Aussie economy better than predicted. Conservatives whine

[mr friendly guy]

http://www.news.com.au/business/economi ... 6386124382

Economy booms but Hockey declares Swan 'scary'

by: By Malcolm Farr, National Political Editor
From: news.com.au
June 06, 2012 1:06PM


Wayne Swan "scariest thing in Australia"
GDP soared to 4.3 per cent
Fastest annual rate of growth since 2007


OPPOSITION treasurer Joe Hockey has called Wayne Swan the ''scariest thing in Australia'' in his reply to the National Accounts figures.
He also attacked the Treasurer's lack of confidence.
"He is not someone who, if you were in the trenches and he blew the whistle, that you'd readily jump over the top for," Mr Hockey said.
This came after news that Australia had defied the global outbreak of economic illness with extraordinarily healthy growth of 1.3 per cent for the first three months of the year.
"I think the country should have a bounce in its step today," Treasurer Wayne Swan said today. "What a great day for Australia."
The March quarter national accounts report, released today, showed annual gross domestic product (GDP) soared to 4.3 per cent as the negative impact of the 2011 natural disasters passed through the data.
It was the fastest annual rate of growth since September 2007.
Mr Hockey said the "extraordinary figure" surprised just about everyone.
"This does demonstrate the resilience of the Australian people in the face of a flawed government," Mr Hockey said.
"Imagine how well our country could do if we had a good government?"
Mr Hockey said he hoped the trend continued but he feared the carbon tax, the mining tax and "the government's own incompetence" would make the elevated growth rate difficult to sustain.
Economist Christopher Joyce earlier tweeted: "The GDP data is a massive humiliation for anyone claiming the Australian economy has been `exceptionally' weak."
A significant slice of that growth came from greater consumer spending after years in which households have been keeping their wallets closed.
Growth will have slowed over the subsequent three months as the economic problems in Europe worsened, and the Reserve Bank of Australia is still likely to consider another rate cut in July to help the local economy.
But the outcome for the March quarter, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, was a good start to the year and is expected to boost business confidence.
Mr Swan today described the "stunning" jump in gross domestic product - national output - as "an extraordinary picture of exceptional growth".
He was clearly a fan of the figures, which indicate he is now better placed to reach the Budget surplus for 2012-13 which he promised in May.
He said it was driven by broad-based surge in business investment and strong growth in household consumption.
"These figures come at time when many advanced economies are struggling to grow at all, with a number of economies already in recession and suffering crippling levels of unemployment," Mr Swan said.
"Europe faces profound economic challenges and this continues to cast a shadow over the global outlook.
Despite these global challenges, the contrast between many advanced economies and the Australian economy could not be more stark."
Part of the surprise from the growth figures was the revelation that households are beginning to spend more, while continuing to save.
Household consumption grew by 1.6 per cent in the quarter, meaning a 4.2 per cent increase through the year.
People were paying more for services, but also for goods as canny consumers took advantage of price reductions by desperate retailers. Household savings remained high at 9.3 per cent of incomes.
But the biggest factor pumping up the economy was the mining sector and the billions in record investment levels it was attracting.
New private business investment grew by 5.5 per cent in the quarter to reach new record levels, and was 20.0 per cent higher through the year, said the Treasurer.
This was driven by exceptional growth of new engineering construction, which increased by nearly 20 per cent to be over 50 per cent higher through the year - one of its fastest annual rates in about 30 years.
"The outlook for investment is extremely positive, and supported by a record pipeline of planned investment, particularly in resources," Mr Swan said.
The Treasurer began tweeting his delight before even fronting a press conference.
"Today's exceptional numbers confirm that we have the strongest developed economy in the world, bar none. Something we can all be proud of," he said.

The ALP is disunited as ever, but at least they still have some type of plan, from the mining tax to the carbon tax, they seem to have been able to negotiate these bills through parliament. The opposition just seems to be negative and seem to think they can win on a I am not Labor platform.

[Chris OFarrell]

Frankly, the Opposition have never seemed IMO to GET the fact that they were thrown out of Government in 2007. When they then didnt get back the next time around, but had a bunch of relativly conservative independents back Labour rather than them, this rage increased ten fold.

