As a union man and a labor man...

[melon....]

the lovely Mrs tee , i stand by what I have written and am convinced that the only real winners under an Abbott government will be the mining companies and big business, the big end of town will again profit to the max awhile the countries resources are shovelled up and shipped offshore with no benefit to our country our environment will suffer as will the hip pocket of every working Australian and genuine taxpayer? no need for work choices that will be negated by just fly in fly out workers from os on appropriate conditions and pay expect the Australian economy to find itself in recession very quickly, there not an economic manager amongst them the closest they've got is hockey's wfe who's a merchant banker?Personally i hope it doesn't come to pass but sadly i fully expect it? and of course expect another election soon as Abbott finds he can't get his legislation through the senate( sounds familiar? he will call a double dissolution whereas Australians after finally living under theis fanatic can then vote them out again to reinstall a genuine labor government, probably without gillard certainly without Thomson and a few independents? our future seems vert spirited in the next few years?

Steve, stop listening to Get Up! at the momnet the future generations are all losers under this pathetic Green Labor minority Brothel.

Pray the mining companies keep making billions because without their contribution, we are truely farqued.

[stephenj]

im not on the get up mailing list, i do listen and watch parliament when itrs sitting, just had a chalf hour chat witrh e3x alp state member barry collier, hes convinced were doomed for 5 plus years in the alp, although the party does have a way of renewing itself especially after a shellaqcking which is expected! theyve never paid fair tax before only state royalties , now thetyre expected to pay tax like everyone else they start screaming last time the mining tax was suggested thery spent 27million$ on adsvertising to kill it!

[novice chook]

Well the mining companies seem to be on a winner under the current government as it is, what with Labor allowing Rhinehart to import close to 2,000 foreign workers to work at her mines. N doubt her request will be followed by other mining companies, who will be expecting the same concessions. And there is little or nothing the unions will be able to do about it.

What Labor should have done is offer them 2,000 illegal boat people who are already in the country. At least they'd be paying their way then.

NC

[Guest]

And Dice, at least private debt might just be reducing under this govt. But if it is its only because people are too scared to spend and the Govt has increased debt way beyond a reasonable level, making it harder for business and individuals to get more money.

Money has been too easy for the last 15 years. That is why we are in this mess in the first place.

Well the mining companies seem to be on a winner under the current government as it is, what with Labor allowing Rhinehart to import close to 2,000 foreign workers to work at her mines. N doubt her request will be followed by other mining companies, who will be expecting the same concessions. And there is little or nothing the unions will be able to do about it.

What Labor should have done is offer them 2,000 illegal boat people who are already in the country. At least they'd be paying their way then.

NC

I don't understand the hooha about this proposal. How does this differ to Swan's 2011 budget where he allowed so many thousands of migrant workers to enter Australia on temporary work visas to work in mining? Better to bring them in on temporary visas and send them back home if/when the boom ends, than to pay them all unemployment benefits.

It is one of the big mistakes we have made in assuming our economy will forever expand. If it doesn't the unemployment rate will explode and we will have millions of recent migrants with permanent residency all entitled to welfare.

[novice chook]

Dice, personally I have no issue with allowing these foreign workers in if the circumstances demand it. My post was more directed towards those who believe that employment and working conditions will be destroyed if the Coalition win government, when in fact it won't change dramatically from exactly what it is now.

Having been a worker and taxpayer under both sides of government for over (gulp) 30 years, I believe I've been better off financially under a Coalition government. But then I don't receive any government subsidy whatsever other than (currently) the 30% private hospital rebate - from either side.

I do have more faith in the Coalition to spend my taxes wisely than I do Labor, whose bleeding heart faction is a wastleland for funds.

NC

[Guest]

I do have more faith in the Coalition to spend my taxes wisely than I do Labor, whose bleeding heart faction is a wastleland for funds.

NC

Tell me about it. I tried to flog a whole warehouse of pink bats to mardi gras fairies and had to offload the surplus to the Macragh Foundation.

[Guest]

NC, the prosperity we gained under the coalition government is a fallacy. The same fallacy that has been smashed all around the world. Everyone believes they are better off because they have equity in their overpriced homes, so they spend big on cars tvs holidays etc. But when house prices come tumbling down and people lose their equity they are still left with much higher debts that still need to be repaid.

The true wealth of a nation is determined by their foreign debt levels. Ours is sitting at over 60% of GDP which is about 20% higher than when Keating made his infamous "Banana Republic" comments. The scary thing is Keating made those remarks during the "recession we had to have" with a devalued dollar and low GDP. If we were to go into a recession now our dollar would get smashed and our GDP would fall. With foreign debts owed in foreign currencies our debt-to-gdp levels would rise to well over 100% or close to 3 times the levels Keating was ridiculed for.

We already have issues with a 4% shortfall in tax revenue which is about the same amount of the final disgraceful Coalition tax cut bribe try and regain government. There is now no easy way to raise taxes because every idiot has converted that money ("prosperity") into even more debt.

It was a big disappointment that the Coalition didn't remain in government so that they could live with the fallout of their selfish stupidity.

