A few weeks ago, Labor were long odds to win and people were adjusting to the idea that the Liberals had come up with a potential answer to the question of: “How can any PM be worse than Scott Morrison?”
Now, it’s looking increasingly likely that Labor will be returned even though they’ve made a lot of people on social media very, very angry by having the temerity to not be the Liberal Party. Of course, they’ve made others angry by also not being The Greens. They’ve made a further significant group angry by not being the Labor Party of Gough.
Yet, in spite of all this anger, they may be re-elected, which will inevitably lead to some suggesting that we need to vote in ink because it’s clear that people must be rubbing out votes because the party they voted for only received two percent of the votes. Others will be suggesting that it’s the voting machines that aren’t used in Australia that are the reason because they can be manipulated by foreign agents…
While some like to point out that Labor may not be perfect, but at least they’re not the other mob, others argue that this is a pretty low bar. Rather like saying I may be responsible for one of the largest stock market falls this century, but at least it was one of the largest rebounds the next day. Or I may have been responsible for the Snowtown murders, but at least I’m not Elon Musk…
I remember when Trump was first elected and I expressed some misgivings about the man, I had a number of people telling me everything that’s wrong with Hillary and how I was a terrible human being for supporting her. I found this confusing because – even after checking – I found no point at which I actually wrote anything – positive or negative – about her. It should not be assumed that because I criticise one politician that I necessarily am a cheerleader for their opponent.
So, if I suggest that Labor seems to have been in a state of paralysis since they lost the Voice Referendum, this should not be taken as an endorsement of Barna-baby Joyce. Similarly when I comment on the shortcomings of some of their policies, I’m just doing it because it’s easier to criticise policies that actually exist, rather than getting into some casuistry about how Peter Dutton won’t be apply supply unicorns in a range of colours because some in his own party will object if people want a rainbow coloured one.
After all, it’s very difficult to argue about something which only exists in Dutton’s imagination, and it’s even harder to argue about the nuclear policy because it’s clear that this doesn’t exist in any substantial form, even in the imagination.
But speaking of imagination, we now have memes from the Liberal Party about stopping “Labor’s car and ute tax”, which has confused some people who haven’t heard about it. It’s actually the vehicle emissions restrictions, which the Liberals claim they won’t stop; they just won’t fine any manufacturer who breaks the rules. In addition, they also claim that they’ll stop the Labor/Greens superannuation tax… the tax on super balances over $3million. Of course, they won’t spell that out because most people will be thinking when I get a balance that big I won’t care!
Of course, if anyone does actually achieve that much in super, they’ll immediately change into the greedy, money-grubbing Gordon Gekko that everyone who earns more than me becomes…
There’s always a danger in what the average voter takes away as a subtext from any announcement. So when Jacinta says, “Make Australia Great Again”, it does no good to argue that she’s not echoing Trump because he said “America” and she said “Australia”, the subtext is clear…
I mean, it sounds nice when a politician promises to give us more money in a couple of years, but sometimes the amount of money isn’t enough and/or it’s too far away. A problem with both Labor’s tax cut and Liberals’ tax rebate. However, with any generous offer, the danger is that the subtext we take away is that the politician is a bit of a crawler, someone sucking up to you because they want something and we Aussies don’t like people like that. And if the offer it too generous, it may make it sound like the poor guy is just too desperate and is prepared to promise anything to be elected!
And when the Liberals tell us that we’ll always pay less tax under them, a lot of people will have the obvious response that it may because we’re earning less money thanks to their wages policy. (There’s the interview with Angus Taylor where he’s asked that very question and he…um, well… that’s not the point… what… the inflation… bracket creep… now… that’s… and no… we opposed the tax cuts but…hang on which tax cuts the Stage 3 broken promise or the recent ones?)
So when the Coalition complain that we’ll end up with a Greens/Labor government it may actually frighten rusted on Greens and Labor more than anyone. A lot of voters may think that this will be good because it will either force Labor to take the environment more seriously OR force the Greens to be more realistic with their demands.
Ah, well this time in a few weeks we’ll all be a whole lot wiser. But maybe not by as much as the Trump voters who lost their jobs.
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… the tax on super balances over $3million. Of course, they won’t spell that out because most people will be thinking when I get a balance that big I won’t care!
Don’t worry, with the markets in turmoil due to Coppertone Caligula’s on-againt-off-again tariffs and other dipshit actions, no-one is going to get anywhere near $3 mill in their super.
I don’t want to be picky but, the Liberal’s promise to enable first home buyers to deduct the interest they pay on a mortgage on a newly built home for five years would enable a first home buyer to deduct against their taxable income interest paid on the first $650,000 of a mortgage for five years.
How many first homebuyers build new houses, don’t they usually start with an existing home ?
Terry,
It’s just another dodgey scheme by Der Spud which I expect will be followed, after this weeks rubber spine replacement, by yet another backflip in the new week.
