2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Rudd? (2 Viewers)

[Collin]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

Undecided.

 

[ihavenothing]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

Can we talk about the more interesting things about the election like who is retiring?

* John Anderson (National, Gwydir, NSW): The redistribution commissioners have recommended the abolition of Gwydir. He was quoted in the Australian on 10 July that he was retiring.
* Ian Causley (National, Page, NSW): will be 67 in October 2007. Announced his retirement October 2006.
* Ann Corcoran (ALP, Isaacs, Victoria): lost preselection
* Trish Draper (Liberal, Makin, South Australia): decision to retire reported July 2006
* Graham Edwards (ALP, Cowan, Western Australia): announced his retirement January 2006
* Kay Elson (Liberal, Forde, Queensland): retirement reported June 2006
* Warren Entsch (Liberal, Leichhardt, Queensland): has announced his retirement
* Geoff Prosser (Liberal, Forrest, WA): retirement reported June 2006
* Harry Quick (ALP, Franklin, Tasmania): announced retirement August 2005, although has since said he may contest as an independent if his preferred replacement is not preselected
* Robert Sercombe (ALP , Maribyrnong, Victoria): lost preselection 2006
* Barry Wakelin (Liberal, Grey, SA): retirement reported June 2006
* Rod Sawford (ALP, Port Adelaide, SA): retirement reported August 2006

 

[Naylyn]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

Oh god this country needs someone else apart from Howard calling the shots... He has ruined the things that made me pround to be Australian like tollerance and compassion for instance.

I will be devasted if the coalition get in again.

Oh and I wonder how many people realise that the foreign debt under Howard is heading towards 500 billions dollars and I can't wait to see the latest foreign ownership figures

 

[frog12986]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

Oh and I wonder how many people realise that the foreign debt under Howard is heading towards 500 billions dollars and I can't wait to see the latest foreign ownership figures

95% of which is private debt.. a far cry from the $96 Billion of public debt that existed previously. If people started to live within their means, go without certain luxuries, then maybe our reliance on credit would not be so severe.

It has become a trend to furnish the house with the top of the line goods, and pay regular items such as food with your credit card; personal responsibility and control would go a long way.

The old days of SAVING to buy a television, SAVING to buy a lounge suite or SAVING to go on a holiday are long gone. The demand for credit is unsustainable in such a small economy, so naturally the reliance on foriegn capital is going to be much greater..

I for one would like to hear from the ALP how they intend to keep interest rates and inflation low, employment and growth strong, and reduce this so-called 'foreign debt'..

Collective bargaining certainly won't be the answer, particularly as the labour shortage grows..

 

[Naylyn]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

95% of which is private debt.. a far cry from the $96 Billion of public debt that existed previously. If people started to live within their means, go without certain luxuries, then maybe our reliance on credit would not be so severe.

It has become a trend to furnish the house with the top of the line goods, and pay regular items such as food with your credit card; personal responsibility and control would go a long way.

The old days of SAVING to buy a television, SAVING to buy a lounge suite or SAVING to go on a holiday are long gone. The demand for credit is unsustainable in such a small economy, so naturally the reliance on foriegn capital is going to be much greater..

I for one would like to hear from the ALP how they intend to keep interest rates and inflation low, employment and growth strong, and reduce this so-called 'foreign debt'..

Collective bargaining certainly won't be the answer, particularly as the labour shortage grows..

How can 95% of Foreign Debt be private? Most private debt is with domestic banks...unless those banks are foreign owned.

I would also like to hear about Labours economic plans.

 

[Not-That-Bright]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

www.labor.org.au ?

 

[frog12986]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

How can 95% of Foreign Debt be private? Most private debt is with domestic banks...unless those banks are foreign owned. .

How can 95% of foreign debt be private? Based around the notion of savings..

Australia has one of the lowest savings rates in the world, and subsequently the supply of capital for domestic banks to lend is greatly reduced. Inadvertently, the financial institutions have to borrow from overseas to provide cash flow and capital for lending..

Now I'm no economic expert, but that is my understanding of the whole issue. If Australians are in vast amounts of debt, how else would they be able to borrow from financial institutions when savings levels are ridiculously low. The cash flow doesn't just appear out of the sky..

 

[KataK]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

People People tsk tsk tsk ....clearly John Howard is a complusive liar (children overboard, interest rates, weapons of mass destruction, etc.) and personally i detest the new industrial relations policy. So i definitely would not vote for ole Johnny.....

Alternatively, there's Kimmy with his voluptuous claims and crazy policy tearing abilities. I wouldn't vote for Beazley because well.... basically his a freaking idiot.

And the democrats...well are they still alive? who knows and who cares...

CLEARLY the choice is well...clear! The Greens! Whether u agree with all the policies or not, they have stayed together as a party and have a very contemporary approach to issues. With climate change upon us... its totally time for a freasher, greener approach. if u like dirty coal vote howard......

.I like my lungs and i hope u do too, vote for the greens.

And so what if they dont get elected to government (which is likely), at least u raised their voter percentage ratings which means those in power will start listening to their ideas.

Yay! political debate... its so exciting!

Peace Out
KataK

 

[withoutaface]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

WRITING YOUR POST IN BOLD MAKES YOUR ARGUMENT BETTER.

 

[frog12986]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

CLEARLY the choice is well...clear! The Greens! Whether u agree with all the policies or not, they have stayed together as a party and have a very contemporary approach to issues. With climate change upon us... its totally time for a freasher, greener approach. if u like dirty coal vote howard......

.I like my lungs and i hope u do too, vote for the greens.

And so what if they dont get elected to government (which is likely), at least u raised their voter percentage ratings which means those in power will start listening to their ideas.

Yay! political debate... its so exciting!