[chook 56]

NC, the prosperity we gained under the coalition government is a fallacy. The same fallacy that has been smashed all around the world. Everyone believes they are better off because they have equity in their overpriced homes, so they spend big on cars tvs holidays etc. But when house prices come tumbling down and people lose their equity they are still left with much higher debts that still need to be repaid.

The true wealth of a nation is determined by their foreign debt levels. Ours is sitting at over 60% of GDP which is about 20% higher than when Keating made his infamous "Banana Republic" comments. The scary thing is Keating made those remarks during the "recession we had to have" with a devalued dollar and low GDP. If we were to go into a recession now our dollar would get smashed and our GDP would fall. With foreign debts owed in foreign currencies our debt-to-gdp levels would rise to well over 100% or close to 3 times the levels Keating was ridiculed for.

We already have issues with a 4% shortfall in tax revenue which is about the same amount of the final disgraceful Coalition tax cut bribe try and regain government. There is now no easy way to raise taxes because every idiot has converted that money ("prosperity") into even more debt.

It was a big disappointment that the Coalition didn't remain in government so that they could live with the fallout of their selfish stupidity.

DING DING DING!

My exact words. I said it at the time Labor won government from Howard.

[novice chook]

Maybe I'm just in the minority in that I've always lived within my means. I bought a place that I could afford and still enjoy a reasonable standard of living whilst paying it off. And then worked hard and sacrificed luxuries to pay it off sooner than I had to. It's not a palace and it's not in a fancy suburb but it's mine.

And I don't buy anything I can't afford to pay for in cash/EFTPOS. My credit card is basically there for emergency medical bills, car repairs etc where I need a certain amount of money then and there, with no prior warning.

If I want something, I save for it and then buy it when I've saved enough. Always worked for me. Unfortunately that doesn't appear to be a fashionable approach to life these days. It's all "I want it now and pay for it later" mentality.

And that goes for individuals and governments.

NC

[John Corey]

Hey Chook u better get your marching boots on. O'Farrell is about to make major changes to NSW workcover and the rights of workers to seek common law injury damages. A committee will hand over their findings to him June 13. Amongst many changes , they are looking at raising the Whole Person Impairment threshold from 15% to 30%. In other words you will not be able to seek injury damages unless your WPI is 30%.(nearly dead). I could go on with more but basically if you are totally incapacitated as a result of your work you will have an uphill battle getting the compensation to support you. You will be restricted to workers compensation court which is capped. Instead u will end up on the crappy disability pension.

[SConcierge]

Maybe I'm just in the minority in that I've always lived within my means. I bought a place that I could afford and still enjoy a reasonable standard of living whilst paying it off. And then worked hard and sacrificed luxuries to pay it off sooner than I had to. It's not a palace and it's not in a fancy suburb but it's mine.

And I don't buy anything I can't afford to pay for in cash/EFTPOS. My credit card is basically there for emergency medical bills, car repairs etc where I need a certain amount of money then and there, with no prior warning.

If I want something, I save for it and then buy it when I've saved enough. Always worked for me. Unfortunately that doesn't appear to be a fashionable approach to life these days. It's all "I want it now and pay for it later" mentality.

And that goes for individuals and governments.

NC

Well done NC a big round of applause for you mate its the only way to operate

[Guest]

Hey Chook u better get your marching boots on. O'Farrell is about to make major changes to NSW workcover and the rights of workers to seek common law injury damages. A committee will hand over their findings to him June 13. Amongst many changes , they are looking at raising the Whole Person Impairment threshold from 15% to 30%. In other words you will not be able to seek injury damages unless your WPI is 30%.(nearly dead). I could go on with more but basically if you are totally incapacitated as a result of your work you will have an uphill battle getting the compensation to support you. You will be restricted to workers compensation court which is capped. Instead u will end up on the crappy disability pension.

You know there was a time when this would have fired me up, but you know what. People vote for the coallition to have control over their IR laws they can bloody well live with the consequences. Fark em, I no longer give a shit.

Chook.

[chook 56]

You know there was a time when this would have fired me up, but you know what. People vote for the coallition to have control over their IR laws they can bloody well live with the consequences. Fark em, I no longer give a shit.

Chook.

Onya, Braith.

[Guest]

You know there was a time when this would have fired me up, but you know what. People vote for the coallition to have control over their IR laws they can bloody well live with the consequences. Fark em, I no longer give a shit.

Chook.

Good riddance.
I'm sure the unions will fill whatever bloodsucking role you leave quicker than a rat to a corpse.

BTW, we have Ofarrel because State Labour were more incompetent, corrupt and unstable than the decomposing federal Labour.

[Rocky Rhodes]

I was a union member for several years whilst at CBA. When they decided to outsource their IT we were told we no longer had a career at CBA. Union took it too court and lost. No redundancy, lost all accumulated long service leave and other entitlements,

My biggest disappointment was not the fact I lost about $50k worth of entitlements. It was the fact I wasted several thousand dollars in union fees in the process.

Since then I have realised that I can make a lot more money by forgetting about unions and a false sense of job security.

Wow...you worked at the same place at roughly the same time i did. That was my first job. So what department / team did you work with Dice? Who knows...i may know you.