Have you actually been in business since the late 80s or not?

My knowledge on all of this comes about from 3 'sources'. The first is from my father who has run a civil engineering firm from the mid 70s until late 2009 when he and his partners sold it to a multinational civil engineering firm. The second is from having been actively interested in politics from when I was 9 years old. The third is from having run (though not been the owner) of businesses from 1998 til now.

Yes, unequivably the Bob & Paul government policies are what have directly resulted in the booming economy we have experienced.

LOL....dear of dear......](*,)

So in other words, no.

no????

sorry???

Well you are saying that Bob & Paul's government policies did not shape the current economic climate of Australia and you reckon that if we had politicians with their ability and leadership (hell even Howard's) then we would be in a worse position than with the current lot that are in parliment.

Well you are saying that Bob & Paul's government policies did not shape the current economic climate of Australia and you reckon that if we had politicians with their ability and leadership (hell even Howard's) then we would be in a worse position than with the current lot that are in parliment.

Batfink represents the current level of political discourse by the likes of Alan Jones & Andrew Bolt.

better go back and read what you wrote........

firstly qualify why my comments are blatantly ignorant.....are my quotes of record high interest rates incorrect...

If the Government is directionless, what does that make the opposition that is only interested in going the opposite direction as the current government?

you just can't admit this Government is the worst government in the history of our country....

Do you know whom it was that was setting the official cash rate at the time? Also do you remember what the housing interest rate under Howard as Treasurer was? Or what the cash rate under him was? Or is the inconvience of an official cash rate set by Howard as Treasurer at around 21% and a housing interest rate of 13% to hard to bare when you compare them to the official cash rate of around 8% and housing interest rate of around 12% under Keating as PM or the 19% cash rate and 17% housing rate when he was Treasurer? I take it you think that floating the dollar, the deregulation of the banking industry, the independance of the reserve bank, the active engagement of China as a trading partner are all things which did not result in us getting away from the horrors inflicted upon our economy by the policies put in place by the Fraser/Howard government policies?

I give up on this thread.

Do you know whom it was that was setting the official cash rate at the time? Also do you remember what the housing interest rate under Howard as Treasurer was? Or what the cash rate under him was? Or is the inconvience of an official cash rate set by Howard as Treasurer at around 21% and a housing interest rate of 13% to hard to bare when you compare them to the official cash rate of around 8% and housing interest rate of around 12% under Keating as PM or the 19% cash rate and 17% housing rate when he was Treasurer? I take it you think that floating the dollar, the deregulation of the banking industry, the independance of the reserve bank, the active engagement of China as a trading partner are all things which did not result in us getting away from the horrors inflicted upon our economy by the policies put in place by the Fraser/Howard government policies?

I give up on this thread.

[quote=batfink]
and fraser was the worst liberal PM the libs had ever seen....
quote]

Billy McMahon...

Poll points to a Labor rout

May 12, 2012

THE Coalition has widened its two-party lead to 58 to 42 per cent and Tony Abbott has boosted his approval in an Age-Nielsen poll that finds more than four in 10 voters believe Tuesday's budget will leave them worse off.

In a further knock for Julia Gillard, former prime minister Kevin Rudd has increased his margin over her as preferred leader, with one in two Australians saying Labor should change leaders.

Mr Rudd is now more than twice as popular as Ms Gillard as preferred leader - 62 per cent (up four points since February) to 30 per cent (down four).

The Coalition would win an election now in a landslide swing of about 8 per cent.

While budgets do not usually give governments a significant bounce, Labor would have hoped Tuesday's big giveaways would have gone down better. But the budget good news has been partially drowned out by the Craig Thomson affair.

The Coalition's two-party vote is up one point since late March, and Labor's down a point. Labor's primary vote has risen a point to 28 per cent; the Coalition is up two to 49 per cent and the Greens are down one point to 12 per cent.

