are for big business not services for the commons.
Voting is very serious and every person of age's responsibility.
There has been gov;t elected before for no other reason than a change.
These govt; are usually short lived.
I just hope in future years no opposition follows the lead of this federal opposition. This opposition will go down in history as totally obsessed, at forcing an election at any cost, even using the court system to further their own agenda.

579 - Again you are very selective in your wording things in this instance you downright misinterpret them.
Quote "You mean new australians don't get employment. Where do you get your statistics from." I did not say that. I am talking about the welfare for lifers that arrive by boat, statistical fact that 85% who were accepted under the humanitarian scheme and had been here over 5 years were still on welfare after 5 years.

Now the majority of boat people DO NOT speak English thus making it IMPOSSIBLE to employ them because if you give one a job and he has an accident he says "I could not read the sign" the Government will have you in court faster than you can call your lawyer.

Personally I do not want Abbott but I see him as the lesser of 2 evils.

It was also noted that you either could not answer my question or you again selectively read things, here it is again.

"579 and Belly are the chief advocates for the Labor party can you please provide everyone with 10 reasons why they should be re-elected or are doing a good job. (Please don't provide the list on April 1st)"

Everyone awaits your reply with great anticipation.

Didn't i say i was not advocating any-one.
But seeing you ask. Why should any-one be in favour of someone that does not have a policy but wants to be a govt. Bob Catter would probably like that feather also. To say the lesser evil of the two is the libs, now that is a stupid statement, what are you basing your assumptions on.
That lot don't have a policy, for running a country.
They refuse to tell the AU people what sort of govt they will be.
The libs have been nothing but negative.
They have done nothing except talk the economy down.
They have used a court system for political advantage.
They have shown no political nouse at all.
The best you can get from a would be leader is foot in mouth , or i didn't read it.
Abbott has not shown an ounce of ambition for this country, it has been all about abbott, the rest have to remain silent.
Surely this nation deserves better than someone that can't read, let alone have any policy. So what makes you think he is a better option.
He has said nothing for me to think he is capable of anything, except his own agenda, whatever that may be

579 - You are really starting to show your ignorance.

Quote "To say the lesser evil of the two is the libs, now that is a stupid statement, what are you basing your assumptions on."

I am basing it on the last few years of outright lies and incompetence of the Labor Government. The readers can name a very long list and you know that from failed border protection to no carbon tax.

It was also noted AGAIN that you either could not answer my question or you again selectively read things, here it is again. I shortened it a bit so even you should be able to read and comprehend the question.

"can you please provide everyone with 10 reasons why they should be re-elected or are doing a good job."

Everyone awaits your reply with great anticipation.

Philip S.

Is the fact that illegal arrivals have been ommitted from news reports recently due to the fact that it has become such a regular occurence it is no longer noteworthy?

Or could pressure have been brought to bear not to report the flood of boats during this coming year?

I suspect the arrivals will increase, as the savvy people smugglers will anticipate that should this government not be re-elected, the laws will be tightened considerably in an effort to stem the flood, and thereby reduce their profits - hopefully to zero!

With an election on the horizon now it would be in Labour's interest to see this subject slip quietly behind every other issue, wouldn't it?

Let's face it, they have plenty of their other governing failures to explain away, and boat arrivals are a very emotive subject with so many persons on both sides of politics qualified to cast a vote.

I discount the Greens here, as their agenda is so narrowly focused, and I regard them as merely an annoyance, who represent a small minority, but have managed to obtain a disproportionate amount of power by aligning themselves to Labour. As Andrew Wilkie discovered, their reward for doing so has backfired on them somewhat.

Imagine Pauline Hanson is thinking - I told them so, and they wouldn't listen to me.

Labor will buy votes by puting us in more debt.

There is a way to resolve this dilemma.We must put pressure on the the Coalition to make the RBA do it's job of new money creation and loan it to our banks who currently borrow from the international counterfeiters like the US Federal Reserve.

If the US Fed can create micky mouse money in their computers,why cannot our RBA?

Labor positive agenda includes many records,

4 years of record deficits
Changed border control from 300 illegal boat arrivals in 6 years to 30 000 in 4 years.
Record public expenditure with no visible service increase,
"reformed" the tax system, by simply adding new taxes and leaving the old ones in place.
20 000 pieces of legislative red tape for industry and small business.

