Paul,

"Just on the topic is Wacky Jacqui about to do the bolt and leave PUP and set herself up as an "independent" senator, me thinks its just around the corner."

Methinks you are correct.

Jacqui has gotten a little carried away with her MSM notoriety. She appears to think she's the star of the show these days, and is apparently totally oblivious to the belly laughs she is engendering in the wider community.

I think Clive will try and hold onto her as it makes his voting block stronger to have her there.

However, Jacqui appears to have begun calling for the leader of her party to fall into line with her bizarre utterances...it's only a matter of time before her ego defies gravity and reaches for the stars.

Should be a hoot!...she makes Pauline Hanson seem reasonable.

Paul,

I should have checked the headlines first.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-19/palmer-united-party-demotes-jacqui-lambie/5901950

"The head of the Palmer United Party, Clive Palmer, says Jacqui Lambie has been demoted by the parliamentary party.

Mr Palmer said Senator Lambie has been removed as deputy Senate leader and deputy whip of the party for failing to attend three party meetings this week.

The move follows a deepening animosity between Mr Palmer and Senator Lambie over her comments about party colleagues and political positions.

Mr Palmer said Senator Lambie had not been expelled from the party, but he wants her to sort out her problems.

"We've also suspended her from attending any party room meeting meetings until such time as she gives an undertaking not to attack individual party members and to attend party meetings and to abide by majority decision and normal party procedure," he said.

On Monday Senator Lambie said she would consider her position with the party over the next few days and weeks after revealing she had not spoken to any of her PUP colleagues since last month."

But then again, Lambie is set to put the odd spoke in the govt's wheels...

http://www.afr.com/p/national/coalition_financial_advice_changes_v2ye6UZcNh2JGEIh1Ax1qI

(which, in the case of a cohort of lying scoundrels, is probably a good thing)

"The federal government’s changes to Labor’s future of financial advice laws are set to be unravelled.

Renegade Palmer United Party Senator Jacqui Lambie and Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party Senator Ricky Muir have broken ranks with Clive Palmer and plan to join Labor, the Greens, and Senators Nick Xenophon and John Madigan to disallow the laws.

The group has labelled itself the Coalition of Common Sense.

The government’s changes were enacted by regulation, not legislation. Regulations can be undone by the passage of a disallowance motion in either house of Parliament."

"Senator Lambie said on Wednesday she was only new to the Senate when she first voted with the government on FoFA. She now realises she had done the wrong thing after hearing about how investors were ruined by the Timbercorp and other scandals.

“I’ve found my way now,’’ she said.

“I have to go in there in make it right.’"

Poirot; Jacqui's got 5 years guaranteed employment, providing there is no DD of parliament, which is highly unlikely, then she is out on her ear. I don't believe Big Clive will contest the next election. The PUP party without Palmer is the UP party, yeah up, up a creek without a paddle, more like it, with no unity, and without the United, it would simply be the P party and it would not be much of a party party for the two boofs and Jacqui left to their own devises. We know Jacqui doesn't have a clue as to what she doing. I don't think the other pair have a clue what they are doing in Canberra either, killing time, warming seats, not much else.

p/s One of my sons said he was definitely going to vote PUP before the election, now he strenuously denies he ever did such a thing, claims he voted Labor, as always, but I don't know.

P,

I am stunned by the complete ignorance on display. The RBA is a bank, and like all banks borrows money at a low rate and lend it out at a higher rate, the less capital the bank has, the less business it does and the less profit it makes.

Yes the money that Hockey borrowed to replace the capital pillaged by Whine Swan, will cost $300m p.a. but will generate profits well in excess. Compared to the estimated wastage on the BER of nearly $8bn, which yields zero return this is a good investment.

A,

I don't have a problem with the RBA paying dividends, you are confusing me with someone else.

Anyone with a basic understanding of Keynesian economics would know that Keynes was an economic conservative, and whilst demonstrating the benefits of stimulus in a recession strongly advised against stimulus in times of growth. As Australia never technically entered a recession, the stimulus required would have at most been the sufficient to protect threatened jobs for the short time between the GFC and the mining boom. When growth is 3%, inflation is back within the target zone, and unemployment is down to the lower 5% there is no justification for ANY further stimulus.

The BER was a prime example of a poor stimulus plan. The plan had to be made from scratch, and took a long time to get going so much so that the vast majority of the expenditure did not start until 2010. It then delivered vastly over priced structures most of which did not meet the primary needs of the schools.

A far better initiative was proposed by the coalition of subsidizing planned projects via low cost loans that could start immediately, create thousands of jobs and deliver profitable enterprises and income at a fraction of the cost to treasury.

Shadow, further to my previous posting, your 20% figure is wrong. The real data is graphed at http://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2014/nov/18/slow-wage-rises-show-australias-industrial-relations-system-is-working (which also includes links to its source).