Dear SOG,

Let's have a debate on the economy but let's make
sure we stick to the facts and not the continued
beat-ups in the tabloid press.

The facts are Australia's net debt is dramatically
lower than the net debt levels of every single major
advanced economy.

Our current net debt is 10% of GDP compared to around
80% of the USA and the UK, and around 35% of Canada.

Australia's debt is so low, it has the gold triple A
rating. Interest rates are low and our economy is the
envy of the industrialised world.

Labor made a choice to support local jobs during the GFC,
a choice many countries around the world didn't or
couldn't make, they will be paying a very high price for
many years.

It's about time that we took a stand against misinformation.

It's about time that we took a stand against misinformation.
Lexi,
Yes it's time the academic background bureaucrats stopped lying about the monies they waste & steal from us.
Labor federal Government unfortunately will not change in our time. Unless of course they somehow & miraculously can rid themselves of themselves.

Ludwig>> The ONLY answer is to implement a sustainability paradigm, so that we can stop the demand for everything forever increasing and claw back the real meaning of economic growth… and start producing some real improvements for the Australian people.
Labor is more likely to move in this direction than the other mob.<<

Luddy, sorry I can’t let you get away with a comment that lacks rationality or reason.
I doubled over with laughter at your comment:
“Labor is more likely to move in this direction than the other mob.”

What direction Luddy? Labors “direction” has not managed to deliver one balanced budget in 5 years. Even during years where the government archived record tax receipts. These people are under graduate imbeciles and those who believe they have ANY answers are acolytes or dummkopfs, no offense.

Hasbeen, sorry, I have been busy bagging Belly and Luddy. I looked up the governments criteria for land valuations:

>>Property values are calculated by comparing data for your property to that of similar properties that have been sold. These are reviewed annually and your property value may change from year to year.
This annual revaluation reflects:
• changes in the property market based on the sale of properties over the year
• any new developments made to the property - eg an extension.
Rural property values are assessed based on the sale of properties in the same area or in comparable areas. A range of factors are taken into consideration when comparing rural properties, including:
• the break-up of land types
• yields or stocking rates
• rainfall averages
• water systems.
Commercial and industrial property values are based on the analysis of sales and rental data. Improvements, both those fixed to the land and made to the land, are included in the assessment of the property's capital value. Items not fixed to the land - eg machinery, and the value of the business are not included.<<

I don’t think you can blame the Labor clowns in Canberra, valuations are state govt issues tiger.

Lexi my Belle even the most ardent anti global warming skeptic believes in climate change, it is in the geological record. But is it caused by CO2 emissions, skeptics think not. Hasbeen may have issues with the global warming lobby regarding his land valuations given their influence in getting zoning changes with their Chicken Little “the sky is falling” diatribe.

If land gets devalued do the rates follow suit ?

Dear SOG,

I read Virginia Trioli's article in, "The Weekly
Review," today with great interest. People are
complaining about the high cost of living in this
country and I agree with her. I am proud and pleased
that Australia pays high wages, and has no desire to
head towards the cheaper wage levels of Asia or even
the US. And as she writes, "We all get it. The evidence
mounts and the reports are numerous about how
Melbourne and Sydney have now become some of the most
expensive cities in the world. Housing, transport, food,
and utilities. It all translates into one of the most
enviable lifestyles in the world, but one that gets
less affordable every year."

Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz wrote last week,
Australia escaped the global ravages of the GFC so well,
that we barely registered a blip. Prices stay high when
you don't go bust. That's the cost of this excellent
lifestyle again.

The arguments will rage about bringing the cost of living
down, and there will be outlandish claims about their
abilities to do this by the major political parties in this
year's federal election. They can't do much about it now.
Governments don't get to set electricity or gas prices
and the price pressures - infrastructure, access and
resources - are areas that governments really don't want
to get involved in any more. Major reform of
agriculture and food production is a forlorn hope,

The horse has bolted on proper planning and housing.

So the best we can do as Trioli points out:

"As I queue at the expensive IGA, I grit my teeth and
pay my money, and note with no chagrin as I leave the
supermarket, that the air I breathe is clean and no
bombs fall."