Mr Abbott's approval has risen five points to 44 per cent, but his disapproval is still 52 per cent, down four points. Ms Gillard's approval is down one point to 35 per cent, while her disapproval is up one point to 60 per cent.

Mr Abbott has a comfortable lead as preferred prime minister, 50 per cent (up two points) to Ms Gillard's 42 per cent (down three points) in the poll of 1200 taken on Wednesday and Thursday. Victoria remains Labor's one bright spot, with the ALP leading 54 to 46 per cent in two-party terms.

Only just over a quarter of voters (27 per cent) said the budget - which contained an immediate cash splash for 1.3 million families with more handouts later - would leave them personally better off, with 43 per cent saying they would be personally worse off. Twenty-two per cent believe it would make no difference to them.

As leadership talk has revived within the Labor Party, 46 per cent of Labor voters and 70 per cent of Coalition voters would prefer Mr Rudd as leader.

Ms Gillard has a narrow majority among Labor voters - 52 per cent. She has increased her support by 10 points since late February with ALP voters while Mr Rudd, who was routed in the February leadership contest, has lost nine points among these people.

When voters were asked their preferred Labor leader from a longer list, both Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard lost about one-third of their original support.

Among six options, Mr Rudd was most popular with 42 per cent, followed by Ms Gillard (19 per cent), Stephen Smith (12 per cent), Simon Crean (9 per cent), Bill Shorten (8 per cent) and Greg Combet (4 per cent).

Mr Abbott yesterday threw into doubt whether the budget increase in family tax benefit A - up to $300 extra a year for a child from July next year - would remain under a Coalition government.

He said he didn't begrudge the money at this time, ''given they are about to get clobbered and their power bills and their gas bills and just about everything else is going to be going up … But nevertheless what we do with this particular measure in the longer term is something that we will tell people in good time before the next election.''

Mr Abbott said if there was no carbon tax, no one would need compensation.

Meanwhile, in a fresh development in the Thomson affair, Laurie Oakes reported on Channel Nine that Mr Thomson claims that threats were made in 2004 to set him up.

A submission last month from Mr Thomson's lawyers to Fair Work Australia claimed witnesses heard a rival official of the Health Services Union threaten to ''ruin Mr Thomson's life, to destroy his political ambitions and to set him up with a bunch of hookers and ruin him''.

The claim is set to be a central part of Mr Thomson's statement to Parliament later this month.

Nine reported that the submission attacked the investigator for not interviewing the witnesses, alleging this was evidence of a bias against him.

With AAP


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/poll-points-to-a-labor-rout-20120511-1yifl.html#ixzz1ucPVmYyB]

Love how its taken 4 years for Thomson to say he was set up. You would think if he was legitimately setup up this would have been what he would have said from the start. Dont trust the man one bit

Libs strike it rich

Phillip Thomson
May 13, 2012 - 12:00AM

AUSTRALIAN billionaires have poured twice as much money into the Coalition than the Labor Party in the past six years, an analysis of political donations shows.

Australian Electoral Commission records show, of the more than 30 individuals and family businesses with assets and wealth in the billions of dollars, the 12 largest donors to political parties overwhelmingly favoured the conservative side of politics.

The billionaire's club, which includes Westfield's Frank Lowy, gambling magnate James Packer and "high rise" Harry Triguboff, have given a combined $6 million to the Liberal and National parties.

The donations are usually made via companies they own or run and must be declared.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been accused of introducing class warfare rhetoric into the national debate this week by referring to "real families", but Labor has still reaped $3 million from billionaires since before the 2007 election. In March, Treasurer Wayne Swan also attacked the country's super-rich, accusing them of seeking to shape Australia's future to satisfy their own interests.

Academics say Ms Gillard's party has been courting the rich for years, despite her recent language.

Mr Lowy's Westfield Group appeared to be the biggest billionaire donor to Labor, giving $1.14 million from mid-2006 to last year.

The largest sum he gave to Labor was $200,000, just before the 2010 election.