The conservatives under Dungton remain untouchable, for they never balance revenue and expenditure issues sensibly, ignorance ingrained. Vague promises of cuts, imply a reduced income, poorer services, essentials ignored. They have had twenty of the last twenty nine years since harping Howard started the ingrained greedy arsery matey decline for most of Australia’s society. Abbott to Morrison, on to Dutton, Chucko, spewo, heaveo. Now, let us all concentrate on Housing’s insuperable issues…
Yes Rossleigh,they have reached that point where they KNOW they can’t win, with Boofhead going the full monty on nuclear, as we lay into his shambles of a party.
Jacinta nameyour price,Ludicrous Angus,Ted the goose,Flannel mouth LLLLLey,Jane vacHume,Squawker Cash,all day Sukkar,David googy Littlebrain,lance cadet Paterson, and all the other insulting fuckwits, will be looking for a new avenue of freeloading.
Make Australia free of these arseholes, once and for all.
So, if spud loses his seat who will be the next leader of the liberal party, O O O O O, maybe susssssssssssan, she could add another could of ss’s to her name, or maybe the goose, no not the Ted goose, the other goose, the one with out the g in his name. Anyway, let us not count chickens before they hatch or we might well find ourselves with egg on our faces, but we can keep our fingers crossed all the same. Here’s hoping .
Dutton is really getting desperate when he has his son on a video saying how proud he is that his surname is the same as his Dads. Well , it would be wouldn’t it?
The other thing that Dutts came up with – again in the Trump playbook in mind- was this conveniently timed revelation of a possible “terror attack” on himself and his family.
Make NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, if, for some insane irrational reason that megalomaniacal, narcissistic, callously inhumane political psychopath, Dutton, rises to become the LNP’s NEXT “worst, most depraved and dangerously undemocratic fascist Crime Minister” of our nation, Dutton will IMMEDIATELY reverse, defund, destroy and/or annihilate ANYTHING he falsely promised during his current devious political campaign. Australians should NEVER FORGET that the elitist sociopaths in the LNP have NEVER achieved a single thing – not ONE. SINGLE. THING – in their non-achieving, appalling history that provided ANY benefit, whatsoever, to ordinary working- and middle-class Australians – NEVER! The miscreants in the LNP ONLY care about THEMSELVES and their selfish multi-millionaire supporters in the Top 1% (like Rinehart, Murdoch et al) who rarely, if ever, pay their FAIR SHARE of taxation to either help contribute to or assist in supporting our nation!
Dutton’s non-stop attempts to slander the ALP, the Greens or ANYONE who has the foresight to expose Dutton and the LNP for their endless lies, greed and depravity have been backed-up and supported by the ruthless, Z-rated, talentless hacks in the thoroughly discredited Murdoch media, the unofficial LNP Promotions Department that has become an infamous haven for right-wing extremists which has, inevitably, deteriorated to the point where they have become nothing more than a despicable MEGAPHONE for the cruel, racist, misogynistic and elitist LNP agenda!
You only have to take a good, long LOOK at the low, low “calibre” of repugnant, hideously corrupt sociopaths who have now come crawling out of the woodwork in a pathetic attempt to try and support Peter Dutton, truly one of the most unpopular, corrupt and hateful politicians in our history. Here they are:
The truly vile war criminal, JOHN HOWARD, who jumped at the chance to join the American bandwagon (under the misguided, now notorious, mismanagement of George W Bush) and allowed our nation to be thoroughly manipulated into sacrificing the lives of countless young Australians in America’s hideous and ILLEGAL invasion of Iraq;
The recidivist liar and rusted-on misogynist, TONY (Phony) ABBOTT, an inarticulate, mumbling, intellectual midget who’s ONLY “claim to fame” was gained through one of his notorious political speeches that included the outrageously sexist statement “… as the housewives of Australia are doing the ironing …..” (refer link below)…
https://www.smh.com.au/national/abbott-accused-of-being-incredibly-oldfashioned-as-he-lets-off-steam-20100209-nnqr.html
The bone-idle, internationally-condemned pathological liar, SLOTH MORRISON, who (like Abbott) is yet ANOTHER ultra-conservative, bible-thumping hypocrite who remains a signed-up member of the paedophile-protecting CULT of Hillsong! The reality is that Morrison is a totally incompetent, arrogant, megalomaniacal sociopath who’s mismanagement of our nation’s finances left Australia in appalling debt. Morrison was a coward who had such a callous disregard for Australians that, during one of the worst bushfires in our history, he and his family (at taxpayers’ expense) abandoned Australia to take a holiday in Hawaii! WOW! The long, endless summary of Morrison’s fcku-ups can be summarised here …..
https://grahamperrett.client.trfg.au/media/opinion-pieces/scott-morrison-the-great-australian-disaster/
Talking about cowardly LNP PM’s fleeing disaster areas, Dutton did EXACTLY the same thing during the destructive floods in northern NSW and southern Queensland (caused by the catastrophic Cyclone Alfred) when Dutton decided to avoid the floods that even grossly impacted his OWN electorate and, instead, jetted to Sydney in order to join Justin Hemmes – in the luxury of Hemmes’ multi-millionaire home in Vaucluse – for an LNP fundraiser, WOW …. (read about THAT Morrison-like act of disloyalty and betrayal in the link below) ….
