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EYE-BALL’s Guru on – Australia’s Parliamentary Remunerations – Part III – Superannuation – “The Future Fund”
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 Latest GURU Posts:
- 3rd Apr – Government not happy about its tax collect – Claims Tax Minimisation deserves ‘Naming and Shaming’ - - 31st Mar – The Cyprus Bail-out - - 31st Mar - Australia’s Debt – and the idiots Managing the Treasury - - 20th Feb – Australia’s Parliamentary Remunerations - Part II – Entitlements and Allowances - - 13th Feb - Australia’s Public Sector Remunerations Part I – Parliamentarians “Base-Salary” and “Additional” entitlements - - 31st Jan – The Devil is in the Detail, there is none – Gillard chooses shock, awe & Spin over Policy - - 23rd Jan – The Turmoil is Already here – We just have to accept what is coming - - 22nd Jan – The Turmoil is beginning - Japan’s Economic Stimulus to tip the scales - - 20th Jan – Wayne Swan Tips his hat at New Yorker’s - - 10th Jan – The ANZ Whitehaven Hoax - - 5th Jan 2013 – Financial ‘Ghosts’ from the Past – Hawke and Keating v Gillard and Swan - - 29th Dec – The Great Big Financial Swindle – Part II – The ‘Budget Surplus’ Backflip – Swan tells his own Porkies … - 22nd Dec – The Great Big Financial Swindle – Part 1 – The ‘Budget Surplus’ Backflip – Swan serves up Senator Wong - 14th Dec – The Walls are crumbling – Government admits High A$ policy is hurting - - 4th Dec – Retailers and bureaucrats don’t understand – high A$ value responsible for off-shore purchases - - 19th Nov – Government Expenditures Part I – Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet – DPMC – STAFFING - - 3rd Nov – Shareholders – Holding back the world – scared money – scared boss’s - To see more GURU posts: – click here … |
Title: - Australia’s Parliamentary Remunerations - - Part III – Superannuation – The Future Fund - | Author: EYE-BALL Guru | 4th Apr 2013 | |
Continuing the Series – Australia’s Parliamentary Remunerations:
For a long time there has been a desire to dissect and examine the Parliamentary remunerations structure, and the perks attached to being a ‘Member of Parliament, and a Senator – in Federal and at State levels. Superannuation – ‘The Future Fund’: Some interesting data has come forth from a long-term research investigation into Superannuation and in particular, the ‘Future Fund’, and other Public Service Superannuation Funds, namely Federal, State, and municipal. Before we go to the ‘Future Fund’ – I want to put the macro jigsaw puzzle in play and how this research is endeavoring to put the pieces of that puzzle and how it relates to the Australian Public Sector Superannuation landscape. A well respected Financial Markets source in Robert Gottliebsen wrote an article in the ‘Business Speculator‘ published in Oct’ 2012. The story provides commentary about the total ‘$’ value liability of Australia’s ‘unfunded’ Public Sector Superannuation schemes. Mr Gottliebsen’s numbers paint a frightening landscape for Australian taxpayers whose task it will be to donate the revenues to provide for these future liabilities – i.e. Parliamentarians and other Public Servants retirement pensions. His story appears below:
Yip-pity-doh-dah-day – are you now sufficiently engaged and understand how much you and every other Australian owes to our illustrious Political Leaders … $210 billion … maybe up to $250 billion by now … divide that by the 14 million eligible voters and it equates to $18,000 – yes that is right … $18,000 smackaroos is how much each one of us eligible voters owes our MP’s, Senator’s and other leeches feeding of the Federal Superannuation system. This is the mother of all ‘Ponzi’ schemes. It makes all others pale into significance … Madoff’s efforts were kindergarten stuff and they jail him forever … The meaning of a ‘Ponzi’ scheme in the true sense of the word – ‘the future liabilities for present day entitlements’, and how does the Parliamentary Superannuation not fit this meaning. All MP’s and their superannuation like entitlements are to be paid for by future taxes stripped from future taxpayers to pay for decade old superannuation schemes, as legislated and voted for by these same MP’s who are to benefit from the scheme. You – the taxpayer already donated $60+ billion to the Future Fund in 2006-07 when Treasurer Costello handed over Telstra shares and sale proceeds, and again in 2008 under Treasurer Swan when more Telstra shares were handed over. Before these payments were made to the newly formed ‘Future Fund’, the previous superannuation entity only had $123 million in assets to cover the $91 billion liability – hence the ‘Ponzi’ scheme analogy. A statement made in the 2005-06 ‘Future Fund’ Annual report allows speculation and opinion that up until 2005-06 – the Federal Government had not been funding is future superannuation obligations. This in a corporate sense would have been pursued by regulators as criminal intent and a breech of employer employee guarantees. That ‘Future Fund’ statement appears in highlight below:
Very interesting indeed – the comment – ‘has never fully funded‘ – I would ask why The Federal Government would not cover its obligations in funding the Superannuation liabilities of all those covered under the Parliamentary Superannuation schemes – up until Costello and Swan stripped taxpayer owned assets/funds to do so in 2006-08.. Who is a member of the Future Fund: Superannuation Schemes for Federal employees from the Site index above are listed below:
The Fed’s have a superannuation deal where the taxpayers pay 15.4% of their salary as a superannuation entitlement. Whether this includes the 9% employer contribution is still a question not answered. If it is – that means a 6.4% super windfall that no Australian workers can count on. Why not … that is one of my questions – with many more to come. For information purposes to help with what follows -
Linked here is a Government website offering an indexed Superannuation Site map. Parliamentary Superannuation Act 2004: Overview …
The 15.4% employer funded [Unfunded scheme] is by far the best Superannuation scheme in Australia. Why? Early Access to Superannuation Entitlements: How do politicians get the nerve to vote themselves such a generous pension scheme, allowing themselves full pension access from whenever they leave parliament regardless of age. The debate is of course about when an MP is voted out and has to re-establish a career and needs seed capital – you tell me how the public differ when loss of career happens through natural market place events, and often caused by Government policy. Why are they denied superannuation entitlement access yet parliamentarians are? It was reported in a news story that Treasurer Swan would need a private Superannuation scheme with a $5.6 million balance for him to be able to draw his $166k per annum pension. Because he is a Federal politician he does not have to contribute a cent to earn his Parliamentary pension. Does anyone think that fair? [See story link here.] A further story on Gillard’s pension entitlements can be read here … this really will blow your mind in how much the MP’s superannuation is costing the Australian public. Pre 1992 Superannuation: Before 1992 – a great number of employers made tax deductible superannuation contributions to their employees as superannuation contributions. Post 1992 the 3% Superannuation levee was introduced – i.e. award wage increase decisions were used as superannuation contributions as opposed to salary increases. Laws on underfunded superannuation payments: The laws pertaining to under-funding employee superannuation entitlements in the Private sector are quite specific.
Determining what component of the ‘Future Fund’s’ under-funding is a result of the employer employee contribution, and/or the penalty component as reference above is an impossibility. A story published with detail about the Future Funds’s obligations had this to say:
This comment suggests the Future Fund is still some $56 billion short of funding the total obligations of the Public service superannuation entitlements. In an extract from the 2011-12 Annual Report background the following is claimed: [Page 11 of Report.]
Again referring to Robert Gottliebsen report above – his report of a $91 billion ‘Future Fund’ shortfall refers to the gap from the start balance of the transferred funds to the Future Fund in 2005-6 of less that $200 million, and the outstanding liabilities. In the first year of the ‘Future Fund’s‘ operations the Federal Government handed over $18 billion in May 2006, the June 2006 balance date showed total assets of $18.163 billion. Another $22.2 billion in cash was transferred in 2007, along with 8.1 billion Telstra shares worth $8.9 billion. In 2008, another $10.9 billion in cash, and 57 million Telstra shares worth $309 million was transferred from the Federal Government. This made the total Federal Governments cash contribution a total of $51.3 billion – and the share value of the Telstra stock valued at $9.209, totaling $60.509 billion of taxpayers funds was used to part fund the 2005-6 underfunded estimated of $91 billion. There is irony here – politician’s voted themselves these very generous ‘unfunded’ superannuation schemes over time – they chose not to fund the scheme to its obligations on an ongoing basis, and then when a few Politicians get a little nervous they might miss out and their change of career entitlements – they legislate to strip taxpayer funds to cover the liability. The Howard Government had control of both the Upper and Lower Houses, and this allowed them to push through this legislation. Was it an abuse of the political position the Howard Government was given? Some $60 billion of taxpayers fund used to provide retirement pensions for so few Federal Government employees. Would it have happened if the Senate was not controlled by Howard at the time? Did it have bipartisan support? There have been no more funds transferred to the ‘Future Fund’ since the 2008 transfers. The 2005-06 establishment of the ‘Future Fund‘ was only about addressing the Federal $91 billion under-funded problem. The States and Local Government Superannuation form the balance of the $210 billion Gottliebsen talks about in his article above. [Note: The $91 billion is a Federal 2005-6 estimate - the 2007 $136 billion used in Gottliebsen article above is an unconfirmed number - as is the 2011 $210 billion number.] Is this not frightening – some $210 billion – that is 80% of the total Government debt owed at the moment – the $210 billion could be as high as the current $265 billion Federal debt as no funds have been paid into the ‘Future Fund‘ since 2007. If one was to add the Superannuation obligations to National debt – the current 25% Debt/GDP ratio that Wayne Swan and Treasury use as a reason to compare Australia favourably with the rest of the World, and a basis to justify more borrowing programs – suddenly looks less creditable. Again – how did our State, Council, and Federal Leaders allow this taxpayer obligation to get so far behind? On whose watch did it start – and why does this liability not form part of the State and Federal Budget structures as a debt liability owed by all State and Federal taxpayers? We’ve known for decades the ‘rich vein of gold’ – i.e. apathetic taxpayers our Politicians draw from to create their own ‘super-duper’ pension entitlements – has always been a contentious issue. Perhaps by not exposing the depth of the unfunded problem they felt they could hide it forever. Is it a case that the entitlements are just not sustainable? Again – one of the claws that sticks is why are Parliamentarian’s allowed to trigger their pension payments when they leave the Parliament and not when they turn 55 or more? Why do they only have to serve a minimum of 8 years if thrown out, or a minimum of 12 years to be eligible to receive a lifetime indexed pension linked to their remuneration at the time of their exit? Available answers to questions like these are hard to find – or to find someone prepared to talk and answer questions like those being raised hereto. This report shows some 67% of all investments are invested off-shore as at 30th June 2012. This investment strategy is wise if an expected fall in the A$ was imminent – the dividends off these off shore investments are subject to currency fluctuations and whilst the A$ remains high their value in A$ terms are neutral but driven by a higher rate of return that what is available in Australia. I do find a conflict with the structure of the Future Fund – it has a targeted rate of return some 4.5-5% above the rate of inflation or around 8% as a benchmark. Investment has been driven off-shore to chase those types of returns. This is the conflict – given the precarious Global Financial markets and the on-going GFC fallout – the risk attached to having 67% invested across Northern Hemisphere regions carries a risk greater that the shortfall in investment returns offered in Australia. The other issue is that the Legislation provides no controls over how the investment portfolio is to be structured, either in a geographical nor ethical context – i.e. the Future Fund currently has a significant investment in American tobacco stocks. This at a time when the Government is wagering a war against the effects of tobacco on health costs across the Nation. There is much at play here – the research has uncovered so many abnormalities and further research is ongoing. Part IV will get a little bit more into the individual MP’s entitlements to super and pension … |
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Have your say where it counts: – contact your Local Federal Representative via the links below and let them know how you feel about this, or any other topic that you feel strongly about – or you can just post a comment below and let off some steam.
