Who's Going to Run the Country???

[Koala-Man]

I agree that interest rates are worrying a big chunk of voters, but I think what is missing is any indication that either party will do anything different to keep interest rates low.

In fact neither the Coalition federal or labour state govts have done anything to keep rates low. There have been no tax reforms to stimulate productivity or workforce participation, only tax cuts which drive inflation up, followed by interest rates. The big spending election will only serve to put further upward pressure on inflation, too.

So although interest rates are at the front of people's minds, I don't think it will be the decider for swingers ( like me).

That last point's a very important point one, Richard. Until now, the coalition has managed to maintain an image of economic competence and so other issues (Iraq, global warming, whatever) have not been the deciding factor.

Now there have been challenges to the coalition's economic credentials (unlike the last election where the ALP let Costello use them as a punching bag).

Whether or not the challenges are valid, the mere fact that those credentials are now seen as contested terrain seems to have allowed voters to revisit all those other matters that they'd unitl now been willing to overlook.

And there is an awfully long list of such matters covering a wide spectrum of the electorate. And for that reason I think a large swing (I mean larger than the 4% or so needed to oust the government and possibly even Howard from his own seat) is likely.

It will certainly be an interesting election.

At this point I was going to start drivelling on about what Alan Greenpan's book has to say about the outlook for global inflation and interest rates as the excess supply of cheap labour in China is used up - but then I remembered it's a woodwork forum so I'll just shut up now.

Gaz.

[rsser]

What it will come down to for the House of Reps is actually a handful of voters in a handful of electorates.

[dazzler]

Keep going Gaz....more than welcome in this forum .

And your right Ern and whats the bet that Turnbulls will end in a court fight

[Woodlee]

The Howard and Costello show bothers me since hes going to retire halfway through and slot Costello into the seat of power in this country and a more contemptuous arrogant jumped up little snide bastard of a pollie Ive not seen for many a year that that one... the thought of this person as the leader of our country fills me with dread.





Who will win? Either one or the other... better question would be... who will loose answer? you me and every other Aussie!

Costello is lower than whale sh*t , anti worker ,and anti union to the core ,he will make radical changes to work choices when he gets into power .He is a member of the New Right and the HR Nichols Society where workchoices was concieved.
Costello has no balls ,if he did he would have challenged Howard long ago.
As far as I'm concerned he is "The Man who comes behind" ( read Henry Lawsons poem for the meaning ,first stanza below)

"THERE’S a class of men (and women) who are always on their guard—
Cunning, treacherous, suspicious—feeling softly—grasping hard—
Brainy, yet without the courage to forsake the beaten track—
Cautiously they feel their way behind a bolder spirit’s back."

Howard is a barefaced liar ,a bigger liar than Tom Pepper in fact .
He's told more lies in the last 11 years than I've had hot dinners .
We only know a small part of the lies he's told .
Niether of them is the the sort of person I would trust running the country .

I will vote Labor regardless ,I don't like liars period.
It takes a real man to stand up and admit a mistake or wrong doing, a liar in my opinion is lower than ,well.....whale sh*t .


But I agree with your last statement ,ordinary Aussies will be the loosers either way .
I just think Labor is the best of a bad bunch.

My two bobs worth .

Kev

[astrid]

I know this is a bit of a blokey formum, but to put my girly 2 cents in,
I dont think howard has bothered to recognise the 50% of voters who are mainly between 25-50.and dont usually play cricket.
-try to get kev on not controling T
Go Theresa!
-have a go at the "barren" red head
Go julia!
Howard really is out of touch with women who arn't Jannine
and he and his ministers have really Pssd a lot of us off
take the abortion pill , child care, extra subsidies for women who can afford to stay home, super top ups for stay at home spouses.

even if I was liberally inclined, Id feel very Pssd off
Just look at the support christine Nixon is getting in Vic from all sections ot the community

the likes of Howard, Abbot and that bloke from Tas have annoyed us mightily and we vote

Astrid

[prozac]

Hi Astrid. Wow!

Well if you like Julia then vote for Kevin. I don't think that she will let him sit atop the throne for long.

prozac

[Buzzer]

Bumbling Bureaucrats

[ernknot]

My big worry is that when we have voted all the minor parties will give their preferrences to other parties. This means that some one will get the power to make changes which was not why they were voted for. I feel strongly that there should be no preferrences given to any party. If you vote for A then all the votes stay with A and so on. Have similar feelings about voting above the line. You should vote for the representative you feel can do some good for you, not the party as a whole. Vote below the line and make it count.