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14466499/Peter-Dutton-Sydney-fundraiser-Tropical-Cyclone-Alfred.html?ito=social-facebook_Australia
There’s no doubt about it, one can NEVER UNDERESTIMATE the callous inhumanity, the stratospheric arrogance, the endless level of self-serving corruption, the non-stop pathological lies, the remorseless betrayal by the LNP against ordinary working- and middle-class Australians some of whom are foolish enough and/or Murdoch-manipulated enough to continue voting for these smug elitists, misogynistic predators and unconscionable political miscreants who take up EVERY seat in the LNP! As such, it is absolutely IMPERATIVE to the future of our State education, MEDICARE, our ABC, SBS and to our democratic future and the future of our children, that we keep the privatisation-obsessed, callously inhumane racists, condescending elitists, war mongers and arrogant misogynists in the LNP in PERMANENT OPPOSITION = VOTE LABOR or THE GREENS. Do NOT vote for dodgy Independents until you do a THOROUGH research into their background(s). Many so-called “Independents” are disenfranchised, disillusioned ex-LNP MPs who will, no doubt, (when push comes to shove) end up giving their preferences to the LNP!
I’m just happy that Jacinta is thinking about MAGA, making Australia great again…
To the time before the First Fleet.
I’m still trying to get my head around the coalition’s first home buyer announcements which the Murdoch media are crowing about but which are receiving very little economic analysis by people who actually understand these things.
The coalition will allow first home buyers to deduct interest costs on mortgages up to $650,000 from taxable income for five years – available to singles earning under $175,000 and couples earning under $250,000. This applies only to new builds so first homebuyers will largely be excluded from the existing housing market as economically they will be much better off building a new home to get the tax concession.
There will however be no tax on capital gains on the sale of a principle dwelling as is the case with many overseas countries where interest payments are tax deductible.
The coalition will also allow first homebuyers access to up to $50,000 in their superannuation to get a foothold into the market. Money withdrawn from super will however need to be returned when the house is sold.
What makes me uncomfortable with this policy is that it tends to force first homebuyers into outer, new sub-divisions in developing areas away from buying an existing home closer to town. The temptation to take advantage of this scheme would be great as, it is estimated that an average family could save about $11,000 a year, or $55,000 over the five years. However, the coalition scheme will be means-tested and limited to people earning $175,000 for singles and $250,000 for couples.
It seems to me that a first homebuyer will need to build in an extra bedroom to accommodate an accountant just to cut through the excruciating financial detail of the offerings from competing political parties.
Having touched on the coalition housing scheme – by no means a comprehensive analysis – let’s just touch on what Labor said yesterday (Sunday policy launch).
Albanese has promised $10 billion to build 100,000 homes over eight years exclusively for first home buyers.
Labor will also expand the first home guarantee scheme by allowing all first home buyers to access the property market (new and existing) with just a 5 per cent deposit. The federal government guarantees another 15 per cent of the purchase price, so the applicant avoids paying lenders mortgage insurance, which costs $23,000 for the average first home buyer.
This existing scheme has proved popular with about one in three first home buyers in 2023-24 using the guarantee.
Labor will also remove the $125,000 income limit for eligibility so the scheme becomes available to all first homebuyers, not limited to 35,000 per year as was previously the case.
Dutton’s imagination AND fantasy thinking of that rat-bag-rat, the Australian… one could not describe that rat-bag-rat alien entity as even having an imagination anywhere in its deep state editorial muck rated pages.
I foresee yet another backflip looming from Boing-Boing Baldy Man looming.
https://www.news.com.au/national/federal-election/peter-dutton-to-axe-free-tafe-courses-if-elected-prime-minister/news-story/766024391245b92e051f3ebf087ef109
GL
They call this journalism at Newscorp :
“Despite 600,000 people taking up free TAFE places since it began in January, 2023, just 100,000 people have completed courses.”
So how many actually abandoned their course prior to completion ? – that’s the takeaway that Newscorp and the Liberals want. How many are actually still studying ?
The only way we can rebuild our trades industries is with accessible TAFE which the coalition hate, that’s why they gutted it while in office.
Newscorp? Who is this Newscorp of which you speak? I know of Newscorpse, where news goes to to be turned into a corpse.
What a great big non-surprise for the LNP. I hear cries of confected outrage from Duddy and the Dumbettes, “We have environmental and climate change policies but we can’t tell you what they are until we have bowed down to receive Gina’s wisdom and then win the election.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/15/coalition-scores-just-1100-points-for-environment-and-climate-policies-from-conservation-organisation
Things just keep getting better and better for Labor. What will Backflip Baldy Boy have to say, if anything at all, about this:
https://www.smh.com.au/cbd/nazi-greens-leaked-messages-reveal-top-psychiatrist-s-liberal-group-chat-rant-20250414-p5lrmj.html
Blaming Labor won’t work anymore.