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EYE-BALL’s Guru on – Australia’s Parliamentary Remunerations – Part II – Entitlements and Allowances -
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| Latest GURU Posts:
- 13th Feb - Australia’s Public Sector Remunerations Part I – Parliamentarians “Base-Salary” and “Additional” entitlements - - 31st Jan – The Devil is in the Detail, there is none – Gillard chooses shock, awe & Spin over Policy - - 23rd Jan – The Turmoil is Already here – We just have to accept what is coming - - 22nd Jan – The Turmoil is beginning - Japan’s Economic Stimulus to tip the scales - - 20th Jan – Wayne Swan Tips his hat at New Yorker’s - - 10th Jan – The ANZ Whitehaven Hoax - - 5th Jan 2013 – Financial ‘Ghosts’ from the Past – Hawke and Keating v Gillard and Swan - - 29th Dec – The Great Big Financial Swindle – Part II – The ‘Budget Surplus’ Backflip – Swan tells his own Porkies … - 22nd Dec – The Great Big Financial Swindle – Part 1 – The ‘Budget Surplus’ Backflip – Swan serves up Senator Wong - 14th Dec – The Walls are crumbling – Government admits High A$ policy is hurting - - 4th Dec – Retailers and bureaucrats don’t understand – high A$ value responsible for off-shore purchases - - 19th Nov – Government Expenditures Part I – Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet – DPMC – STAFFING - - 3rd Nov – Shareholders – Holding back the world – scared money – scared boss’s - To see more GURU posts: – click here … |
Title: - Australia’s Parliamentary Remunerations - - Part II – Entitlements and Allowances - | Author: EYE-BALL Guru | 20th Feb 2013 | |
| In ‘Part I’ of this – ‘Australian Parliamentary Remunerations’ series, the focused was on the Parliamentary ‘base-salary’ structure – read that post here.
In this ‘Part II’ post – additional Parliamentary allowances and entitlements are the focus. In addition to their base-salary structures, MP’s and Senators are further guided by a ‘Members Handbook’ that explains all their additional entitlements.
The Headline Index in the ‘Members and Senators’ Handbook of Allowances and Entitlements is listed below:
Part 3: Accommodation and Office Facilities -
Again, the Handbook explains the entitlements and guidelines under which expenditures can be made. Handbook Link Here.
Again, the Handbook explains the entitlements and guidelines under which expenditures can be made. Handbook Link Here.
Again, the Handbook explains the entitlements and guidelines under which expenditures can be made. Handbook Link Here.
Again, the Handbook explains the entitlements and guidelines under which expenditures can be made. Handbook Link Here. To get a grip on the extent of Ministerial and MP’s expenses, the scope, the actual cost, and the reporting procedures, it is best to look at a published report of a six month summarised snapshot of MP, Senator, and Ministerial Expenses. As an example of of MP and Senator expenses for the period – [Jan '12 - Jun '12] – can be viewed using this link. This method of public reporting the Ministerial, MP and Senator expenses has only been in vogue since 2009. In 2008 only Travel expenses claims are available on-line. This Link will take you to the APH Dept Finance website where all the links provided below can be accessed independently. These links cover six monthly expense claims between Jan 2009, and Jun 2012 by all current and former MP’s and Senators. The report for July – Dec 2012 is not yet available.
[Further Explanatory Notes on these expenses can be read here ...] Despite exhaustive efforts and requests to have the data contained in the above linked ‘expense’ ledgers to be made available as a ‘database’ file, the Department of Ministerial and Parliamentary Services – [MAPS] – have advised that the data used to compile the PDF expense files linked above, is extracted from a host of different sources, thus rendering a single file option impossible. Advice was also given that there is no central registry where all expense claims are processed and accessible as a single database. Despite the obvious ‘red flag’ indicators a central database would offer to any Audit assessment, it was further explained that the budget for ‘IT’ type upgrades to allow for a centralisation of the MP and Senator expense register to has not been allocated. This is so hard to accept or believe at face value. More investigative work is being done – there just has to be a central data base file and if it takes an FOI application to obtain such a file – that endeavour will be pursued. The mind boggles at a manual type extraction … and if this is how the Dept Finance, MAPS produce the above expense files … no wonder it takes a cast of thousands. At the moment I have my Local Federal Member looking into a specific request to retrieve this data in a database format. Just thinking about extracting all the data manually from the above summary links, i.e. 6 fines of 230 MP’s and Senators spread across 12 different categories, would be a time exposure nightmare. Yet ‘MAPS’ has confirmed this is how they do the extraction for the above files … unbelievable!!! The above data in a functioning database file that allowed ‘filters’ and the like to be applied, would produce some very interesting research data. How does an Audit committee do or perform their task? The next installment – ‘Part III’ – is on Superannuation, the Future Fund, and whether the whole superannuation is a construct based on a ‘Ponzi Scheme’ with a current $300 odd billion liability on the future generations of Australian’s to fund. |
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| Please – if you found this story to your liking and would like to promote it to your social media contacts – i.e. Twitter, Facebook, or other icon linked account below – please click your favoured Icon(s) to promote the story. Thank you.
Have your say where it counts: – contact your Local Federal Representative via the links below and let them know how you feel about this, or any other topic that you feel strongly about – or you can just post a comment below and let off some steam.
|
EYE-BALL’s Guru on – Australia’s Parliamentary Remunerations – Part I – “Base-Salary” & “Additional” entitlements -
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| Latest GURU Posts:
- 31st Jan – The Devil is in the Detail, there is none – Gillard chooses shock, awe & Spin over Policy - - 23rd Jan – The Turmoil is Already here – We just have to accept what is coming - - 22nd Jan – The Turmoil is beginning - Japan’s Economic Stimulus to tip the scales - - 20th Jan – Wayne Swan Tips his hat at New Yorker’s - - 10th Jan – The ANZ Whitehaven Hoax - - 5th Jan 2013 – Financial ‘Ghosts’ from the Past – Hawke and Keating v Gillard and Swan - - 29th Dec – The Great Big Financial Swindle – Part II – The ‘Budget Surplus’ Backflip – Swan tells his own Porkies … - 22nd Dec – The Great Big Financial Swindle – Part 1 – The ‘Budget Surplus’ Backflip – Swan serves up Senator Wong - 14th Dec – The Walls are crumbling – Government admits High A$ policy is hurting - - 4th Dec – Retailers and bureaucrats don’t understand – high A$ value responsible for off-shore purchases - - 19th Nov – Government Expenditures Part I – Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet – DPMC – STAFFING - - 3rd Nov – Shareholders – Holding back the world – scared money – scared boss’s - To see more GURU posts: – click here … |
Title: - Australia’s Parliamentary Remunerations - - Part I – “Base-Salary” & “Additional” entitlements - | Author: EYE-BALL Guru | 13th Feb 2013 | |
| For a long time the desire to dissect and examine the Parliamentary remunerations structure has been something that I wanted to do. This series of posts is an in-depth expose on the remunerations and perks of our Federal and State Parliamentarians, and other senior Public Servants.