So they will scream, rant, whinge, whine, yell an otherwise just get mad at anything and everything that might somehow lead them back into power. To the point that they are trying to say Thompson should resign 'for his own health' in response to questions about the rancid pursuit of said MP. Seriously trying to spin the almost Witch Trial level of attack against him designed to make him 'go away' so they can call on a fresh election into a genuine concern for the man and that he should just leave for his own health, we do care so much for him...

I hold our Government in contempt, but thats nothing compared to what I feel for the Opposition frankly.

But as for Conservative commentators, meh, seen it all before. People like Malcolm Farr and Piers Akerman are just cheerleaders for Tony Abbot these days, with a scattering of backhanded complements to the Government now and again to say 'See, weez are SO neutral!'.

[Stofsk]

The opposition just seems to be negative and seem to think they can win on a I am not Labor platform.

That's... probably what will happen next year, dude.

[mr friendly guy]

The opposition just seems to be negative and seem to think they can win on a I am not Labor platform.

That's... probably what will happen next year, dude.

Which if you think about it, makes us quite sad.

I think I will put Cthulhu on the lower house ballot and tick the box for a prank vote. After all, why settle for the lesser evil.

[bobalot]

Coalition's claim that Labor shouldn't accept Thomson's vote is pretty hypocritical. Thomson hasn't actually been charged with anything. The Liberals have a senator, Mary Jo Fisher, who was actually found guilty of assault (with no conviction recorded). Strangely enough, they are still accepting her vote.

[Stofsk]

Yeah the Coalition has been a bit nuts to go after Craig Thomson so hard, but don't you think it's a bit silly to bring up Mary Jo Fisher as an example of hypocrisy? Her matter was properly dealt with by the courts and no conviction was recorded, to say nothing of how what she did in no way compares to the kind of impropriety Thomson is alleged to have made.

[bobalot]

Yeah the Coalition has been a bit nuts to go after Craig Thomson so hard, but don't you think it's a bit silly to bring up Mary Jo Fisher as an example of hypocrisy? Her matter was properly dealt with by the courts and no conviction was recorded, to say nothing of how what she did in no way compares to the kind of impropriety Thomson is alleged to have made.

Assault is no longer serious?

[thejester]

At this point the whole thing is farcical and represents the sort of bubble that parliament is operating in. Bernard Keane at Crikey has written about this - the way the only people who consume political media are politicians, so we get into this ridiculous cycle were media exposure that the average punter has no interest in governs how politicians react to issues the average punter has no interest in. Abbott can smell blood in the water and wants to be in the Lodge before the next election. The average punter only cares about Thompson inasmuch as it confirms everything he already knew about modern Labor and modern politicians in general.

Going to the actual OP - George Megalogenis had come out with theory that Australia is becoming almost impossible to govern, not because of the actual real problems the nations face but just because the expectations of the electorate are absurdly high. We have it ridiculously good but voters are weaned onto cost-of-living issues and crack the shits when government does not solve their problems instantly. Rudd arguably got into office running that line and the Coalition isn't going to switch tack when it looks like wiping out its opponent; notice how not a single peep has been heard out of Joe Hockey about entitlements after his little blunder a month or so ago. It is all very depressing - the lucky country, run by the mediocre who benefit from its luck...

[bobalot]

Going to the actual OP - George Megalogenis had come out with theory that Australia is becoming almost impossible to govern, not because of the actual real problems the nations face but just because the expectations of the electorate are absurdly high. We have it ridiculously good but voters are weaned onto cost-of-living issues and crack the shits when government does not solve their problems instantly. Rudd arguably got into office running that line and the Coalition isn't going to switch tack when it looks like wiping out its opponent; notice how not a single peep has been heard out of Joe Hockey about entitlements after his little blunder a month or so ago. It is all very depressing - the lucky country, run by the mediocre who benefit from its luck...

On that note, this was based on a Essential poll a few weeks ago:

Being unhappy with your financial situation doesn’t appear to stop some people from spending. Nineteen per cent of people who expressed dissatisfaction with their financial situation took an overseas holiday in the past 12 months; 9% undertook home renovations, 30% bought a major household item; 5% even bought shares.

