^^
Shouldn't they just get some balls ?
Being afraid of what the opposion says probably means what you are doing you don't quite agree with yourself.
If you were 100% convinced it was the right thing to do you could probably argue your point quite well, and if it was the right thing to do you would make to opposition look like fools.
Julia's got 4 years before she is judged at the polls (well, unless she gets what Kevin got). 4 years to do what she thinks is right and for the consequneces to flow through. If you govern the country on a daily spin-opinion poll-newspaper editorial basis then you don't deserve 4 years, you deserve 4 hours (if that).
In 4 years time nobody will remember a once off levy to directly help others - so long as life is good, taxes are low, services are efficient, health care works, their children are being educated, public transport is cheap, internet is superfast etc. etc.
If you don't think you can deliver these things maybe that is why Julia is worried about a once off levy ?
Well, politics is that way. Image means a lot and the wrong thing said or done can unravel a lot of good work.
'the recession we had to have' is a good example of an innocent comment creating a big impact 
on the ability to be re-elected.
I have to say with a bias, that it is surprising that the Libs seem to be just sitting there saying the opposite of what the government does. I know they are called 'the opposition', but do they do anything else?
Thought I might squeeze this one in before Laurie comes down with his almighty hammer.
Email sent to me this morning....I'm generally not one for pessimism, especially because we 'are' the lucky country, but as mentioned earlier in this thread, once a tax (levy) is introduced, it won't be removed.
My wife & I donated to the flood appeal, and happy to continue doing so as the Qlders look like they're in for more devastation, I think the gov't will have to dig into it's pockets, which inevitably is tax dollars, I'm not an economist & don't know the answer, so I'll just enjoy reading all the commentry.
Cut'n'paste from email
At first I thought this was funny......
Then I realized the awful truth of it.
Be sure to read all the way to the end!
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.
Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think..
Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.
Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.
When he's gone,
Do not relax,
It's time to apply
The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Airline surcharge tax
Airline Fuel Tax
Airport Maintenance Tax
Building Permit Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Goods and Services Tax (GST)
Death Tax
Dog License Tax
Driving Permit Tax
Environmental Tax (Fee)
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Fishing License Tax
Petrol Tax (too much per litre)
Health Tax
Hunting License Tax
Interest Tax
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Mortgage Tax
Personal Income Tax
Property Tax
Poverty Tax
Prescription Drug Tax
Real Estate Tax
Vehicle Tax
Retail Sales Tax
Service Charge Tax
School Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Water Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation TaxAnd Now Julia Gillard Wants a Carbon Tax !
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was one of the most prosperous in the world..We had absolutely no national debt, had a large middle class, and Mum stayed home to raise the kids.
The only problem I see with Abbotts position here (and my bias is to the other side) is it seems to be a high risk strategy. Abbott's position seems to divide the nation one way or another,that's fine but he runs the risk of looking like an ambulance chaser. I think all politically aware people.....on both sides saw Abbots propensity to crash or crash through and I'm not sure if his advisers are guiding him in a path that benefits him and his party. Of course personally I would prefer it if he burned in Hell but then that's just me.
Abbotts is the type of person, if he was told there was a dozen or so gold bars down the mint for him, and all he had to do was wonder down to pick em up, would complain that whoever organised the wheelbarrows, the handles were a bit too hard on his hands, and complain away his good fortune.
and seeing it doesnt kick in until $50k and up, its not hitting our young workers.
I don't mind paying a levy.
But I do have a problem with rebuilding flooded homes in the same spot.
Government assistance to bull-doze those homes and relocate, or your on your own.
And no levy to build levies.
Mark, linking the NBN to the Levy is bull****. You can't run a country where everybody has their own wishlist about which bit of govt expenditure they would cut in order to pay for the levy.Where support for one plan is dependent on the abolition of another. All you end up with is a race to the bottom. I don't want the Iraq war to continue , I want Carbon price Taxation, I want a halving of rego on cars under 600cc, I want a reduction of the military budget, I want a reduction of funding to private schools, I want to pay nurses whatever they bloody well want .......oh yeah and I want a Levy.
This sums it up for me
More taxes - mining tax, carbon tax, flood tax... More wastage and rorts - Surplus gone and then in debt and still going backwards, $900 throw-away, insulation fiasco + deaths, school halls fiasco, green loans fiasco, fuel watch, grocery watch blah blah blah... More postulating - 'the greatest moral challenge of all time...' then dumped without a whimper. More lies - 'I will fully support Rudd at the next election', There will be no carbon tax... So you Labor sycophants, you still think the change you cheered about in 07 was for the better hey? 'There are none so blind as those who refuse to see...'
The Australian
Typical right wing commies under the bed newspaper dribble. One couldnt expect much else from those drop kicks
In today's paper, Julia has agreed to "discuss" a disaster fund. - Funny how this is on the eve of yet another disaster. Sorry if i am cynical, but she flat out refused a disaster fund last week. But now she is willing to talk.
Lets hope some commonsense prevails, and this gets put on the agenda pretty quickly.
KR
Exactly what part(s) of this statement are untrue Mineral?...