Introduction: The research was prompted by the 35% increase in the base-salary scale in late 2011 and 2012. The nagging issue has been whether the quality of Candidate we have in positions to ‘Lead’ our Nation, our States and Territory’s, are good enough. A lingering question is whether the Candidates coming into the Parliament have come because of the generous pay scales, the superannuation schemes attached to post Parliamentary life, and all the additional perks available. This then leads to more questions about whether the pay scales on offer are adequate to attract the best people, people with demonstrated Leadership skills? An outcome of this research might lead to some recommendations and suggestions that provide a different perspective. When Prime Minister Kevin Rudd froze Parliamentary remunerations at their then levels when the GFC fallout began to impact in 2008 – his popularity as the Prime Minister was at record highs. The electorate responded to the restraint. This decision went through both Houses unchallenged. Rudd’s demise is linked to this legislation and the ‘perceived’ angst of backbenches who saw Rudd making no real sacrifice because he was married to a very wealth wife, where most of his fellow parliamentarians depended on their salary to cover their living costs. Rudd’s demise bought forward an immediate change to the ‘restraint’ mandate and within weeks the new regime was preparing for a substantial overhaul of Parliamentary entitlements and remunerations. The outcome of this Remuneration Tribunal overhaul resulted in 35% increases to the ‘base-salary’ levels. The Prime Minister’s salary went to almost $500,000 p/a from $370,000. This compared with the American President’s then and current salary of US$400,000 p/a. What is the ‘Base Salary’ and how it came about: Can be read in detail here … to quote in part from this source -
Prior to 1901 there was no ‘base-salary’ for Members serving as Governor’s and the like. History of the ‘Base-Salary’: [The APH website database has been used in compiling the following information. Links have been provided to documents used where applicable.] The following Table provides Parliamentary increases in ‘base-salary’ increments since the late 1960′s through to the current ‘base-salary’ level of $190,500 p/a. Links used to compile the above Table: Excel Spreadsheet – APH Data- , APH PDF file, and ABS Spreadsheet. The Headline outcome in this Table is the ‘male average wage’ comparison with the ‘Base-Salary’ of parliamentarians. The 2012 number – 35.16% – is the lowest number since 1968 – giving rise to a debate that Politicians have never been better paid in comparison to those they seek to govern. It can also be said that a large portion of this ‘base-salary’ increase came in the period after the worst of the GFC when wage outcomes in the private sector, job security, and industry shutdowns are at their worst in 20+ years. The restraint imposed under Rudd has not been replicated under the current Government. The Opposition, the Greens, and the Independents could have blocked the passing of the new Tribunal recommendations – it would appear that Mr Rudd’s initiative was not long on the conscience of Members and Senators. The Remuneration Tribunal who provide the advice on increases to the ‘base-salary’ are themselves public servants and in turn also benefit from any increase to the ‘base-salary’ increments. This has to be considered a ‘conflict of interest’. Any productivity or other scale used to warrant or benchmark these increases – i.e. CPI and the like, ultimately become self-fulfilling. There has never been a year of negative inflation in the Table above – nor GDP growth, nor Parliamentary ‘base-salary’ level. This is the same for private sector wage outcomes. But those outcomes often have productivity based clauses – Parliamentarians do not have that exposed accountability. ‘Base-Salary’ Multipliers: The ‘base-salary’ is used to measure all annual remuneration salaries of Parliament and other senior Public Servant appointments. A schedule of the multipliers used for Federal Parliamentarians is delivered below, bearing in mind that everybody serving as a MP or Senator earns the base-salary. These multipliers are additional remuneration. Various Federal Parliamentary Positions/Offices: [As a percentage of the base salary, per annum.] – see on-line source here for Non-Ministerial MP’s … and here for Ministers …
Can you imagine the accountancy required in keeping track of these appointments and the additional perks that go with the Committee members and the like? There is no private sector job where any Senior Executive like an MP of Senator gets paid additional remuneration for time and effort spent. What they do have is a bonus opportunity and that is negotiated and contingent on specific profit outcomes. A senior MP or Senator might serve on three or four committees, have a Parliamentary appointment as well, and boosts their ‘base-salary’ by 50% or so. Base Salary of other Senior Government Appointees:
There is a lot more to Members and Senators entitlements – to read a full list contained in the Members Handbook 43rd edition use this – link here … [this file is almost 4MB and will take a few moments to load.] Superannuation: In addition to the above base-salary and other MP and Senator entitlements, there is of course the employer contribution to the Members and Senators personal superannuation scheme – some 15.4% of the annual salary – [i.e. base salary plus all other entitlements as outlined above.] – The next Part of this series will be about Parliamentary ‘Superannuation’ schemes and the ‘Future Fund’, now considered to be a Sovereign Wealth Fund.
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| Please – if you found this story to your liking and would like to promote it to your social media contacts – i.e. Twitter, Facebook, or other icon linked account below – please click your favoured Icon(s) to promote the story. Thank you.
Have your say where it counts: – contact your Local Federal Representative via the links below and let them know how you feel about this, or any other topic that you feel strongly about – or you can just post a comment below and let off some steam.
|
EYE-BALL Guru on – Financial ‘Ghosts’ from the Past – Hawke and Keating v Gillard and Swan -
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| Latest GURU Posts:
- 2nd Jan 2013 – The Great Big Financial Swindle – Part III – GFC Bailout has only postponed the inevitable - -29th Dec – The Great Big Financial Swindle – Part II – The ‘Budget Surplus’ Backflip – Swan tells his own Porkies … - 22nd Dec – The Great Big Financial Swindle – Part 1 – The ‘Budget Surplus’ Backflip – Swan serves up Senator Wong - 14th Dec – The Walls are crumbling – Government admits High A$ policy is hurting - - 4th Dec – Retailers and bureaucrats don’t understand – high A$ value responsible for off-shore purchases - - 19th Nov – Government Expenditures Part I – Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet – DPMC – STAFFING - - 3rd Nov – Shareholders – Holding back the world – scared money – scared boss’s - - 31st Oct – Finally – RBA bubble head opens his mouth – He says – $A intervention not needed - - 25th Oct – Foreign Minister Bob Carr & Wife – An Australian asset - - 25th Oct – Communications Minister Stephen Conroy – one of Gillard’s Lap-dogs – untrained and unleashed - - 24th Oct – Climate Change Minister Greg Combet – The Carbon Tax – emissions Trading scheme - - 24th Oct – Treasurer Wayne Swan – Mini Budget Part 3 – The Clangers keep coming … - 23rd Oct – Treasurer Wayne Swan – Mini Budget Part 2 – Mortgaging Australia’s Future to appease his ego - 22nd Oct – Treasurer Wayne Swan – Mini Budget Part 1 – paints a false mirage to protect his legacy – - 21st Oct – Penny Wong – On the mid-year accounts – - 16th Oct – The First Home Owners Grant – the fallout and a reflection on a stupid stupid Government policy … - 10th Oct – Tony Abbott Talks the Talk – but he is on empty when it comes to detail - To see more GURU posts: |
Title: - Financial ‘Ghosts’ from the Past - - Hawke and Keating v Gillard and Swan - | Author: EYE-BALL Guru | 5th Jan 2013 | |
The release of Cabinet documents from the Hawke/Keating era continue and make for most interesting reading and comparisons. The Australians’s David Uren wrote a very enlightening article for the Weekend Australian and is recommended reading – it appears below:
I lived these times as a Financial Markets Treasurer managing a $500 million liquidity portfolio – in those early to late 80′s times Keating was a champion of the Markets … so many changes, so many opportunities for smart savvy operators who could see the big picture and make monkeys of those who struggled to deal with the new opportunities financial deregulation created. The ‘cowboys’ were aggressive traders who saw Keating’s market initiatives – i.e. floating of the A$, the deregulation of the Banks allowing new overseas licences, the lifting of off-shore investment … they all provided large gaps in experience and knowledge that gave the markets plenty of entrepreneurial type opportunities. It was 10 years or so before the markets calm down and became more rigid due to regulators themselves becoming educated as to where they should be operating in stabilising market volatility and opportunities. Of course they missed heaps and the ‘cowboys’ were still able to operate as they always do by thinking up schemes the regulators had not even thought of at the time. In Australia – it was not until APRA in the early 2000′s that Australian markets really got themselves a ‘watchdog’ with any teeth or the ‘smarts’ to take on the market players seriously. You won’t find a market operator from the 80′s and early 90′s era who will have a bad word said about Keating … how and why he lost to a neanderthal by comparison in Howard in the 1996 election is a subject that creates much debate within market operatives of the era. Howard and Costello took 5-6 years to understand what Hawke and Keating had achieved with their market reforms. They began to dismantle the good done in workplace reform with ‘workchoices’ and the like. To this day Costello still does not understand the nuances of how a floating A$ dollar impacts on Australian commerce and industry over the longer term … Swan and his Treasury advisors even less so … I quite often live in this era of past glories … a time where one could see Australia’s future as bright and full of opportunities … comparing it with todays globalisation and where Central Banks intercede in currency markets to give their domestic economies a competitive edge – is a far cry from the natural forces of global markets during the 80′s. To make the summer reading complete, there is an excellent article by a global think-tank called – Petersen Institute of International Economics – it is a new-found research center for this author and it is highly recommended for financial markets research purposes – an extract quotes:
This article I refer to and highlighted by Colin Twiggs from ‘Gold Stocks and Forex‘ fame is titled: ‘Currency Manipulation, the US Economy, and the Global Economic Order’ … and linked here … it was published in Dec 2012 and I highly recommend its reading, particularly for those interested in financial markets, and/ or managing a Superfund or other proprietary funds. This ‘policy’ document provides opinions that challenge the long-term impact to economy’s where the practice of currency price-fixing, or manipulations result in domestic repercussions not always in the best interest of local economies – i.e. for every action there is always an opposite and equal reaction – the laws of physics as they say. The problem is that Politicians have short attention spans – they are always focused on the next election result as the most important agenda … this focus has them completely out of touch with the cycles of economic reality and responses. Domestic economic activity often takes decades to prepare and then decades to play out. The volatility of markets during the 80′s financial markets deregulation under Keating had their cause and effect in the ‘recession ‘ we had to have’ in the early 90′s. When one looks at the global marketplace on a post and continuing GFC fallout – anything is possible as Nations fight for survival. Government’s are on a ‘war-type’ footing as they strategise economic policy that best suits their needs – the Bankers to those Nations in the most peril are extracting high returns in exchange for sovereign debt … the world investment community is demanding and receiving high returns in exchange for Government to grow even larger debt … the recent American ‘fiscal-cliff’ deal was no deal, merely a postponement of a fate nobody wants to deal with in any harsh reality. Politicians of the modern era should never be put in charge of a Nation’s debt creation and management … yet that is where it lies … Once in a generation you will get a Leader with vision and the will to make changes for the better … at other