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It would seem the architect of WorkChoices in Peter Costello has finally made a decision to leave politics (supposedly). It pains me that he never had the guts to become leader of the Opposition and face his truly deserving exit of being humiliated by the Government on the big stage for fostering WorkChoices on the public. Gutless to the very end.

Adios, scumbag.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 01,00.html

Gees Gozo.....your hatred of the Liberal party is becoming nauseating

Get over it buddy!!!

What, little Johnny had nothing to do with WorkChoices? ... he's been trying to get that type of legislation through for 30 years!

So Gozu, I suppose you will hand back to the government any financial benefit you might have received when Peter Costello was Treasurer then ... tax cuts, health insurance rebate, super benefits, family benefits, etc?

Yes, his decision making (or lack thereof) to get the top job was at times bewildering, but (much as I hate to admit), the man was a very good Treasurer and servant of the Liberal Party.

He deserves a dignified and respected send off IMO and is not in the same league as Sol.

dedja wrote:What, little Johnny had nothing to do with WorkChoices? ... he's been trying to get that type of legislation through for 30 years!

So Gozu, I suppose you will hand back to the government any financial benefit you might have received when Peter Costello was Treasurer then ... tax cuts, health insurance rebate, super benefits, family benefits, etc?

Yes, his decision making (or lack thereof) to get the top job was at times bewildering, but (much as I hate to admit), the man was a very good Treasurer and servant of the Liberal Party.

He deserves a dignified and respected send off IMO and is not in the same league as Sol.

He wanted it but it was Costello who put much of the legislation together. He was the major architect of Workchoices, however he was a good treasurer and deserves to be recognised for that.

and in an occupation where everyone shafts everyone else, supported his boss even though he knew he could have done a better job.

Very rare in politics and deserves credit

Stupid and ignorant post Gozu and I dont care if I get moderated

And to think no one has raised Joel Fitzgibbon's slide through a whirlpool yet. Hmmm.
Costello took 12 years to build a $20m surplus that his opponents said was too big to have, and said that more should be returned to the states. Swan took about 12 days to give it away and 6 months to rack up a $300bn debt.

Squawk wrote:Costello took 12 years to build a $20m surplus that his opponents said was too big to have, and said that more should be returned to the states. Swan took about 12 days to give it away and 6 months to rack up a $300bn debt.

Please don't get me started on this ... most of the debt is because of a shortfall of revenue in the (global) economy. If Costello and little Johnny were still at the wheel, the projected debt would only be $20B less than the Labor figure. Yes, $20B is still a large number, but it's not $300B!

dedja wrote:If Costello and little Johnny were still at the wheel, the projected debt would only be $20B less than the Labor figure.

So now Labor spending policy is Liberal spending policy too - do they use the same inspirations for policy decisions now? (Maybe - Ken Henry is a pretty popular man with Kevin and Wayne these days).

I think most people accept that a large part of the debt is inextricably associated with the GFC. The question is - is the response the right response? Is the answer to spend spend spend? Moderate spending is one thing, but more than moderate spending is another thing altogether.

Squawk wrote:

dedja wrote:If Costello and little Johnny were still at the wheel, the projected debt would only be $20B less than the Labor figure.

So now Labor spending policy is Liberal spending policy too - do they use the same inspirations for policy decisions now? (Maybe - Ken Henry is a pretty popular man with Kevin and Wayne these days).

I think most people accept that a large part of the debt is inextricably associated with the GFC. The question is - is the response the right response? Is the answer to spend spend spend? Moderate spending is one thing, but more than moderate spending is another thing altogether.

So now you're contradicting yourself ... Swan took 6 months to racked up a $300B debt but you accept that a large part of the debt is inextricably associated with the GFC.

Of course their policies are different, but don't be a lemming and blindly follow the opposition's debt propaganda, because it is disingenuous in the extreme.

If you want to make an argument about the discretionary spend which the opposition themselves have stated is approx $20B more than their policies would have factored in, then we have no quarrel.

Swan is still the keeper of the purse strings....and his time is no performance of "Swan Lake" thus far.

At the end of the day, I'm just sick of being sandwiched by state and Cwlth govt rules that keep changing for the worse (for me and many others in generation x) and being expected to be completely financially responsible for myself and then to pick up tabs for baby boomers and generations y and z.

If I knew that would be the case 20 years ago, I might have retired when I left school instead of blindly taking off to make something of a future that is eroded more and more the older I get.

Gozu wrote:It would seem the architect of WorkChoices in Peter Costello has finally made a decision to leave politics (supposedly). It pains me that he never had the guts to become leader of the Opposition and face his truly deserving exit of being humiliated by the Government on the big stage for fostering WorkChoices on the public. Gutless to the very end.