Typical right wing commies under the bed newspaper dribble. One couldnt expect much else from those drop kicks
Im amazed that this thread had gone this far, it will end up at 100 pages and we wont have gone anywhere
Isnt Australias economy going pretty good , i know of a few schools in my area that have benefitted from the stimulus , before that had the same crap buildings for 30 years .Isnt their now a renewable energy industry , 4 years ago the only solar panels you seen where on garden lights.Sure mistakes are made , but most of those are caused by greedy people that rort these type of plans and screw it for everyone.The alternative Tony Abbott ,give me a break.
Pity Malcolm Turnbill isnt Labour , id vote for him.
OOPS, sorry I was reading that and pressed the wrong button but what I meant to say was that's all over the place like a mad woman's breakfast. Okay, lets start at the end. A sycophant ? I think you used the wrong word there but anyway back to the start. "more taxes" it's just not fair on those struggling mining companies to take taxation off them Boo Hoo. "Carbon Tax", pretty much defeated in the senate so now, no party has a likelihood of getting climate change legislation through, especially with the conservatives new found climate scepticism."Flood tax ", yep you've got a point there, why spend taxes on people that have lost everything. "Surplus gone and into debt and still going backwards". Did you have the GFC in WA? Well you dodged a bullet there. Our economy got through, many didn't, so credit where credit's due, does the stimulus packages have anything to do with it? I think Your reference to School HALLS fiasco is wrong. I refer you not to 'The Alan Jones show' or your "today tonight special on the school halls fiasco,disaster, rort, ripoffbut but to the Orgill report that looked into the school "halls"scheme . "The greatest moral challenge of all( our )time" . I think you misquoted but anyway. Be happy,... your mob beat my mob in the Senate and killed the CPRS. Well good on ya! enjoy the win! Now the last bit. Sometimes in politics as in ordinary life people say things that can stretch the truth, massage the truth, be true a the time you say things but not true later on, be partially true etc etc, In the case of the the deposing of Rudd, my reading of the situation was Gillard was asked if she supported the leader and she said she did, then the factions came to her and told her Rudd was gone. My reading was she was an unwilling starter in the leadership vote but was persuaded by factional leaders that Rudd was gone and she better get up and stand. . So Whoopdy doo, what's the big deal. So Rudd got it in the neck, fancy that a political leader being stabbed in the back, I've never heard of that !!
No wonder they stuff it up when we have a mob like this lot.
From an email going around:-
Our Leadership.
This is an interesting little tit-bit
Just a reminder on this crew and their respective background and their ability to conduct the business of managing Government :-
Julia Former Student radical and AUS President. Industrial Lawyer representing the ACTU.
Kevin Rudd C of S for Wayne Goss
Wayne Swan Former ALP State Secretary
Joe Ludwig Former AWU official son of Union boss Bill Ludwig
Arch Bevis Teachers Union Organiser and son of Union boss A Bevis
Simon Crean Former ACTU President
Martin Ferguson “ “ “
Lindsay Tanner Former State Sec Federated Clerk's Union ( Retiring anyway)
Peter Garrett Nuisance and former jiggling and out of tune rock singer
A Albanese Former Asst Gen Sec NSW ALP
Tanya Pilbersek Former student union official
Tony Burke Former official Shop etc Employee's Union
Chris Evans Former official MWU
Alan Griffin Former official Fed Clerk's Union
Kerry O'Brien Former official MWU
Nick Sherry Former State Sec Liquor Industries Union
Kate Lundy Former official CFMEU
Greg Combet Former Sec ACTU
Doug Cameron Former Sec, AWU
Mark Arbib Former Gen Sec NSW ALP
Bill Shorten Former Nat Sec AWU and S-in-L to our “jobs for the supporters” GG.
Richard Maries Former Asst Sec TWU
These people are making the decisions on how the business of Government is to be conducted. Their experience in business is nil so how can we expect them to perform to senior CEO level or as Directors of such a large organisation as Government ? Not a chance. It seems the only bloke who has ever had a proper job outside the Union or ALP movement is Steve Smith who was a Solicitor and then, being a Lawyer is half way into the Socialist movement anyway. Just remember, allegiance goes firstly to the Union Movement and “What's in it” for the incumbent.
Cisco, love the way you conclude that being a CEO is the highest form of life that can be achieved by any human on the planet. Most CEO's that I've ever met have been the sort of people that are good at one thing usually making money. Great but hardly the sort of qualification necessary to be a minister in a government. The list you posted only showed the experience of the union movement not outside and I'm sure many in that list would have had "real Jobs"(whatever that means) as well as a university education. Some on that list have multiple degrees and that's hard work. usually the union jobs are underpaid for the education qualifications that these people hold but this at least shows you that these people are driven by an ideology and an ethos that guides their decisions on policy if and when the become MPs. Surely that's a good thing? And really, describing Rudd as "c of s for Wayne Goss is a bit disingenuous. And gillard worked for Slater and Gordon and one of her clients was the ACTU so a bit inaccurate but then that wouldn't have fitted the email.
Dumb redhead, talking like she has a disability: "Hellloooooo........its a levy, not a tax!"
Does anyone else think she sounds like Forrest Gump with her slow talking. I wish another pollie would debate her by responding in an even slower worded voice than hers to see her response.