times the Leaders think they are a the one but their capacity and deeds prove them otherwise. We don’t know when vision and accomplishment is great until well after the event … in other words at the time nobody can really see the future in its full focus … look to Hitler in the 30′s … the Nixon decision to abolish the ‘gold standard’ … the Central Banks and Government’s responses to the ’87 crash … the Bush decision to go to war after the 9/11 attacks … they have all led to ’cause and effect’ debates and none of them measure as positive’s on a ledger … There are thousands more policy decisions that can be used to highlight the ineffectiveness of policy makers and the thinkers behind the scenes who formulate the policy with longer term objectives in mind. Take the debate on ‘carbon tax’ to deal with the ‘climate change’ debate when as pointed out by the EYE-BALL Opinion in his post titled - Climate Change & The Human Factor – The Silent Debate nobody wants to talk about – where he highlights that in a debate where everyone is in agreement that humans are effecting ‘climate change’ – why is nobody talking about population control. It’s a ‘too hard’ debate and would lead to wars and hostilities … Leaders abdicating from their responsibilities is how this site would argue the point. Returning to on-topic matters … Hawke v Gillard and Keating v Swan … Firstly – Hawke and Gillard have similar paths to the Prime Minister role – Hawke knifed Hayden to become the Opposition leader weeks ahead of the election that history shows ‘a drovers dog could have won’ … Gillard knifed Rudd as a first term sitting PM … that is about the only similarity that can be found … in every other way Hawke trumps Gillard on any level … Gillard can’t even walk in Hawke’s shadow … she is a dilation, a pretender, a Unionist’s mole, a criminal, and of all other things a woman so far out of touch with her own gender, she has ruined it for all future and aspiring women who want to become the PM. As for the Keating v Swan … Keating is ‘god-like’ whereas Swan could not even qualify to be Keating’s whipping boy, or his shoe-shiner, or his coffee fetcher … Swan is to financial management as Madoff is to Ponzi schemes … he is just too stupid to realise it and that is being insulting to Madoff - at least he knew what he was doing and had a purpose … Swan is a goose who does not know how to lay any eggs … Do you all get the message … Swan and Gillard represent a doomsday scenario for the future of all Australian’s for decades to come … wake up Australia !!!
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EYE-BALL Guru on – The Great Big Financial Swindle – Part III – GFC Bailout has only postponed the inevitable -
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| Latest GURU Posts:
29th Dec – The Great Big Financial Swindle – Part II – The ‘Budget Surplus’ Backflip – Swan tells his own Porkies … - 22nd Dec – The Great Big Financial Swindle – Part 1 – The ‘Budget Surplus’ Backflip – Swan serves up Senator Wong - 14th Dec – The Walls are crumbling – Government admits High A$ policy is hurting - - 4th Dec – Retailers and bureaucrats don’t understand – high A$ value responsible for off-shore purchases - - 19th Nov – Government Expenditures Part I – Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet – DPMC – STAFFING - - 3rd Nov – Shareholders – Holding back the world – scared money – scared boss’s - - 31st Oct – Finally – RBA bubble head opens his mouth – He says – $A intervention not needed - - 25th Oct – Foreign Minister Bob Carr & Wife – An Australian asset - - 25th Oct – Communications Minister Stephen Conroy – one of Gillard’s Lap-dogs – untrained and unleashed - - 24th Oct – Climate Change Minister Greg Combet – The Carbon Tax – emissions Trading scheme - - 24th Oct – Treasurer Wayne Swan – Mini Budget Part 3 – The Clangers keep coming … - 23rd Oct – Treasurer Wayne Swan – Mini Budget Part 2 – Mortgaging Australia’s Future to appease his ego - 22nd Oct – Treasurer Wayne Swan – Mini Budget Part 1 – paints a false mirage to protect his legacy – - 21st Oct – Penny Wong – On the mid-year accounts – - 16th Oct – The First Home Owners Grant – the fallout and a reflection on a stupid stupid Government policy … - 10th Oct – Tony Abbott Talks the Talk – but he is on empty when it comes to detail - To see more GURU posts: |
Title: - The Great Big Financial Swindle - - Part III - - GFC Bailout has only postponed the inevitable - | Author: EYE-BALL Guru | 2nd Jan 2013 | |
| The most recent OECD report on Australia’s economic outlook was released on the 14th Dec 2012. The report represents some 140 pages of reproduced ABS and other domestic think-tank compiled data. It’s front page presents a summary of the collected data and highlights some interesting statistics.
[Click here to download the report as a PDF file ...] The Front Page Snapshot: [Click on image to enlarge in a new window.] We all hear how Mr Swan loves to talk up the GDP growth numbers and boast his and the Government’s achievement in producing those numbers. Under Labour GDP has grown to $1.487 trillion – see snapshot above – he often chides the Opposition over whether they have the ability to manage a $1.5 trillion dollar economy … meaning that he does and they don’t. The GDP that gets the figure to $1.5 trillion is GNI – Gross National Income + Imports + exports. The GNI is $353.6 billion as at Sept 2012 – the national debt stood at $250.1 billion – source linked here – that represents a debt/GNI ratio of 71%. I hear economists and other ALP supporters arguing that Australia’s financial position is so much better that the rest of the world. They based this calamitous comment on the fact that the Australian debt/GDP ration sits at around 26%, when most of our major trading partners is near 100% and above. Those same economists argue that this is reason to allow the Government to spend more money to save the economy from slipping into recession. What absolute tripe … Australian commerce is coming to a screeching halt – not because of a lack of Government stimulus since the GFC – some $300 billion in new debt confirms this … but all because the rest of the world sees us as too expensive a Nation to deal with. Our labour costs, our currency value, our trade imbalance, our reliance on others to produce the goods we want … Australia has never been more vulnerable to an economic Armageddon than is is right now … and yet the so-called elite of economic forecasters have no fear of what lies ahead. The GFC impact was delayed here in Australia – that delay can no longer be held at bay – it is coming and the spending firstly by Rudd, and then the gluttonous irresponsible splurges by Gillard and her gang of bohemian snot-noses, has now place Australia smack in the middle of the ‘overflow’ equation. We have ventured too close to the cliff edge and gravity is working us closer – we will not nor cannot stop what is about to happen in this Nation. The OECD report commentary is ‘dunny’ paper for the future … it’s based on past numbers and forward estimates provided by the Australian Treasury and ABS – the Treasury no longer has any creditability on economic forecasting given the so-called $160 billion in erroneous predictions of revenues the Government blame as the reason for the most recent budget surplus backflip. The ABS use the Treasury numbers and modelling to form a great many of their numbers … it’s all tainted – and this OECD report is about as useful as a torch in a dark room with flat batteries. Here is a fact – in the 2012-13 year the Government has forecast the interest cost in servicing the debt owed at $12 billion, up from $11.4 billion in 2011-12. That is assuming interest rates stay where they are or fall further. A 1% rise in interest rates adds $2.5 billion to the current interest cost, 5% adds $12.5 billion and more than doubles the budget forecast. To access the chances of future interest rate increases one has to be a realist – economic growth will not drive up interest rates – nor the threat of inflation indicator increases, but as Australia’s economic woes becomes more visible to the rest of the world, foreign capital inflows parked here because of the decade long resource ‘cash and carry’ trade will take their profits and move on the the next safe-haven. This can be explained further when we revisit the reasons why the Government saw th need to guarantee the Banks during the height of the GFC crisis in early to mid 2009. During this period the A$ fell from near parity to below A$0.60c … in a matter of weeks – this was foreign investors withdrawing their investment funds in a panic move because they saw the ‘resource trade’ as finished. The Government had to issue the guarantee to stop ‘moms and dad’s’ also withdrawing their funds … Bank security is a fickle thing – panic throws all logic out the window … yet that panic only comes when everyone realises they are at risk on being the last cab off the rank to act. The only thing that will keep those off-shore funds on-shore is a rise in interest rates here at home – or a fear that where-ever they take their funds will increase their risk exposure. When Mr Swan boasts about his ‘pipeline’ of future investments he proves his stupidity … Brazil, Mongolia, and Africa are months away from providing everything Australia provides in its mineral wealth and export volumes to the rest of the world – at a fraction of the cost to produce the same ore here in Australia. If other Nations around the world stabilise as Australia begins its own economic meltdown, interest rates will rise very quickly in competition to try and keep those off-shore funds here. None of the economic forecasters are expecting interest rate increases – but during the late 70′s and 80′s we had interest rate rises from single digits to in excess of 20%. This triggered the Keating ‘recession we had to have’ and that killed the ‘inflation’ fueled pressures and allowed interest rates to fall. It took another five odd years to have commercial Bank interest rates safely back under 10% and since then it has been steady as she goes … A hiccup here and there and the whole equation balance of global investment flows becomes a dogs breakfast fight for those funds. With the ‘thick-tanks’, not ‘think-tanks’ at Treasury and the RBA, who by the way wear all the responsibility for the mis-management of the high A$ policy over the last 10 odd years, are all hoping for events to fall their way, as opposed to researching and advising policy that will assist insulating this Nation from the impending disaster. THE TRADING ECONOMICS CHARTS: Trading Economics is a global resource and provided free or paid-for economic data for Nations and their economic performances - use this link to view a summary page of all Australia’s economic indicators and a further reflection of the OECD data – again provided by the ABS and the Australian Treasury. The chart and summaries below present some of the OECD data – [click all charts to enlarge in a new window]:
GDP Chart [US$]:
A$ v US$ chart:
RBA Official Interest Rates:
USA Interest Rates: UK Interest Rates: EuroZone Interest Rates: [Data series only goes back to 1998 - when €Euro commenced.] – note the small period post GFC when they lifted Official Interest Rates for a short few months to try and attract capital to the region … Swiss Interest Rates: [Data series only goes back to 2000.] Japan Interest Rates: China Interest Rates: [Data series only goes back to 1996.] – a different story altogether – has the highest official interest rates of all the above series - The biggest issue associated with the interest rate differential game being played out is the RBA’s persistent concerns over inflation re-emerging. This is 80′s and 90′s thinking and an overflow from old style economics. This highlights the archaic methodology of the RBA ‘think-tanks’ … they fail to understand that inflation is now a global infection – not so much about domestic policy but about global trade – and that trade being completely linked to labour costs and the domestic cost in currency terms to trade with one another. There is no risk of inflation in Australia with the current value of the A$ – reducing interest rates on the back of this knowledge risk’s the off-shore investor funds exiting … given the value of the capital appreciation i.e. profits – in their A$ position they will jump at any reason to. The RBA had blundered badly and they continue to fail in their economic policy advice to the equally dumb Treasurer Wayne Swan. If you are ‘long’ Australian property – your have reasons to be concerned – the best advice on offer would suggest to sell A$ assets and buy off-shore – i.e US property looks good and when the A$ crashed as it surely will – you’ll double your money when you consider the fall in Australian house prices, and the incumbent appreciation of your US$ house value. |
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EYE-BALL’s Herman on: A Chronology of Farce – and of a Government who Wonders Why Their Opinion Polls are so low.