Australian National University political theorist Professor Geoffrey Brennan said Labor's class warfare talk was phrased solely to persuade. "Everyone claims to be for the battler," he said.

"The Labor Party is not a party for the poor alone.

"Could the revelation of this fact give the battlers pause for thought? Maybe," he said.

The figures showed that no matter their politics most billionaires donate to both major parties.

"You don't know who is going to win so it pays to spread your portfolio," Professor Brennan said. "It doesn't necessarily change policy but it gives privileged access."

Even larger-than-life Queensland miner Clive Palmer – often cited as a loyal supporter of the conservatives – gave $130,000, via his private company Mineralogy, to the West Australian Labor Party. This figure is, however, overshadowed by the $3 million he gave to the Coalition in the same period.

For all of the donors, their contributions to political parties can be personally regarded as loose change.

Mr Packer's Crown Limited, for example, has donated more than $300,000 to the major parties in recent years (plus a reported $250,000 to Bob Katter's party). These sums are merely a footnote buried deep within Mr Packer's $4 billion-plus net fortune.


Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/libs-strike-it-rich-20120512-1yk1l.html#ixzz1uhUdSFhx

VICTORIA'S deputy chief psychiatrist - and State Government-appointed equal opportunities champion - has joined forces with doctors lobbying the Federal Government to ban same-sex marriage.

Twenty-two Victorian GPs, anaesthetists, obstetricians, palliative care specialists and psychiatrists, including Prof Kuravilla George, have joined 150 colleagues interstate to argue gay marriage poses a health risk to society.

In a letter to the Senate's inquiry into marriage equality, the group wrote that it was "important for the future health of our nation" to retain the definition of marriage as being between a man and woman.

"We submit the evidence is clear that children who grow up in a family with a mother and father do better in all parameters than children without," they wrote.

The doctors also said they were concerned legalising gay marriage would "normalise" homosexual behaviour and the "health consequences" linked with it, such as HIV and syphilis.

Gay rights activists have slammed the doctors as homophobes and accused them of fuelling teenage suicide linked to repressed sexuality.

Australian Marriage Equality spokesman Rodney Croome said medical signatories were "completely out of step with mainstream medical opinion and with the weight of medical research".

"We know that young gay people are four to six times more likely to attempt suicide because of the prejudice they experience," Mr Croome said.

Lead author of the submission, GP Lachlan Dunjey said declaring their views publicly would not affect how they treated patients.

"We accept patients of all persuasions and behaviours," Dr Dunjey said.

But former national AMA president and gay rights activist Kerryn Phelps said the doctors should "hang their heads in shame" and that Prof George's position on the board of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission should be reviewed.

"They should immediately disqualify themselves from dealing with matters of sexuality, as they clearly have no idea about its complexities."

In Loving, Virginia’s Supreme Court justified a ban on interracial marriages by citing religious beliefs. Others argued against it on the grounds that it violated natural order and would lead to unhealthy children — perhaps mentally retarded or a mongrel breed.

Gay sex is also called unnatural, or regarded as bestial, by some today, he said, and the American Psychiatric Association considered homosexuality a psychological disorder until 1973. Forde-Mazrui acknowledged that the relation to procreation is different in gay relationships; now the concern is more the lack of procreation because many consider marriage a foundation for having children.

Do they realise, whether they can marry or not, gay people will still have sex and have children through surrogate mothers or adoption?

Senior Labor figures urge Julia Gillard to cut ties with Greens

by: SAMANTHA MAIDEN NATIONAL POLITICAL EDITOR From: The Sunday Telegraph May 13, 2012 12:00AM

SENIOR Labor figures believe the Gillard government should cut ties with the Greens and call an early election if parliament becomes unworkable.

The internal debate comes as one of the union leaders who backed Julia Gillard for The Lodge, Australian Workers' Union boss Paul Howes, prepares to publicly urge the party to distance itself from the Greens.