Source

It appears that many people are confusing genuine financial distress with being unable to live extravagant lifestyles.

[Stofsk]

Yeah the Coalition has been a bit nuts to go after Craig Thomson so hard, but don't you think it's a bit silly to bring up Mary Jo Fisher as an example of hypocrisy? Her matter was properly dealt with by the courts and no conviction was recorded, to say nothing of how what she did in no way compares to the kind of impropriety Thomson is alleged to have made.

Assault is no longer serious?

[bobalot]

I hate to break it to you, but that's what she was actually found guilty of by a court of law - assault. Thomson is innocent until proven guilty (although he looks dirty).

The idea that you shouldn't accept votes from people who have been accused of wrongdoing is ridiculous. Sophie Mirabella is accused of scamming a dying old bloke out of tens of thousands of dollars by his kids (and this is a matter being decided on in the courts) and funnelling this money to her campaign funds (without declaring it), which I think is far worse than anything Thomson has been accused of. However, there isn't a peep about not accepting her "tainted vote".

[Surlethe]

Growth will have slowed over the subsequent three months as the economic problems in Europe worsened, and the Reserve Bank of Australia is still likely to consider another rate cut in July to help the local economy.

This. The Royal Bank of Australia has been cutting rates ahead of time to make sure that the economy keeps growing instead of waiting for economic malaise to set in and then cutting rates.

The ALP is disunited as ever, but at least they still have some type of plan, from the mining tax to the carbon tax, they seem to have been able to negotiate these bills through parliament. The opposition just seems to be negative and seem to think they can win on a I am not Labor platform.

Yeah, they're probably not going to win anything with an economy like this, are they?

[Pendleton]

House prices have been falling dramatically, and other than the mining sector, Australia really hasn't got that much to soften the blow of a global slowdown. Mining will take a hit, as China is finally slowing itself due to lax demand, so the one sector that makes up 75% of your mining economy down under is about to take a drastic hit.

[Surlethe]

Australia really hasn't got that much to soften the blow of a global slowdown.

How about a central bank that's actually not willing to let the economy collapse? That has to count for something.

[Pendleton]

How about a central bank that's actually not willing to let the economy collapse? That has to count for something.

Worked for the US and EU, so, sure. Why not.

[Surlethe]

I'm not sure whether or not you're kidding.

[mr friendly guy]

Yeah the Coalition has been a bit nuts to go after Craig Thomson so hard, but don't you think it's a bit silly to bring up Mary Jo Fisher as an example of hypocrisy? Her matter was properly dealt with by the courts and no conviction was recorded, to say nothing of how what she did in no way compares to the kind of impropriety Thomson is alleged to have made.

But one is guilty and the other is not, (with innocent until proven guilty and all that stuff).

Another dose of hypocrisy is how Abbott whines when he is called out on his homophobia and anti refugee stance, with those posters attacking Abbot by saying his greatest fear is gays on boats. Considering how much Gillard was subjected to about her choosing not to have children (even when she wasn't PM) this smacks of typical bully boy behaviour. You can dish it out, but you can't take when its your turn to cop flak. I notice this consistently with the Conservatives. An article was posted on here a few years ago about how conservatives started off as the no confidence kid in school, and IIRC even Darth Wong joked about conservatives having whiny voices in reference to this claim. The Liberals seem hell bent on living up to this archetype.

[Pendleton]

I'm not sure whether or not you're kidding.

Oh, I am. I mean, if everyone else is doing it, Australia's got nothing to lose. QE3 all the way. The can has been so thoroughly kicked that I'm amazed it's anything but powdered aluminium now.

[D.Turtle]

Oh, I am. I mean, if everyone else is doing it, Australia's got nothing to lose. QE3 all the way. The can has been so thoroughly kicked that I'm amazed it's anything but powdered aluminium now.

Since at the very least the European Central Bank is doing pretty much the exact opposite of quantitative easing, and instead doing everything it can to keep inflation low - no matter the real world repercussions - I would like some of the stuff you're smoking.

