Tony Abbott IS a liar. No doubts about it now.

We told you all this was what the born to rule party would do if you voted them in. They do it every time. Fraser, coward and now this lot. WTF is wrong with you Australia?

This is class war. The cruel hits to the sick, the unemployed, the young, students, pensioners and parents are just obscene and vicious.
The hide of the fat, cigar smoking hokey telling us to suffer while these scum and their mates capture even more of Australias wealth is unforgivable and the guillotine would be too good for these rabid cashchuckers.

The GP tax and the extra costs for health WILL result in people dying. When this happens it will be abbott and hokeys fault. Will they be held accountable? Will they be dragged in front of a royal commision? Will they even care?

Palmer, Labor and the greens should block supply, bring on a double dissolution election and condemn rabbott and the fat controller to history.

Tax'Em Tony has just *LIED* again. I saw him in Question Times just a few minutes ago saying that there's been no changes to the pension. Is this man living in a parallel universe? Is he on LSD?

The aged pension supplement, which all eligible aged pensioners receive every fortnight in their payment .... HAS BEEN 100% TOTALLY SCRAPPED. A single pensioner on the full pension, permanently loses $867 a year as a result.

Pensions have also been changed because increases will now be indexed differently, thus ensuring SMALLER increases.

Pensions have also been changed because the pension age will be increased to 70 over time.

Before the election the liar Abbott solemnly *PROMISED* that aged pensions would not be altered.

He's now CHANGED the pension, and remarkably still stands up and claims the aged pension has not changed.

Abbott is the most LYING and DECEITFUL PM Australia has ever had. He has no shame. He's a liar, can't be trusted and should resign.

Take a chill pill Nhoj, you'll do yourself a damage.

It could have been worse; the debt levy (a mere 2%) could have been applied to those on salaries of $100K - as it rightly should have been.
I certainly wouldn't mind a net, after allowable costs, of a reasonable fraction of that lower figure.

What was the aged pension 'supplement' for anyway? Was it meant to last forever, or was it one of Rudd's GFC quantitative easing measures?
Or, social engineering or vote bartering?

Matching rates to indexation sounds quite logical. Probably should be the normal mechanism across the board.

I suppose you don't think there was any need to rein-in the budget, or to tackle infrastructure development or medical research, or a need to stimulate industrial development to provide the jobs for younger Australians, both now and into the future?

I'd like to have seen a bigger hit on the big end of town, but given that business and industry are the ones that create employment and prosperity for all Aussies (new and old), I guess I can live with it, and be satisfied to review progress along the way.

I'm not too keen on the hit on fuel and tobacco, but maybe, like with the carbon tax hit on electricity, we can find ways to do more with less.

We will survive.
But I pity those asylum seekers.
How about we give a thought to those far worse off than we are?

This thread is not about what coulda/woulda/shoulda been in the budget.

This thread is not about whether people agree or disagree about the budget content.

It's about the mendacious, lying PM we have. It's about deceit, lies and lack of trust.

If the PM had said *BEFORE* the election that he'd do all of these pension changes and new taxes .... I would have ZERO grounds to complain about him.

But Tax'Em ToneLIAR didn't do that. In fact, he *REPEATEDLY* promised to *NOT* do these things.

HE LIED TO AUSTRALIA.

He should resign in disgrace. He is the most untrustworthy PM Australia has ever had. Julia Gillard was a mere amateur liar compared to the repeated, lying and deceitful behaviour of Tax'Em ToneLIAR before the election .... just to get elected.

Nhoj, this may be your thread, but we are free to contribute whatever 'take' on this issue we may choose.

You've made up your mind, and expressed your opinion, but there's little point in repeating your displeasure ad infinitum.
We've got your 'take', but if we can't move on, flesh-out the issue, then it's dead in the water - apart from people agreeing or disagreeing with your specific point of view.
How boring and fruitless that would be - snooze, snooze.

Lies, or justified adjustments and alterations to policy position based on review of prevailing circumstances? That is the nub of the issue.

Ok, honesty in politics is important, but in this instance I think the relative virtue or otherwise of the revised policy, and budgetary direction, is the more important consideration.

Honesty is one thing, justified 'amendment' quite another.
Since when has politics or the economic situation been static and unmovable?

What's your real take on where our government and our economy should be going?
What's the 'Nhoj' Plan?

<< (2)Imposed a Medicare $7 *TAX* >>

Regardless of items (1) and (3), this is not a tax, but a payment for a service.

So far, the government, using my tax money, paid for your favourite kind of health-service in full. In doing so, they were encouraging you to live unhealthily, thinking that your doctor will fix everything without charge. From now on they will only pay most, but not all of your fees, while you would need to pay just a fraction of the cost out-of-pocket. This may perhaps slightly encourage you to lead a healthier lifestyle.

In comparison, they never paid for my health-services because I don't use the services of Western medical doctors. When I need any health-related service, I pay for it in full. I'm aware that I need to budget and save for my health-related services just like any other goods or services I want or need - yet still I'm forced to subsidise with my tax your type of unwholesome services.

Sometimes we complain about the greediness, corruption and inefficiencies of government, but in this particular case the government is not in charge, itself a hostage of the most powerful Mafia in Australia - the AMA guild.

As far as health legislation goes, the AMA dictates, in accordance with both their philosophy and greed, and the politicians nod and scribble what they say in the books like sheep. The laws even grants them privileges that are unrelated to healing - for example they have the exclusive right to decide who is alive and who is dead, who is able to work and who isn't, whether one is responsible or not for their actions, what caused one's death and in some cases whether one may or may not hold a driving license.

It's only the emergency deficit situation which allowed politicians to make a dent in the doctors' privileges, still a tiny and barely noticeable dent, a far cry from what is needed - to kick them down all the stairs and allow people to choose their health-treatments on a plane level field.