The Worlds most Hysterical Treasurer has decided to crackdown on wasteful funding, I am not saying some of these are wrong, I am saying, however, Labor have allowed them in the first place, so any wind back is of waste of their own making.
- A crackdown on government-funded liposuction
And yet they only just got around to this? - tax cuts for Mongolian, Tongan and Tunisian diplomats
We have the seat on the Security Council now - a cut to the cherry and stone fruit export levies
- a tax holiday for the Cricket World Cup
I am lost with this one? - tax-free donations to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Fund;
- money for Afghan soldiers
I could just attack them here, however it would be interesting to know what level of attack is really going on here against our troops - a rock and roll program for school kids
This was ridiculous in todays financial environment - $2 million for an Australian Ballet production centre in the Prime Minister’s home suburb of Altona ….Ooops this was not a cutback ????????
But hold on there are some strange figures in here, especially for a Government making so many cutbacks;
- And the ACT Govt will get $4Million a year
Obviously a reward for being ALP - For the sports fans, the government will provide assistance for the 2015 Asian Football Cup and
Somehow when we are making sacrifices so that ALP can show a surplus on paper, I can’t help to notice this is NOT a National priority. - build a Centre of Excellence for Hockey.
I love our Aussie Hockey teams but where is it in the National Interest to build this - There’s a $20 million advertising campaign on the National Broadband Network.
This is a total disgrace, they are wasting so much money building this and yet they want us to pay more in advertising??? - A $50,000 “ex gratia payment” for legal assistance to the Queensland coroner amid calls for an inquiry into a home insulation death.
We are under no obligation for this payment, so what is it for, or is this a attempt to corrupt the outcomes? - There’s $100 million a year for the Afghan National Security Forces as part of an international funding boost.
Of course we must give them the money they require to kill even more of our brave troops. - There’s assistance for laid off workers at Caltex, OneSteel and (We should all be jumping up and down on this) for Queensland Public Sector workers sacked by the Liberal state government.
Assistance for workers laid off as a result of the Carbon Tax, and Qld Public Servants laid off in order to get Qld alp built debt under control. Why is THIS in the Nations interest?? - For industry there’s $42 million for Alcoa’s Point Henry aluminium smelter in Geelong, Victoria;
One of the heavy polluters, getting paid because they can’t afford the Carbon Tax - $9.5 million for Australian Paper’s Maryvale Pulp and Paper Mill in Gippsland, VictoriaAnother one of the heavy polluters, getting paid because they can’t afford the Carbon Tax and,
- $300,000 for vegetable company Premium Fresh Tasmania.
I struggle with this, except to say it is in Tasmania. - An arts centre for Moonah, Tasmania.
I struggle with this, except to say it is in Tasmania - A centre for Rowing Education in Hobart.
I struggle with this, except to say it is in Tasmania - A down payment on the construction of a powerful radio telescope in West Australia.
Why can’t this be delayed???? - A recreation reserve at West Beach in Adelaide.
This is ridiculous, and knowing the area is just not needed - An upgrade to community facilities for children in Tamworth.
I don’t have much on this except to say WHO is the MP for Tamworth?? - Nearly $1 million for the Australian Workers Heritage Centre in Barcaldine, Queenslandthe headquarters of the 1891 Australian shearers’ strike and regarded by some as the birthplace of the Australian Labour Party. Perhaps that’s what Wayne Swan means by protecting labour values?
- There’s a program to collect data on kids wagging from private schools.
I just cannot understand this - A $14.3 million funding boost for a program helping young parents interact with their kids.
And yet we are coerced to work longer hours in order to afford looking after our family, due to this Government’s attack on families. - There’s $200,000 to get women on company boards
(when they’re not interacting with their kids, that is). I wonder why it is this Government can’t recognise it is the best person for the job that counts, the money should be directed towards those people who didn’t get the position due to sex or race. - One I won’t complain about, a $3.3 million to assist victims of the Bali bombings and their families to attend memorial services.
- There’s money for the United States Studies Centre at Sydney University,
This is a ridiculous waste of money - for the World Parks Congress in 2014,
The WHAT?????? - the Auschwitz-Berkenau Foundation (which looks after the sites of the former concentration camps in Germany),
For gods sake, we got the Security Council seat so cheaply didn’t we - the Asia Pacific Financial Forum and
This is not a priority for OUR Nation - a new G20 Studies Centre at the Lowy Institute…
I am sure this is not needed
The list of demands on government is always endless. The process to decide who gets funding is anything but transparent.
Some of this spending, seems reasonable and fair, but it’s important to realise the size and intricacy of the tax and that there is a cost to all this. Could there be any clearer indication of the bloated nature of our federal public service than Appendix A?
As well as curbing wasteful spending, it’s time to have a national conversation about what government is for in the first place.
Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey, attempted to do so with an insightful speech earlier this year titled “The end of the age of entitlement” which was dismissed quickly, although it should have been the catalyst for debate.
As the mining boom running out of puff, it’s clear we will soon no longer be able to afford everything we want government to do for us. Every dollar spent is a dollar that must be raised in tax, either from workers, companies or foreigners. Given the upcoming pressure from an ageing population, if we want to keep the budget in balance from here we’re going to need lower spending or higher taxes.
This means painful budget cuts for some as we strip away some entitlements to which we have become accustomed to. The baby bonus is one example. But affected parents should ask themselves: “what would I prefer: the baby bonus or lower taxes?” Or to keep the baby bonus and pay higher taxes?
Conservatives have always believed government should butt out of family lives.
Socialists think money should be better targeted at the truly disadvantaged.
And who is saying people that work hard and are considered wealthy need protecting. These are the people that open or invest in business and the people that employ others, yet they are the ones predatory Governments constantly take pieces out of until they cannot afford to invest in business.