[Pendleton]

Since at the very least the European Central Bank is doing pretty much the exact opposite of quantitative easing, and instead doing everything it can to keep inflation low - no matter the real world repercussions - I would like some of the stuff you're smoking.

What are you on about? Did you miss the LTRO operations the ECB has been pushing out? Or for that matter, the UK's own dallying in this form of dead cat bounce. Investors want more of this, and QE3 from the Fed is not off the cards yet either.

[Surlethe]

The ECB and Fed have both been running extraordinarily tight monetary policy. Look at how low inflation and nominal growth in the US and Eurozone have been.

[Zaune]

Assault is no longer serious?

I can see where you're coming from, but I would like to point out that "assault" could mean a number of things, some of them more serious than others.

[Alkaloid]

Another dose of hypocrisy is how Abbott whines when he is called out on his homophobia and anti refugee stance, with those posters attacking Abbot by saying his greatest fear is gays on boats. Considering how much Gillard was subjected to about her choosing not to have children (even when she wasn't PM) this smacks of typical bully boy behaviour. You can dish it out, but you can't take when its your turn to cop flak. I notice this consistently with the Conservatives. An article was posted on here a few years ago about how conservatives started off as the no confidence kid in school, and IIRC even Darth Wong joked about conservatives having whiny voices in reference to this claim. The Liberals seem hell bent on living up to this archetype.

What alarms me most about this is that there are salvageable people in both parties who aren't leaders but could well be good, useful people in the running of a country and are unable to do shit because the party power brokers put them in impossible positions. Swan is doing a good job as treasurer, but gets taken to task for having advisers and actually listening to them rather than relying on an economics degree unused for 30 years. Turnbull, a man who could be used to shove good solid arguments down the governments throat when they fuck up is stuck out in the wilderness battering at the walls of the single best labor policy because Abbott is afraid of him. Hell, I seriously dislike Hockey and he reminds me of nothing so much as a schoolyard bully, but I can't help but feel for him when he's essentially force into making statements he must know are insane to toe the party line. I can see most of those people going into politics with good intentions and just getting eaten by the machine. Instead we get power focussed on people like Abbott and Mirabela (a scary, scary lady) and Thompson or Rudd, people who as far as I can tell lust only for money and power because they don't have the mental capacity to do anything else.

That said, I do feel my life was improved by that gif of Abbott being chased out of the House by the Abominable Snowman from Ski Free

This. The Royal Bank of Australia has been cutting rates ahead of time to make sure that the economy keeps growing instead of waiting for economic malaise to set in and then cutting rates.

Minor nitpick. Reserve Bank of Australia. Otherwise, carry on.

I can see where you're coming from, but I would like to point out that "assault" could mean a number of things, some of them more serious than others.

Assault on a security guard and shoplifting I think it was. As in, he stopped her shoplifting, she assaulted him. Thats just from memory.

[bobalot]

Correct. She attacked a security guard when she was caught shoplifting.

[Stofsk]

That isn't the full story. She initially cooperated with the guard, but then had a panic attack and tried to leave in her car but the security guard (who was a woman btw Alkaloid) got in her way. Specifically, the assault came in the form of pushing the guard away from her guard then trying to shut the door repeatedly when the guard put her body in the way. Considering no conviction was recorded against her despite being found guilty of assault, I'm guessing the magistrate took all of that into account as mitigatory circumstances.

And I don't particularly agree with Abbott in trying to hang Thomson for whatever it is he did (or didn't do, who knows), because yeah, he's innocent until proven guilty, and this case seems to turn farcical day by day. But the problem I had with making the comparison between the two is one did what she did after having a panic attack and suffering from depression which lead to the events described above, while the other is alleged to have misused hundreds of thousands of dollars for his own benefit. Assault is serious, without a doubt, and I never implied otherwise, but corruption on that scale is something that shouldn't be ignored and I can actually see it being regarded as a tainted vote if the allegations were true (however, if they were true then it wouldn't matter anyway as a conviction would bar a politician from being in parliament). Abbott's still a dick though.

Sophie Mirabella is a more apt comparison to make and I don't have any problem with drawing a parallel there or pointing out Abbott's hypocrisy.