Peace Out
KataK

When Bob Brown retires, the Greens will face the same fate as the Democrats and every other fringe party in Australian political history..

 

[frog12986]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

One issue that hasn't been raised in this whole 'interest rate debate' has been the measurement of the real interest rate. Basically this is the current cash rate minus the inflation rate to better reflect the economic cost of borrowing and lending.

For instance, in 1990 when nominal rates were at 17%, inflation was at around 8.6% which yields a real rate of interest of around 8.4%. In 2006, if one projects the annualised inflation rate to be 3.9%, then the real interest rate is essentially 2.6%...

When one considers the cost of money, and relative increase in the cost of living, it provides a better reflection of the overall impact of the rate of interest; something that those 'critical' analysts on the ABC and SBS seem to conveniently ignore..

As for this whole 'proportion of income to pay for mortgage repayments' as purported by the ALP, at the same time, individuals wealth has been greatly increased due to the increase in equity value and acquirement.. Ultimately, this places people in a situation that can better handle economic fluctuations and establish themselves for the future.

 

[Naylyn]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

How can 95% of foreign debt be private? Based around the notion of savings..

Australia has one of the lowest savings rates in the world, and subsequently the supply of capital for domestic banks to lend is greatly reduced. Inadvertently, the financial institutions have to borrow from overseas to provide cash flow and capital for lending..

Now I'm no economic expert, but that is my understanding of the whole issue. If Australians are in vast amounts of debt, how else would they be able to borrow from financial institutions when savings levels are ridiculously low. The cash flow doesn't just appear out of the sky..

Just because people are bad savers doesn't mean that the banks won't have money to lend out, especially since banks are allowed to lend out over 18 times the amount of money that is deposited in them, and building societies are allowed to lend out over 30 times the amount. Yes banks literally create money out of nothing

If we it's true that the banks still don't have enough money then this country has some serious problems, apart from the others that we already have...

 

[frog12986]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

Just because people are bad savers doesn't mean that the banks won't have money to lend out, especially since banks are allowed to lend out over 18 times the amount of money that is deposited in them, and building societies are allowed to lend out over 30 times the amount. Yes banks literally create money out of nothing

If we it's true that the banks still don't have enough money then this country has some serious problems, apart from the others that we already have...

PG 4 PM... I think that says more about your post than actually reading it..

Did you just say that banks 'create money out of nothing'..?

 

[KataK]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

When Bob Brown retires, the Greens will face the same fate as the Democrats and every other fringe party in Australian political history..

my my my... what shall we ever do about cynics....

 

[frog12986]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

my my my... what shall we ever do about cynics....

Ahh but aren't most Australians.. I like to call it realism..

Aside from Brown the only person who could remotely remain anyway near as effective is Kerry Nettle, and well, she doesn't really have the leadership charisma to hold a party together..

In a political climate where leadership dictates success, the Greens have a bleak future..

 

[Iron]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

Ahh but aren't most Australians.. I like to call it realism..

Aside from Brown the only person who could remotely remain anyway near as effective is Kerry Nettle, and well, she doesn't really have the leadership charisma to hold a party together..

In a political climate where leadership dictates success, the Greens have a bleak future..

I doubt that all Green voters are just voting for Brown. It's a broad social movement which will always have a solid base of around 10% in the community (mainly young).

Brown has been able to put an acceptable face on the party as he has no personality. But dont kid yourself. All they want is a few key seats in the Senate (which over-represents them because of stupid state quotas) and that will let them ransom some unfortunate future government.

 

[frog12986]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

I doubt that all Green voters are just voting for Brown. It's a broad social movement which will always have a solid base of around 10% in the community (mainly young).

Brown has been able to put an acceptable face on the party as he has no personality. But dont kid yourself. All they want is a few key seats in the Senate (which over-represents them because of stupid state quotas) and that will let them ransom some unfortunate future government.

True, but would the removal of Brown negatively affect the party organisation and structure?

 

[Iron]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

True, but would the removal of Brown nagatively affect the party organisation and structure?

I dont see how they would be affected.
In terms of their primary, who knows. He's been able to put a fairly safe face on the party and absorb a fair few traditional labor folk (students/idealists). His calm/sedative exterior is a brilliant disguise for a pretty nutty interior (sometimes called 'the avocado' [hard green outside, brown nut inside]).
But radicals on the right make big issue of his homosexuality, which costs votes; In 04, he wanted to sue the christian right for defamation etc, and believed they cost him several hundred thousand votes with dodgy advertising - crucially, that cost Labor precious preferences which Latham banked so much on with the wacky forest policy. So it could go either way.

I personally hate all minor parties. Dont mind the independent, but minors are scumbags. How a party with around 7% of the vote, like the Nats or Greens, can dictate goverment policy by holding the balance of power, is beyond me. Take out the Senate John. Reform it within an inch of its life I say.

 

[frog12986]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

I personally hate all minor parties. Dont mind the independent, but minors are scumbags. How a party with around 7% of the vote, like the Nats or Greens, can dictate goverment policy by holding the balance of power, is beyond me. Take out the Senate John. Reform it within an inch of its life I say.

Could not agree with you more..

However, when there's an opposition with minimal substance (as has been the case), it does provide another avenue for 'accountability' and the raising of issues.

At the same time though, the Coalition has governed with less than 50% of the two party preferred vote on a number of occasions (the ALP once or twice), which conveys additional weaknesses in the existing system..

 

[Captain Gh3y]

Re: 2007 Federal Election - Coalition or Labor/Howard or Beazley?

If the Greens die anywhere it will be at State level, and because Labor (or maybe even Libs) take all their policies.

For example look at what's being done about the water shortages in several states; nothing, because rivers are sacred, etc.