Adios, scumbag.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 01,00.html

Goebbzu the minister for enlightenment and propaganda returns. Welcome back mate! In two or three years time, when interest rates are rising because of government spending and we're paying off the debt over the next 10 or more years, people will look back at the Costello tenure as treasurer as a golden age

Costello was not a good treasurer. And furthermore, he would have shafted Howard if he had a set of balls.

I'm not on any side, just like to see it as it is.

Cheers for clearing that up Quichey


I know SFA bout politics apart from what i read and hear (which you cannot always believe) but your prob the only person in Aus that reckons he wasnt a good treasurer. What you basing this on? Obviously not on the same factors as everyone else judges him on

A more realistic appraisal?
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/565 ... o-brandis/

The extremist Labor fellow travellers, like Gozu, will never concede any good in any opposition politician, or even Labor moderates.
I respect Whitlam for his ideals if not his performance, Jim Cairns for his honesty, Kim Beasley for holding off the those extremists as long as he could, and Kevin Rudd for at least moderating the extremism of the Labor left so far after the previous leadership fiasco.

Gough was the only one I actually voted for, but I had lunch with former state Labor MP Terry Groom recently..

Stumps wrote:Cheers for clearing that up Quichey


I know SFA bout politics apart from what i read and hear (which you cannot always believe) but your prob the only person in Aus that reckons he wasnt a good treasurer. What you basing this on? Obviously not on the same factors as everyone else judges him on

I doubt that I'm the only one that thinks so.

Costello is entirely responsible for the shift in our tax mix. He used the economic boom to fund successive cuts to income tax while allowing company tax receipts to grow to over a quarter of whole tax takes (in 1996-97 it was less than 15%). This exposure to a collapse in company tax revenue was then passed onto the current incumbents. The Treasury department completely misread the resources boom and made the wrong call in deciding the increase in Australia's terms of trade was permanent.

I see that the Rudd Govt is looking at giving him a government job!!! Good to see the Laberals and Libor can get together on some things.

I sit next to a bloke at work who has been here less than a year from South Africa (Johannesburg, precisely). He has lived in London and has a Chilean wife with family in Israel. He makes the interesting observation (respectfully, I must add) that the kinds of things Australians complain about are inconsequential by international standards. They absolutely love it here. And he's taken the Australian cricket team on board.

Costello was, whatever your politics, a successful treasurer.

The current government is making a fair fist of the current circumstances.

How many of us can say that our lives have turned upside down due to government policy during the course of the last couple of decades (please don't cite interest rates or health insurance rebates)?

McAlmanac wrote:I sit next to a bloke at work who has been here less than a year from South Africa (Johannesburg, precisely). He has lived in London and has a Chilean wife with family in Israel. He makes the interesting observation (respectfully, I must add) that the kinds of things Australians complain about are inconsequential by international standards. They absolutely love it here. And he's taken the Australian cricket team on board.

Costello was, whatever your politics, a successful treasurer.

The current government is making a fair fist of the current circumstances.

How many of us can say that our lives have turned upside down due to government policy during the course of the last couple of decades (please don't cite interest rates or health insurance rebates)?

absolutely spot on McAlmanac ... I used to work with a South African from Jo'burg and couldn't believe the stories he told me. I also worked with a Lebanese fella who was one of the most patient and forgiving blokes I had met. He explained to me that to get to the other side of the road in Beirut in one piece was cause for celebration, so most issues that we contend with here in Australia were minor in comparison.

McAlmanac wrote:How many of us can say that our lives have turned upside down due to government policy during the course of the last couple of decades (please don't cite interest rates or health insurance rebates)?

TBH, my missus fled the Mugabe regime and came to Aust. many years ago.

When I complained about getting financially squeezed in the sandwich generation, her response was something along the lines of "would you rather your life as it is now, or would you rather sell up, move house to a suburb of some disadvantage, quit your job and work for the minimum wage and live like that?" Not sure how I answered from memory but I didn't take the conversation too much further.

The best thing about a democracy with compulsory voting is that everyone has the right to criticise/complain etc - so we do. Without constructive criticism, we wont have further improvement. I complain atm because I feel I've had to do so much to fend for myself financially, only to have the rules changed on me to my (financial) disadvantage.

Leaping Lindner wrote:I see that the Rudd Govt is looking at giving him a government job!!! Good to see the Laberals and Libor can get together on some things.

Smart politics by Rudd. The one man Costello hates more than Howard is Turnbull.