I wish we had a libertarian-right wing party :(

Edited by 433: 14/5/2014 10:28:32 PM

Would never have thought they would have that sort of position :lol:

For those who haven't heard of them before


Another one of these "think tanks" with cool official sounding names but with obvious agendas. Institute of Public Affairs being the well known one.

so in short hi income earners are doing ALL the lifting......they pay the highest tax and are ineligible for any welfare payments,

Ok so 52% of "income units" ARE paying tax. Income units also include pensioners by the ABS definition. There's no doubt there are people (sorry income units) out there that could be contributing more to the economy and taxes that aren't because they have access to some form of middle class welfare (I wonder which government brought most of those in...) but the figures can't be as alarmist as what is being suggested in that unreferenced article...

Edited by mcjules: 15/5/2014 08:44:34 AM

Ok so 52% of "income units" ARE paying tax. Income units also include pensioners by the ABS definition. There's no doubt there are people (sorry income units) out there that could be contributing more to the economy and taxes that aren't because they have access to some form of middle class welfare (I wonder which government brought most of those in...) but the figures can't be as alarmist as what is being suggested in that unreferenced article...

Edited by mcjules: 15/5/2014 08:44:34 AM

Budget: it will be chaplains, not secular social workers, at schools
National school chaplaincy program given $245m in funding, despite cuts to future school spending

Schools will lose the option of appointing secular social workers under the national school chaplaincy program, for which the Abbott government has found an extra $245m in budget funding.

While flagging big cuts to future school spending growth, the Coalition's first budget earmarks the funding over five years to continue the chaplaincy scheme originally put into place by John Howard.

But the education minister, Christopher Pyne, confirmed he would axe an option put in place by the Labor government for schools to opt for non-religious student welfare worker as an alternative to a chaplain providing “pastoral care”.

“Counsellors and social workers in schools are really the responsibility of the states and territories,” Pyne told Guardian Australia on Wednesday.

The Australian Education Union – which has long argued funds for the chaplaincy program should be redirected – described Pyne's justification as “an extraordinary comment”.

“So where does the Australian constitution say that the federal government is responsible for school chaplains,” said the federal president, Angelo Gavrielatos.

Schools can access $20,000 a year to help engage school chaplains. The former Labor government supported and extended the program but funding was due to expire at the end of 2014.

The budget papers show 3,527 schools receive support for chaplaincy or student welfare services under the existing program. The Education Department said 623 schools had engaged a student welfare worker rather than a chaplain.

The number of schools to be supported under the revamped program is expected to drop to 2,900. Budget papers flag “simplified reporting and administrative requirements to allow funding recipients to better focus on delivering chaplain services”.

The Coalition says the extension of the program fulfils an election promise. Pyne said the chaplaincy program was successful and popular in the community.

But the opposition education spokeswoman, Kate Ellis, questioned the government's priorities given it would curb school funding increases from 2018 onwards, which she said would fail to keep pace with rising education costs.

Ellis said it was wrong for the government to direct funding only to chaplains who had a “direct link to organised religion”.

“In my view it was really important that Labor expanded the program and we could see that the people who were best equipped for the job could go into the schools where they were required,” she said.

Tony Abbott and the treasurer, Joe Hockey, have been pushing the message that state and territory governments must take greater responsibility for health and education.

Changes to hospitals and schools funding would save the federal government a total of $80bn by 2024-25, a budget overview document says.

Sounded like "dud" to me.

it's beyond me that someone like you thinks it quite alright and acceptable that 50% of income units don't contribute....
and when the system is obviously broken no one will make the changes required to fix it

Even Howard criticized the budget :lol:

-PB

Typical populist drivel by Shorten in the budget reply speech. Nothing of substance to offer other ideological distorted vitriolic spew. No plan how to bring the budget back into balance just attack the cuts they created through their own economic incompetence while claiming heroic credit for their unaffordable, unsustainable welfare programs. Labor should go and run charities rather than pretending they are capable of running countries.

No solutions in how to pay back Australia's growing debt. Very disappointing Bill

Spending more than you earn makes no sense

:lol:

"Run surpluses when times are good, so that debt may be kept in check in difficult times " -- John Meynard Keynes

Even Wayne Swann believed in budget surpluses, and even tried to deliver one, and failed. The current opposition doesn't believe in anything, except their own rhetoric there is no debt problem and you can spend and borrow as much as you like with no plan to pay it back. Labors economic credibility was already low but tonight Shorten just smashed it to bits.

Plenty of rent-a-crowd in the public gallery tonight.

Typical populist drivel by Shorten in the budget reply speech. Nothing of substance to offer other ideological distorted vitriolic spew. No plan how to bring the budget back into balance just attack the cuts they created through their own economic incompetence while claiming heroic credit for their unaffordable, unsustainable welfare programs. Labor should go and run charities rather than pretending they are capable of running countries.

The liberals doubled the deficit in 9 months, then lumped the most ideologically extreme budget on working class Australians in 30 years.

Bill Shorten is absolutely right to tell these guys to get fucked.