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| Title: - A Chronology of Farce - - and of a Government who Wonders Why Their Opinion Polls are so low. | By: Herman O’Hermitage | 18th July 2012 | |
 From what is set out below, there are many insights. This is but a snapshot of our modern democrazy, where every picture tells a story, in this case quite possibly different stories to different readers.
For a start sharing too much personal information through all social media is lacking wisdom. But that said when existing media do not cover such reality, the only option is to cry to the others. To try to gain some audience, to scream civilly in frustration, “THIS IS NOT GOOD!” “WHY DOES IT REQUIRE A CRISIS TO GET SOME HELP?” “ARE ALL CLAIMS OF SOCIAL SAFETY NETS JUST RHETORIC?” I will conclude with my own observations.
AS the election cycle is approaching a response is received.
About the low opinion polls of all government when such issues are only addressed just before elections that is telling. On first blush government is detached and self serving. If you care to re read Mr. Albanese’s response is it full of rhetoric. Simplistic and only addressing being re-elected. I could easily find just as many other examples elsewhere. Why does such an issue not attract more real media coverage. The suffering of wild boars in the “pig dogging representing bloodsport” in and around Mackay’s bumper sugar plantations attracts more media interest since exposed yesterday. Are news recipients really the dopes they are taken for by media? The pig dogging expose includes photography of Independent Clover Moore shaking her head in disgust saying “It is just blood sport!” Does there need to be greater tragedy or violence to attract media coverage? We can’t condone the mayhem in Damascus now, the havoc that is today Libya, or what occurred in the British riots last August. In Sydney the death of an 18 year old youth Thomas Kelly in Kings Cross, has finally drawn sufficient attention to the predatory behaviours of the liquor outlets only acting out of self interest, the half inebriated youths arriving at the Cross late, being patronized and so on. What will it take? Another suicide of a senior citizen or a premature death of one afflicted without hope does not attract news coverage. Statistics are buried somewhere, try and find them. There is much more correspondence that I could include, and I may do so in a Part II, with the authors permission. He has granted me permission to reproduce the above only on the basis that he is not further unduly embarrassed. The author of these e mails has now called his local member Mr. Anthony Albanese and requested a personal appointment. He has asked my advice. Writing this expose out helps to condense my thoughts. The 20,000 times $1,000 ($20million) promised in the last federal budget to hire workers over 50 will achieve nothing. It hardly covers the cost of workers compensation for hiring a person for 3 months. How is it any different to Mr. Albanese’s claim in April 2010 before the last election “the Government announced the Productive Ageing Package ($43.3million over 5 years)”. How was appointing a Commissioner for Age Discrimination (former Senator Susan Ryan) to bolster the role formerly held by Ms Elizabeth Broderick (as set out in E mail of Mr. Albanese) a new initiative. Nothing has changed or likely to change. It is not a mainstream issue, does not attract sufficient public sympathy or awareness. How about employing a small group of secret shoppers to expose some of the nonsense practices of employer groups including Australia’s totally inefficient and at times inept civil service? Legislation is not generally efficient. There is simply no point. So too public forums rarely achieve much, it is about trying to change culture. There are many successful examples in recent history of successful attempts to change culture as well as unsuccessful campaigns. The answer lies in some type of micro economic reform. Right now I am still pondering. When I have concluded here I might just try and crystalise my thoughts in a series of question the government might want to dwell on to turn around the fortunes of the govrnment and the long term and mature aged unemployed (underemployed). I have some time to consider this list, as my friend is unlikely to obtain his appointment with Mr. Albanese this side of Christmas if the responses to his e-mail are any example. Always good to be prepared all the same. With a federal election due round about next August he might get a response from Mr. Albanese maybe 3 months before. Believing in sanity is indeed insanity. see also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Election_Commission ________________________________ Click here to read more of Herman’s previous posts … Herman … |
EYE-BALL’s – ‘NONE of the ABOVE’ Campaign – The Consequence of Poor Political Leadership…
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| … The Consequence of Poor Political Leadership… | EYE-BALL’s Australia Votes: “None of the Above” Campaign | 13th July 2012 | |
  The World limps, mortally wounded after the financial shocks of the 2008-9 GFC. The World’s economy is on life support that can only come from continued Government stimulus programs and bailouts meant to help out the Banks that caused the GFC in the first place.