The election option is being discussed by Labor strategists, unionists and MPs despite them conceding the party is not campaign-ready for a snap poll.

Speculation has mounted after the cash splash in the Budget that the Prime Minister has prepared an insurance plan if Labor is forced to the polls by a no-confidence motion or a by-election loss.

Billions of dollars will start flowing this week, with eligible families securing their first carbon tax compensation of a $110 lump sum from May 16.

Lump sum payments for pensioners will be deposited in bank accounts at the end of the month.

NSW Right figures have told The Sunday Telegraph there was a "real question" about whether the parliament would become so unworkable an election was the only option."Why do you put a dog down that could live in pain for another two years," one Labor figure commented.

The risk of an early election is one of the biggest arguments against a return to the leadership of Kevin Rudd, with senior cabinet ministers warning any move to dump Ms Gillard would likely result in a snap poll.

But some in Labor believe calling an election might not be such a bad plan rather than continuing to govern in defiance of angry voters with parliamentary support that hangs by a thread and the grace of mercurial independents.

Leadership speculation is set to flare again with Mr Rudd breaking his vow of public silence next Sunday with an appearance at the Sydney Writers' Festival where he will help launch the new book by independent Bob Katter.

Although the Prime Minister has repeatedly vowed her intention is to run a full term, the decision might not lie in Ms Gillard's hands if the independents force the government to the brink.

Mr Howes is preparing to launch a public call for Labor to resist the environmental movement and take a tougher line with the Greens at a speech at the National Press Club later this month.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/julia-gillard-urged-to-cut-greens/story-e6freuy9-1226353848613

Really sad when the options for PM are Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott.

ARGENTINA'S President Cristina Kirchner will write to Prime Minister Julia Gillard to encourage her to support same-sex marriage, after an Australian pair became the first foreign same-sex couple to marry in the South American country.

Prominent same-sex marriage campaigner Alex Greenwich, the national convener of Australian Marriage Equality, married his long-term partner Victor Hoeld in a ceremony in Buenos Aires on the weekend. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Argentina, where more than 90 per cent of citizens identify as Catholic, since July 2010.

Mr Greenwich, of Sydney, was jubilant yesterday about his wedding, but expressed regret that he had needed to leave Australia to marry.

''Our wedding has been the happiest day of my life, and I will return to Australia more energised than ever before to achieve marriage equality,'' he said.

''As special as our wedding was, it is a shame that we had to travel to a foreign country that affords us more rights than the country we live in and love.''

Until recently, Buenos Aires limited marriage to residents of Argentina. But this requirement was dropped after Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young wrote to Buenos Aires mayor Mauricio Macri, asking him to make an exception on ''compassionate grounds'' for couples from countries that do not allow same-sex marriage.

Ms Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who both oppose same-sex marriage, were last week accused of being out of step with their international counterparts after US President Barack Obama endorsed gay marriage and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said he did not oppose it. British Prime Minister David Cameron has previously expressed support for same-sex marriage, and same-sex marriage has been legal in Canada since 2005.
Ms Gillard said President Obama's comments would not influence her.

''My view's not changing,'' she told ABC radio. ''I believe what I believe.''

Three separate bills to legalise same-sex marriage are before Federal Parliament. But as things stand, all the bills appear headed for defeat at the hand of their Labor opponents - including Ms Gillard - and the Coalition. While Labor MPs have a conscience vote on the issue, Coalition MPs do not.

Meanwhile, the Australian Medical Association distanced itself from a statement by a group of doctors that argued heterosexual marriage was healthier for children.

Among the signatories to the submission from the group Doctors for the Family to a federal parliamentary inquiry is Kuruvilla George, Victoria's deputy chief psychiatrist and a board member of the state's Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.

AMA president Steve Hambleton rejected the group's claims, which he said were not supported by evidence.
Gay rights activist and former AMA president Kerryn Phelps said Dr George's position on the board of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission should be reviewed.