EDITORIAL: This Government Has Got To Go

Menzies House Publisher Tim Andrews argues that this Saturday, Kevin Rudd has got to go: 

Every day this week I’ve been getting the same sort of emails: “Saturday won’t matter, they’re all the same, nothing will change, why should I bother”.

This argument is flat out wrong and you should reject it for one simple reason:

The current Federal Government has advanced the greatest assault on individual freedoms and sound economic management we have seen in over three decades.

As you would be well aware, I have frequently criticised Tony Abbot some of his plans, such as PPL and his desire to keep the Renewable Energy Target. I hold grave concerns about his ability to keep some big government influences in check, and his economic plans leave much to be desired. But any criticism I have of the opposition is dwarfed by the gigantic catastrophe that the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government has proven to be.

Irrespective of what you think about Tony Abbott, there can be no doubt about one thing: This government has got to go.

Here’s why:

Firstly, the Rudd Government’s decision to throw $80 billion down the toilet with a “stimulus package” that did nothing more than destroy our budget finances, and leave us with a mountain of debt was an act of fiscal vandalism unmatched in recent history. When Kevin came into office promising to be an ‘economic conservative’, we had a budget surplus. In just one year, this became a $27 billion deficit. In two years, it reached a mind-blowing $60 billion. Our national debt is now on track to reach a staggering $300 billion, and we will be  paying $190 million in interest every single week.

Even The Australian Treasury and the Parliamentary Budget Offices have now admitted that the deficit is structural, unsustainable, and the result of massive over-spending. Yes, as Kevin Rudd keeps saying, it could be worse, but do we really want to keep comparing ourselves to Greece?

And all the while, tax receipts were going up and up and up as Labor announced a whopping forty three tax hikes.

And for what? Tearing down one school hall to replace it with another one, even as the schools faced closure? A concrete playground for $1.8 million? Sheds at 10 times the market value? A vote-buying cash splash of $900 per person that even Treasury admitted boosted consumption by just one dollar? A stimulus that was so useless that Treasury cooked the books to make it look like it was working – and then got  caught out and were forced to withdraw their argument.

And don’t even get me started on the job-killing carbon tax… But Kevin Rudd’s budget bungling is just the tip of the iceberg. By dragging our industrial relations system back to the 1960’s, we have had plummeting international competitiveness, small business closures up 48%, and record numbers of crippling strikes across Australia, while working days lost, which had been trending downwards for 15 years, shot up  fivefold.  At the same time, the number of people without jobs has gone up 222,000 between 2007 and 2013, and the government has resorted to classifying 350,000 people receiving unemployment benefits as “non-jobseekers” so that they won’t show up in the official count.

And it doesn't stop there. This government has also seen the most concerted attack on freedom of speech seen in Australia outside the Second World War. They proposed an unprecedented media censorship and licensing regime, wanting to bring in government-sanctioned journalism. They wanted to make it unlawful to ‘offend’ or ‘insult’ someone, and make you “guilty unless proven innocent” with laws that would also  destroy religious liberties, persecute the innocent, and make a mockery of free-thought. Fortunately, these were delayed after lengthy public outcry, but there can be no doubt a re-election of the Rudd Government will make their return inevitable. 

And who can forget the Government's plans to secretly record every email you send, every private message on facebook you post, and every tweet you send?

As if all this wasn’t enough, we have also seen one of the greatest attacks on individual freedoms and personal responsibility through the nanny-state gone mad, with hikes in lifestyle taxes, and more and more restrictions on what adults can and can not do. The Australian National Preventative Health Agency receives $40 million a year to do little more than lobby for more restrictions. We have actually reached a point where we’re no longer seriously considering plain packaging for alcohol and food, but are taxes are going to support bringing in food rationing. Really. This is government-sanctioned insanity funded totally by your taxes.

I am, of course, just beginning to list the cascade of failures, bumbling incompetence, and attacks on liberty by the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government – there is a while library that could be filled if I was to list them all.

But there can be no doubt – This Government has got to go. I recognise that many of our members and have concerns regarding Mr Abbott, and if so, you can always vote for a third party. After all – in Australia, you can’t waste you vote by voting for a minor party as long as you preference. There are many minor parties to choose from with far, far more sensible policies than Labor (you can hear me discussing the tax policies of Family First and the Liberal Democrats on ABC Radio HERE).

But whichever party you choose to put a 1 next to, under no circumstances should Labor (or – heaven forbid – the Greens) get your preferences before the coalition (and if you are voting above the line in the senate, look carefully at who your chosen party is giving it’s preferences to: Bob Katter, for example, is supporting Labor and the Greens)

Make no mistake, come Sunday, if Tony Abbott gets elected, I will be doing everything I can to make sure that he too does the right thing! Menzies House& the Australian Taxpayers' Alliance are firmly non-partisan, and if Tony Abbott was to do the same thing, we would be just as critical.

But right now – Saturday is the priority: Australia just can’t afford another term of Labor.

In 1993, one week out of the election, everyone thought John Hewson would win. In 1999 everyone was convinced Jeff Kennett would easily be re-elected. We can take nothing for granted. This Saturday, make your vote count.

Tim Andrews is Executive Director of the Australian Taxpayers' Alliance, and Publisher of Menzies House. 

Comments

[Deejay]

1.

What a crying shame all the leibor "rusted ons" will not read this.