Citizens, Corporations, and Government’s are bleeding from river’s of ‘debt’ and an ocean of ‘corruption’. Past and on-going measures taken by Legislators and put in place to shore up the Financial Markets have one purpose in mind – ‘save the Banks‘. It’s a policy entrenched in the ways of the past – our Leaders still think ‘capitalism’ is the way of the future. It is just plain wrong … wrong … wrong … and the problem is how does one convince the World they need to change their ways? True ‘Capitalism” died many decades ago when Government and our elected Leaders sold out on behalf of the people. Politicians became the front-men and ‘Ken and Barbie’ style sales merchants selling a business based on what we now call ‘Party Politics‘ and the commercialisation of Party policy for sale to the highest bidder with the biggest donation. 100 years ago the ideals of the Political Parties had moral intent and purpose – or that is what we read in history journals. Their aim was to improve the quality of life for everybody on the planet, not just their own citizens, or their own kind. In the immediate aftermath of WWII when humanitarian efforts were at their height – the very fabric and intent of what galvanised a World order against tyranny and Imperialism, now lays tattered, torn and faded away. In the time since successive Administrations have forgotten purpose and the why early Democracy was formed to humanise a Global population. In recent times Global Wars may not have been fought, but trade-wars are ongoing and impacting on Nations unable to help themselves. These Wars are economic in nature and are designed to cripple a Nations ability to fund its programs – i.e. the Cold War victory to America came from the price of Oil being pushed down to $10 a barrel and the Russians lost their ‘cash-cow’ export revenues. That political game forced the end to communism and the world believed it was a better place because of it. Since then China has reversed the trade-war scenario and used it against America – pegging the Chinese currency to the US$ was the biggest political play in history in the last 60 years. Returning to post WWII – Africa has been pillaged and raped beyond its own existence - all in full sight of a so called caring world. The Arab world has been ‘conned’ into providing the ‘black-gold’ so needed by industrilised Nations. When it is gone – how will they survive apart from the mega wealth created by Kings and Dictators in those lands? The ‘Cold War’, and ‘Trade-Wars’ may have not had statistical ‘war-dead’ or civilian casualties of war, but the global civilian body count as a result of the ‘trade-wars’ is still larger that all the military deaths in both World Wars and all the conflict Wars since. During this period Governments have lost their way – a little over 45 years ago man set a far horizon goal – to land a man on the moon and the Yanks did it and the rest of the World marveled at their accomplishment. What new far horizon has been undertaken for humanity on this planet in that time since? Government’s of past era’s displayed integrity and had a moral compass. America as a World leader has lost its way and is not alone. Recent Leaders were self-serving egotists – Bush Jnr with his daddy’s wish to finish the War on Iraq he started in the early 90′s and a second term lame-duck President over the WMD fraud – Clinton also with his second term comatose by the ‘Monica Lewinsky’ blowjob in the Oval office and denial, showed they were both men not worthy of such high office. In 2001 and after 9/11 – a dark cloud descended upon humanity. In its aftermath where America and the rest of the Western world practised self-interest, revenge, and an intent to teach others a lesson about attacking America blinded Western Leaders. Australia was caught up in that when Howard accepted the ‘WMD’ lie perpetrated upon a global population looking for Leadership in the 9/11 aftermath. The World turned to their Leaders and all that came back was a lie and a descent into a Political abyss that the World has never recovered from. George Bush Jnr was not the start of the descent into weak and corrupt political times. He was just a symbol of how far the moral compass of Leaders had turned from what was a righteous crusade started so long ago. In recent decades political choices and decisions have not been made by the individual or based on their own private and individual moral beliefs – Politics has become a conference of opinions and vested interests groups all pressuring for their own agendas. Clinton’s attempt to overthrow the Somalia Warlord was the humane thing to do – then why did he abandoned that cause? It was because of the public opinion about military loss of life and it was too much for the political pollsters – policy driven by poll numbers is a dangerous road to travel yet that is where Democracy now stands. The foundation of Democracy once based upon the belief that it represents Government of the people, for the people, and by the people, is now about who has the largest cheque book – Political Leadership for sale – going price about US$3 billion if the latest spend on the US Presidential race adds up right. The business model for Political Leadership is about Party Politics – the scam is to offer bigger and shinier handouts to have people believe in a better option. It is not relevant at the time if it is a lie – it only becomes relevant if it can be proved to be a lie at the same time it is sold to the electorate – i.e. the $11 billion black hole in Abbott’s election promise’s in the 2010 election – proved after the Election to be a lie – Gillard’s promise of ‘no carbon tax under a Government I lead’, and what do we have, a Carbon Tax under a Gillard led Government. Politicians lie and they do it so well – win Government by any means necessary – because once you are in power, then the promised land becomes your playground and you can spin it anyway you like to a lassoed media so eager to please for their own agenda’s. Party Politics now comes before the good of the Nation and in that dulled spotlight of media spin – we all find it hard to see the sharks in the waters we are all left to swim with. With Democracy’s hijack, so went out the capitalist ideals and in came the methods used to corrupt the whole political system. The way of the World today is to get as rich as you can, anyway you can, and to can those who dare get in your way – and it all starts with the ‘faceless’ men behind the scenes of our Political Leaders and the Parties they represent. The World has been dying this slow and agonising death for a long time, its been like a cancer eating away at the insides of Society and everybody pretended they were none the wiser. They’ve all known – just as the electorate have known – nobody was prepared to call it for what it was – just like a patient who knows something is wrong but does not want to go to the doctor to have it confirmed. All through this comatosed existence – the same people living in far off lands have continued fighting and dying against Warlords over basic needs like food and shelter. The World now only looks on in mild concern – that concern being that they don’t want it on their doorstep – not the poverty, the children dying, or the murderous genocide, just so long as it stays ‘over there’. Can anyone count the cost in terms of human life, family and loved ones lost, and all because Leaders of the World have given over responsibility to an underfunded and undermanned United Nations. Governments have focused on their own needs and in doing so appeased any conscience drag by donating small GDP percentages to the UN to help. What happened to the humanitarian instinct to help those who cannot help themselves? The Australian Government has budgeted $370 million to host a G20 summit in 2014. That’s almost $20 million a delegate and their entourage. What aid could that $370 million provide – how many lives coud it save … $20 million a delegate – what the hell could they spend $20 million on per person in all good conscience. The ongoing GFC event is not a natural occurrence – it was nurtured from man-made GREED, and yet more GREED. It evolved from leadership mediocrity that in-bred more mediocrity and before we realised – the worst of the worst sat upon the dungheap of a political kingdom and played god. The World is now more dangerous that at any time since WWII – danger from a tsunami of emotive anger all directed at Political Leadership and the perception that they are Government for the elite of society, and not for the people who need Government help the most. It’s all about maintaining the quality of life for those who were and are living the best quality of lives. The concentration of wealth has always been a condensed and shrinking proportion of the worlds population. Poverty is the rising abyss and Government’s are at a loss to prevent its spread. The World is undoubtedly headed towards an uncertain future – what do angry people do when a perfect storm forms? The release valve has always been revolution. When things get to that type of situation – the value of life becomes unimportant for those within the struggle. Personal sacrifice is the call to arms. We’ve seen it in Egypt, Libya and Syria all in the last 12 months or so. The value of any life should matter. For all of man’s time on this earth, never has life been so cheap in far off distant lands, who would have thought that the lack of food and water has been the reason why life is lost in this modern world. The UN talks of humanity, of human aid, of warlords and conflicts where donated aid is the reason people die. This is the ugly side the World order Political Leaders refuse to act upon. The rawness that is the African poverty, the desperate plight of millions of people caught in War torn lands where children are stolen to wage war, you would think the World would care! Yet Western Nations, their populations, and like their Leaders, only concern themselves with their own quality of life. Past events in Greece and overnight in Spain – [See ABC Spain story here.] – and about to happen in other Eurozone Nations having to take austerity measures, prove that this poverty disease is now spreading into Nations who 10 years ago were thought to be immuned to the poverty problem. More and more are slipping below the poverty line, and having to find other ways to support themselves and family, many are learning how to and living lives off the proceeds of crime. This is the most dangerous of times … when people begin to believe their life has no value, even to themselves, then anarchy is only a doorstep away. The demise of political will and morality can be traced back to the advent of Television – TV gave us unlimited entertainment, news, and advertising. Prior to TV it was not all that important how a politician dressed, how he/she looked, and what their facial features looked like. It was a time when ugly and awkward people could get elected. TV and media changed all that. Politicians began to watch themselves on TV as the News and Current Affairs programs broadcast speeches and Parliamentary proceedings. The Western World was suddenly able to see their Politicians live or on replay and the world of Politics changed. Some 60 years later society demands that our leaders be youthful looking, they have dress style, and apply makeup to suit the mood and lighting before the cameras. They are selling themselves as much as the policy they are about to give or debate. This ‘glass-bottle’ existence is the same for everybody – one poor performance in front of a camera, or a discovered indiscretion can ruin a political career. So of course they’re never going to expose themselves unless they control the environment and make sure all ‘land-mines’ have been removed. We will only get to see the public image they want us to see of any of our Political Leaders – that has never changed. This flows to vote record – never wanting to be seen as the unpopular standout against bad policy. It also galvanises the like minded into block factions within Party’s who will only change their vote in exchange for backroom deals that always have a monetary value for someone. This is all done out in open and is commented on daily as the normal way democracy is carried out. The reality is that it’s no better than a Gangster meeting of Don’s sitting down to hash over the spoils and areas where they all have vested interests. ________________________________________ If disenchanted Labour voters don’t want to vote for any other Party and I know how that feels at the moment – vote ‘None of the Above’ on the ballot and deny them your $2.50 vote reimbursement. You should only vote for candidates you believe in – not the top of the ticket. We have compulsory voting in this Nation – the ‘None of the Above’ campaign is about a fair choice to express your true want in who to vote for. The Joint Standing Committee for Electoral Matters Submission for a “None of the Above” ballot box can be read by clicking the link below, (PDF file): Submission_None of the above Campaign It this campaign topic and vision interests you – please subscribe for updates via the RSS feed links below and E-Mail links provided in the right hand margin Admin section: If you want to become an active supporter of the campaign ahead of the next Election due in the second half of 2013 – please get in touch via this E-Mail address:
________________________________________ Have your say where it counts: – contact your Local Federal Representative via the links below and let them know how you feel about this, or any other topic that you feel strongly about – or you can just post a comment below and let off some steam.
________________________________________ The EYE-BALL’s “None of the Above Campaign” |
EYE-BALL Guru on – The GFC … the right of reply … the right to question …
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| Title: The GFC - … the right of reply … the right to question … 15th June 2012. |
| The GFC: The Regulatory Authorities are not even aware of what is happening out there in the real market – they have no idea where to look or to begin to understand how markets evolve and move on. For the players the GFC was opportunity – for the rest of the world it was devastation, changed lifestyles and forever altered dreams. Nobody waits for the shock and awe of what the GFC represents, or is now inflicting around the globe. The catch phrase is – “Money Never Sleeps” – There has been two movies that have attempted to expose the truth – the other was ‘Margin Call’ released late 2011. The plot of both these movies – be it via changed names of the major players and instigators of the GFC meltdown – is in how the global financial markets proved they could go a ‘bridge too far’ – that they can and did cause a financial ‘nuclear holocaust’ that the world is now struggling to cope with. There is no single reason – nor a single person responsible – the GFC was a collaborative effort between Financial Markets and the Regulators who played their ‘cat and mouse’ game – it proved once and for all that the regulators have no idea what is happening out there in ‘money world’.
He felt that he knew best – yet we all now know that whilst he sat in his ‘Scrooge’ tower playing and pretending at being the Financial Markets God – what was happening on the street was smart and savvy market operators practising and developing financial products that Greenspan had never heard of – nor thought that the markets would develop outside his knowledge or regulatory base. There were many regulators like Greenspan – all of them bare some responsibility.
This Regulatory oversite was of their own making – they were aware the Banks were growing their off-balance sheet activities, and as a consequence where their majority of their profits were being derived from. The first ‘tell’ in this Regulatory responsibility should have been the massive executive remuneration packages being announced, and done so in an egotistical way in that it became a competition between rival Bank executives to strive for bigger bonus to prove better Banking reputations. The poaching war was on.