Etc

The comparison of 5 years of Labor incompetence against the coalition's steady and reliable rule is stark.

As opposed to some of the Howard "Golden Age" Miracles we've overlooked -

Biggest Trade deficit on record (including the longest run of successive monthly trade deficits),
Highest levels of household and business debt in history,
Lowest ever value of the Aussie dollar,
Interest rates consistently above the OECD average,
Highest inflation in 16 years,
Lowest ever housing affordability,
Highest rates of personal bankruptcies in 20 years,
Highest taxing government in history with
Massive cuts to health,education and other services while frittering away mineral boom benefits on electoral bribes.
Introduction of employee protection legislation prompted only by personal interest (such as bailing out a financially embarrassed brother's textile firm).


Those with short attention spans may have conveniently forgotten some of these items.

Steady and reliable, Abbott does keep a steady and reliable effort at putting his foot in his mouth, so much so it keeps him from reading things that matter. The good old golden days, what an effort.
If you think Abbott can stop boats arriving hence forth you have rocks in your head.
Will we see some form of policy from the non policy party this year, or will believers just tag along anyway, like they did in QLD.
Costed policy with macho detail, is what is required.
Attacking our female PM, left mr Abbott a little lonely. It's amazing how they thought something that far back was relevant.
Not to mention calling the PM a crook. X 2 members of the noalition.
Women don't like the little man, he has a way of disgusting them, with his hatred of women in authority.
How is this man going to change his character and not get worse results. It will take more than letting his hair grow.

Oh god.

Does a duck quack?

Even Richardson, who perfected the policy of buying greenie votes to hold government, is horrified at how far Labor has now gone.

Wobbles, Howard also had:

The greatest sustained economic growth in history,
The lowest tax rates in history, (the high tax revenue was a result of the profitability of companies under the coalition),
The lowest unemployment in history,
The fastest growth in real wages (incl the lowest paid) in history,
Etc

Labor has
the highest carbon tax in the world,
Lower educational results,
Longer hospital waiting times,
Record levels of corruption and ministers facing corruption charges,
Zero policy successes.

P.S.
Housing affordability is the responsibility of the state Labor governments.
Trade deficits and business debt in a growing economy is usually due to industrial investment and in equipment imports,

Ministers facing corruption charges. We may be having a political party facing charges of conduct wasting the time of a federal court, amongst other charges.
At least they have done the right thing by giving it to the federal police to investigate.
The Thomson saga is a little shacky after requests to brothels to come up with some evidence, or film on Thomson ever being there.
It's going to take another 3 months to find out what Thomson is charged for.
And yet we had a decision by the federal kangaroo court that Thomson was guilty, without being charged.

Labor accomplishments.

1) Provided free taxi service to thousands of potential welfare for lifers.

2) Homelessness reduced to ZERO for boat people.

3) Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on charter flights for welfare for lifers needing medical attention.

4) Ensuring welfare for lifers can access Legal Aid at the expense of a now system in debt.

5) MAJOR accomplishment is there ability to hide the real cost of boat people.

6) Releasing thousands of refugees into the community.

Here come the bribes - here comes greater debt.

PARENTS can expect a back-to-school January cash splash from the Gillard Government with payments of up to $820 for every child.

From January 1, the Government will provide eligible working dads or partners, including adoptive parents and same-sex partners, two weeks of Government-funded paternity leave at the rate of the national minimum wage, presently about $606 a week.

OH how easy it is to be free when the money is not coming out of your pocket.

You'r a bit behind the times there that started this year.
Abbott wants a bigger one than that, he wants full wages for middle class mothers.
Do you have something against refugees.
If you think abbott can stop refugees you have rocks in ya head.
The only thing to stop refugees is a slowdown of wars. The problem is world wide and we get a very small percentage of the problem.

579 - Quote "Do you have something against refugees." YES the cost projected for 2012/13 is $6.6 Billion dollars - HOW MANY AUSTRALIANS COULD BE HELPED WITH THAT.

Abbotts time and date stamp was 10 hours behind time. The only way this can happen is the time and date clock would have to be disabled. Or else it will automatically update.
Tech staff said they can see abbott's document was saved at 9.07 and converted at 9.08, how can that be so.