[Wood Butcher]

Well, I'll give Kevin points for fronting up on Rove. He's showing that he's willing to put himself out there and came up with some brilliant comebacks to Rove's questions.

Howard was given plenty of chances to do the same but has his head too far up his ???? to bother. There's a lot of people my age that didn't experience the last labor government and have only seen what the coalition have been doing recently and have had enough. Climate change is a big issue for the younger generation because we are the ones who could end experiencing the side effects. The current cost of housing hits us hard, a lot of older voters already have a house, so it doesn't effect them the same.

Go ahaed flame away, but I'm sick of working my ???? off and sick of listening to John Howard not side stepping questions all the time and even worse Peter Costello drivelling crap every time he opens his mouth and always taking cheap, cheap shots at every one else. Actually the Coalitions members in Queensland do the same. They ridicule everything Labour says but never offer a solution.

[dazzler]

Well, I'll give Kevin points for fronting up on Rove. He's showing that he's willing to put himself out there and came up with some brilliant comebacks to Rove's questions.
.

While he left his deputy to reply to detailed questions about policy on ABC Insiders. Only leader of a party to refuse to go on Insiders for the last 3 elections. Says something doesnt it?

Not saying Howard is any better....but Rove , whos pulling the wool over whose eyes

Who would you be gay for Kevin?......Yep, thatll help the country grow

[Big Shed]

The current cost of housing hits us hard, a lot of older voters already have a house, so it doesn't effect them the same.

Wood Butcher, without trying to be cynical here, I am one of those older voters that already has a house. You know how our generation achieved that? We saved and saved and went without till that goal was achieved.
What is more, we did that without a $14000 Govt grant (put in by the coalition BTW) but did it under our own steam.
Realistically, what can the govt, any govt, do to lower the cost of housing? Put in price control perhaps?
I am old enough to know that change for change sake can lead to very disappointing outcomes.
Looking for the govt, and I mean any govt, to help us achieve our goals in life is a bit akin to the cargo cult in PNG.

[silentC]

The frightening thing is that a lot of people are going to vote for Rudd because they hate John Howard.

Don't wish too hard for what you want, or you might get it - and if you get it - you might wish you'd never got it at all...

[astrid]

sorry big shed, but which generation.?
people in the 50's had 5% fixed interest, poeple in the 80's had high interest (for a couple of years in the life of a loan, but had job security and protected wages.
People in the noughties have neither and the boomers (of which I am one)
have pushed prices sky high with their super investment.

This generation also starts off their life with a HEX debt, somthing that the
X gen and boomers like Costello never had to worry about. My partner included.

This youngest working generation has to worry a lot more about providing for their kids higher education as well as paying health insurance and a host of other stuff that used to be universally available through taxation.
All courtesy of Howard and Co (and ok, labour introduced HEX but it was controlled at a realistic level).

Astrid

[Big Shed]

The frightening thing is that a lot of people are going to vote for Rudd because they hate John Howard.

Don't wish too hard for what you want, or you might get it - and if you get it - you might wish you'd never got it at all...

Yep, just ask the people that voted for Whitlam, because "it was time".

Not one of the candidates in this current crop of Labor members has any government experience, and that includes Rudd.

The only one they had left was Beasley, but he couldn't win a popularity contest, so out he went.

[Big Shed]

sorry big shed, but which generation.?
people in the 50's had 5% fixed interest, poeple in the 80's had high interest (for a couple of years in the life of a loan, but had job security and protected wages.
People in the noughties have neither and the boomers (of which I am one)
have pushed prices sky high with their super investment.

This generation also starts off their life with a HEX debt, somthing that the
X gen and boomers like Costello never had to worry about. My partner included.

This youngest working generation has to worry a lot more about providing for their kids higher education as well as paying health insurance and a host of other stuff that used to be universally available through taxation.
All courtesy of Howard and Co (and ok, labour introduced HEX but it was controlled at a realistic level).

Astrid

Astrid, I bought my first house in 1965, yes I had fixed interest (5.25%) for 5 years, after that it was market rates.
In those days we all had to pay private health insurance, there was no Medibank/Medicare or whatever scheme, and we had much better health care then than we have now.
The point I was making is that my generation and the one s before me, went without to achieve the ownership of our house. The current generation first of all expects far more in a house, 2-4 times the size for a start, it has to have all the carpets, fancy appliances, paving etc. Yes all that costs more, so why not crawl before you walk and build it up gradually?
It is no good blaming the govt (of whatever persuasion) for the choices you make in life, we are all masters of our own destiny.
I am just waiting for the next "recession we had to have"