The Regulator’s knew about the growth in the Banks ‘risk profile’ – but as a collective group through G7 Finance Ministers meetings – they all elected to let it go unchallenged. The general consensus was – ‘what was wrong with ‘smart guys’ making lots of money’ – what harm could they do if everybody was making money … including the Regulators who were profiting for the equity market surge around the globe, and the multiply factor in property. Nobody stopped to think about who was paying for these excessive and ‘moral hazard’ bonuses’ – or how they were being put together. The Regulators were asleep at the wheel and in the time since 2008-9 when the GFC first busted itself and began its impact on Global markets – not a single senior Banker has gone to jail or been grilled over the GFC cause and its fallout. Small fry in the form of Bernie Madoff and other fringe players have been exposed – but mainstream ‘Wall Street’ have been left alone. This GFC was a long time coming – there were several warnings – market meltdowns in ’87 and the aftermath of 9/11 – were in fact tremors warning of the massive earthquake that was to follow. Many smart people were fooled and it was all allowed to happen in the name of ‘greed’, and still more ‘greed’. As this GFC fallout process moves to the next stage of recouping the bailouts – the rest of the world is to pay the price. It is easy to see who will pay the price. Yet, the global priority and approach by Governments when the GFC first hit was to bail out the Banks. Now it is time to pass the cost of the Banks bailout onto the world’s population through Governments recouping the bailout loans via taxes increases and diminishes services as Governments are forced to cut back.
To put things in perspective – Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 110 years for what was a US$ billion dollar fraud of America’s rich and wealthy. Yet the Goldman Sachs play on the ‘sub-prime’ mortgage securitisation market cost the world many US$ Trillions in real net worth value, i.e. stock market value losses all precipitated as a result of the ‘sub-prime’ ’cause and effect’. Poor Bernie – all he did was use a Ponzi scheme to strip some greedy rich investors all too lazy to use their wealth and invest in industry to make a bob for themselves – they left it to Bernie to make them richer – in many ways they got what they deserved. Wealth is a privilege – and it should be used – not tucked away to allow the privileged to live off its interest income. Who’s paying for the GFC fallout?
Since the 70′s the consumer cost of doing Banking have risen exponentially. WIthin the ‘market games’ played between Banks and other Financial Institutions – all the speculative trading over and above normal banking operations amounts to a ‘zero-sum’ game. If someone wins, then someone else has to lose – the monies won are simply transferred from the Bankers who lost. In that equation the Banking or Financial Institution who lost tries to recoup their losses from new market trading – but at the end of whatever period – the loses are simply passed on to customers as the wheels of commerce prevail. As costs increase – i.e. losses are termed ‘costs’ – the price of goods and services has to rise – and so it is for Banks – the very wheels of commerce turn in favour of providers and business who service the public. This all means that consumer costs to do their Banking rise for every Bank customer around the world. The increase comes in the form of higher fees, wider spreads on bank transactions, lower deposit interest rates, higher interest rates on loans, and for existing customers these mortgage increases pressure their loan arrangements undertaken before the new cost increases. The Banks revenue stream from fees and non-interest income has increased to almost 50% of all Bank revenues since the 70s. Let there be no mistake – the Banks control the World – Politicians need Banks more than Banks need Politicians. Without Banks out there lending to create commerce and growth – Government revenues dry up and force Governments into greater borrowing requirements to sustain their economies and that all important ‘growth’ factor as measures against GDP. The evidence in this Bank dominance is in the proposed second Greek bailout – the Banks who lent to the first bailout package were all about to do their money cold if Greece defaulted. Enter the 2nd Bailout package structure and it required that the 2nd tranche of Banks bail out the 1st tranche of Bankers as a priority to a much higher value than would otherwise been received. The Greek politicians have no choice – either agree to the bailout arrangements or see their Nation descend into the Third World abyss of having to survive on IMF handouts. Enter the 1st Greek election result where the people said ‘fuck-off’ to the proposed bail-out package … Now the EuroZone ‘management’ for want of a better term, but largely Germany and France – have to convince the rest of the EuroZone to help save Greece. Every economist, or financial commentator sees no other option to help save Greece – the view is that Greece will be booted from the EuroZone and from there it will be a Nation carve up, and the Greek people will never again be able to look the world in the eyes and claim their historic heritage as an ongoing existence. Are The BANKS solely to blame?
The ‘sub-prime’ asset bubble burst when everybody took the assets on board basis their yield as opposed to what supported the security. If anybody looked at the asset and realised what class of mortgage supported the security – they would have been ‘junk-bond’ rated. Of course Moody’s and the like play their role in rating then ‘AAA’ – and that was criminal in intent, and how bribes were offered and paid for the rating to be confirmed is still to be discovered. AIG and a few others are all involved and how this ‘ratings’ ranking was achieved will all be revealed at some time in the future. Again Goldman Sachs will be at the head of that enquiry when it comes to witness lists. The movie ‘Margin Call’ was all about the GFC meltdown and the ‘firm’ who played god in the markets was based on the actions of Goldman Sachs when they realised that their ‘sub-prime’ market was about to collapse. To prove the mercenary mantra of what makes Goldman Sachs tick – they unloaded these worthless securities on a market and then went short the very same market. They knew the securities were toxic – and the traders who bought were buried. All Goldman Sachs did was accelerate the GFC crisis that was coming anyway – maybe a decade away – but the ’87 crash and the fixes applied to fix it so markets could not sell off freely were always going to cause problems down the track. The bigger and underlying problem attributed to the Banks and the debt they peddle stems from Government tenure and policy that is endemic in all Western Nations. Liberal/Conservative politics have the reputation of being better economic managers and lean to employers, whereas Socialist/Labour politics are more concerned with social welfare and the employee workforce. In the last 40 years both sides of Politics have moved towards the middle ground.
Do you think the Banks did this deliberately – by opportunity the answer is YES – by design, the obvious answer is NO – the Governments could have said no to borrowing programs and lived within their means. This is the problem now facing the largest economies in the World – the USA and the EuroZone – they are so indebted that they are now closing in on the same category as third world economies when it comes to Debt/GDP ratios. The BANKS were the only concern Governments had when the GFC started – they lent them trillions in cheap funds to stave off Bank failures … this was not a band-aid fix as was the ’87, and 9/11 crashes. This was heart attack stuff with the risk of survival very low. This motivated Governments in ways that allowed the Banks to dictate terms – i.e. if we fail it’s all over – these are our demands. The Banks have controlled the world ever since. Just how that position is destroyed without sending the world into a decades long depression that would make the 1929 crash and burn look like a picnic – is the global question that no-one has an answer for. There is a way out!
Everybody wants the inside scoop – something that will return them 10-20% in days or weeks – annualised into 100′s% … how can a world survive when this speculative drive comes and goes – Nation to Nation across the globe is having its currency hammered and then reversed as global fund managers tort their business around the globe looking for their next ‘quick-fix’. Its a traders adrenalin rush that has gone amuck … Global Leaders have to get their heads around how to stop this rampant speculation delivering Bank and their off-balance sheet operations massive profits and also exposing then to massive losses.
Mr Dimon’s appearance before the Congressional hearing was widely reported – read the ‘Huffington Post’ story here. It is produced in part below.
Mr Dimon knows he is safe – the Congress members who questioned him realise that the world financial markets hang by a thread and to ‘witch-hunt’ and make an example of Dimon would cause another ‘belly-drop’ market moment. It is neither the time nor the place, nor will it happen in the public eye – Dimon could dump on the Congressional enquiry if he felt they were targeting him in any other way than to have him explain that this won’t happen again. If it does happen it will be out of sight of the mainstream media and public view. The way out for Global Leaders is to learn from the example of how this loss occurred – ‘speculation’ is solely responsible – they have to strive to drive the Banks into accepting they make a choice about who they want to be – Banking or Derivatives Speculation – not both. The Government then has to draw up policies that tax all speculators on their profits/capital gains. Make it a time limit deal – make it heavy to discourage investment outlook of less than 1-2 years. If you make the speculator/investor think whether the tax cost of any short-term investment play is worth the risk – the heat is gone from the market. You won’t have quick or speculative recovery in equity markets – but then that will be good to allow markets to consolidate and for Companies to shore up their capital positions independently and away from the Banks. Have the markets return itself to a conservative approach to investment choices. It is just that simple. The EYE-BALL Guru … |
EYE-BALL Guru on – Glen Stevens – is he the right man to be running the RBA?
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| Title: Glen Stevens - … is he the right man to be running the RBA? 14th June 2012. |
| The head of the RBA, Mr Glenn Stephens gave an address to the Prime Minister’s Economic Forum in Brisbane yesterday, and made comments that Australian businesses should lift productivity to combat the rising A$ value.His advice is small comfort to the tourism, manufacturing, retail, primary producers and miners. It is also a case of ducking the real issue. Rather than have the whole of Australia suffer under a high A$ value – why not get out in the market and do something pro-active to not make the A$ such a ‘speculative currency’ that attracts the speculative investors. Why pursue a high interest rate policy to fight inflation when inflation is and never will be a problem over the next decade or so?
Why put all of the responsibility to deal with the A$ high value back onto business when all it would take would be some innovative Government policies like that of Switzerland, and other Nations, who fight to protect the value of their Nations exports, and at home industries. Mr Stevens – by your comments as expressed in the below report on your speech - use this link to hear full speech - you have never even thought to manage the currency value as a part of the RBA’s mandate. The ABC report is published below:
Mr Stevens – there is not a lot more to be said – the comments you have made in this speech makes us all aware that you are not qualified to be the ‘safe-keeper’ of the Australian economy. Either your advisors need to be sacked – or you need to have a hard look at your comments and ask yourself why have you allowed the A$ value to rise without the RBA in there making decisions that protect Australian Industry from overseas speculators and competition. I’ll debate this with you anytime and you can tell me why you stood back and watched A$100′s billions of trade revenues get stripped from the Australian economy and its industries. Over to you Mr Stevens. ____________________________________________ The EYE-BALL Guru … |
EYE-BALL Opinion on – Be Carefull What You Wish For … Women’s Equality and its cost on society …
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| Title: Be Carefull What You Wish For … Women’s Equality and its cost on society … 4th June 2012. |
| Before you dismiss the title as some cheap nasty crack at women and all have me hung drawn and quartered – please take a few minutes to consider the opinion put forth. It might just offer some insight to what the ‘feminist’ movement is responsible for, and where it might be headed.
A story over the last few days has focused on the imminent 11% increase in ‘child-care’ costs. This is not something new – it’s a yearly cost increase and not often matched by the Government when it considers child-care rebates. In any Government Policy initiative – there is always the carrot to appease the masses, and then there is the reality. One is a short-term bribe, the other the long-term consequences. To expand further on this let us go back in time a little and revisit the 80′s when the feminist movement was in full swing. (There have been several periods in the last 100 odd years where the feminist movement has been in ‘full-swing’ – I am only referring to the period of my generation in this context.) Let me first ask you a question – do you love your children? I’m asking this question to those who have children in child-care at the moment. The follow-up question is would you rather be at home raising your own children, or out in the workforce trying to help make ends meet? (Hint – there is no real correct answer to this question – it’s a conscience question.) It might seem an innoxious question – but it is at the heart of all that is human, the human need to nurture, and more importantly to nurture ones own child. How did we get to a place where the mad rush of a morning is to get the children to child-care on time, and still not be late for work? How did the Government hood-wink all the stay at home moms and dads that they had to go back to work and yield the child nurturing to a bunch of child-minders? Was it out of financial necessity – or was it because this modern-day style of living turned everybody selfish to their own wants and needs? There is no conscionable reason to excuse anybody into abandoning their child and allowing others to take responsibility for the care of that child. Do you think there is anybody out there who will take better care of your child? OK – let’s look at this from another perspective. Home ownership still remains the dream of all young Australians with young children. House affordability is at crisis levels in this Nation. Read the ABC story on this below: [Linked On-line here.]
You get the drift right … house prices go up on demand, fewer houses being built and fewer State and Federal subsidised housing commission or affordable housing projects being built, all means that urban residential house prices have to rise. Let me give you a real example – in the early 90′s and during the ‘recession we had to have’ during the aftermath of the Oct ’87 equities crash, housing prices stalled. [See chart below]
This chart clearly shows the ‘stall’ in property prices during the late 80′s and early 90′s. From the mid-nineties property exploded as did the equity markets, and for those who could afford to buy property – all was good. It was around this time that families made conscience decisions as to whether both parents should work so they could ‘buy’ their family home. It is this timing in history where the future will haunt us all – as a society and with the Governments short-sightedness on the long-term impact of putting children into ‘child-care’, that we as a Nation of civilised people chose all else above the future welfare of our children. This decision made with incentive offerings from the Government – their outcome was 4 million or so extra taxpayers – of course they had to find the jobs and so the ‘part-time’ full-time workforce became of things and the way families were able to buy a family home. Nearly 20 years on – what do we have? Record debt levels, home loans, credit cards, personal loans, store credit cards, and the credit on demand lifestyle. The by product is that as much as the family earned – they spent more. In a vast number – families have lost everything chasing the dream of home ownership – and it has been the cost of keeping the family home that sees the beginning of these meltdowns. In a very high percentage of homes purchased in the last decade, the debt exceeds the house value. Young families were encouraged to buy housing with 100% financing, first home owners grants from the Government, no real credit checks, and an income/expenditure that only worked when the second income was added. Millions of families were enticed to put their child care responsibilities in the hands of complete strangers so they could go back to work. As a society that places the highest value on child safety and security – how as a collective group af moms and dads, and with Governments urging you all along the way – could people make such a choice? Was the family home that necessary – was there no other option? All of the above is true – and the legacy for the future generations is in how children have grown up without any nurtured bonding with their parents – these same children are now a part of the ‘divorced-family’ syndrome. Divorce – another legacy of the ‘both-parents’ needing to work to provide for their family syndrome. The conundrum was that parents forged new relationships within their place of work and this led to a selfish choice to abandon their family unit and seek a different life. The truth is that the financial gain from going back to work never really matched the responsibility of the sacrifice in the first place. The Government rebates on child-care never kept up with increased costs. Families fell behind and that financial burden and pressure left families shattered – divorce became the norm. The Government is not responsible for the divorce rates climbing – but they surely were asleep at the wheel when looking at the long term problems sending both parents out to work was going to cause. Wives who were fed up with the tight family budget under financial duress, and their internal struggle with the natural urges to want to shop and spend – and now with access to the husbands superannuation they decided that the work thing was better than raising children – and besides the children were now at school and could take care of themselves. The Wives craved freedom – and off to the courts they went. Some 15 years later – society is a shambles. Children of divorced parents are now in the same financial trap wanting to provide for their own children and that brings us back to the latest story about the imminent 11% increase in child-care costs. [See story below.]
If you ask me – some 30 odd years ago when the feminist movement was again gaining momentum – I call this the ‘womans sexual revolution period’ – blame it all on the ‘pill’ if you like, another mans invention that had reverse effects. Anyway – women weren’t quite sure how to organise themselves, or what it was that they actually wanted from life i.e. motherhood, career, of someone to take care of them financially etc … Someone stepped up and said, ‘lets send them all out to work’. The next question was how do we do that – how do we get women to want to go back to work thus abandoning their mother instincts inbred over millions of years to raise and nurture their children? Was it a strike for women’s equality that they could demand and compete in the workforce – at what cost – look to the generations of children since and tell me that this Nation is better off. That the children of today will look back on time and treat their parents and elders with respectful existence. It is evidenced today in that parents are being dumped in aged care homes, stripped of their wealth and assets, and left to die amidst a lonely and mentally anguished existence. It’ll be worse in another 40 years. Don’t even go there in blaming the children and the children to follow for this self-inflicted cheapening of life and its true value. This was a deed done and of societies own making. As an educated Nation – we’re a pretty dumb lot. It is simple – life is the key and that depends on family – you kill off the family bit by bit with cash incentives, and making them feel they have to compete in a global economy where nobody has any answers that will work over the long-term – the outcome will not be pretty. We’re there now – look to a classroom and have the children where both natural parents are still together show their hands – the change around has happened in a single generation – my generation and I know and feel the pain of it all. So this next nail in the coffin of the ‘family’ – how will the family survive with an 11% increase in child-care costs? The Government can be likened to a ‘glacier’ – slow-moving and once set in motion can never be halted – the direction it takes is reactive to the terrain and conditions at the time … all like Governments. The only way to stop a glacier on a collision course to somewhere you don’t want it to go – is to take drastic, and physical action. What will it take to have Governments wind back the clock and restart, or develop policies for the future that respects the value of the family, and returns the raising of children back to the parents. If you don’t want to look after your children – don’t have any. Household income splitting is one option – an oldie but still an answer that will provide incentives and allow a parent to stay at home. Force employers to establish child-care facilities at work – provide tax incentives to do so and the outcome will be that parents are only a room or two from their children. This is already happening in large Corporations – and whether it is a real answer only time will tell. This works for children younger than school age. I’m sure that if we really thought about winding back the clock, policies can be formulated – if you have suggestions, please use the links below to let your local member know. In the span of total history – this blimp will be remembered as the era in the history of humans as the generation that gave up our children for 40 pieces of silver. _______________________________________ To have your say where it counts: – contact your Local Federal Representative and have your say – please use the links below to find your Local Member and let them know how you feel about this or any other topic that you feel strongly about – or you can just post a comment below and let off some steam.
Link to Previous EYE-BALL Posts. ________________________________________
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EYE-BALL’s Harry’s Growl – The Australian ALP Government – worse than Bikie Gangs …
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| Title: The Australian ALP Government - … more corrupt and worse than Bikie Gangs … |
 The expectation surrounding todays House of Representatives session held great promise. Yet – the reality of what is happening dictates an immediate update.
The first order of business for this day saw The Speaker – Peter Slipper stand aside as Speaker holding all his rank and privilege. The Deputy Speaker took the chair. After some acknowledgments for former deceased members, and public citizens of note, the Opposition moved a motion to debate the Speaker roll. It was defeated with a tied vote of 72 – 72, and when the Deputy Speaker refused to, or as protocol dictated, cast a vote – the motion was therefore defeated as there was no clear majority. Next was a similar ‘suspension of standing orders’ motion targeted at the Member for Dobell – Mr Craig Thompson. We are at the 90 min mark of this sitting and the seconding of the motion has just been completed. The Government is now responding. The Member for Bradshaw on the Opposition bench was evicted from the House during the motion debate and this then made the vote a formality. It went 72-70 to the Government with an abstention within the Coalition. All this happened was happening on what the ALP called the most important sitting day of the Government – Budget Day. The House now moves to the Budget session tonight. The Manager for Opposition Business the Member for Stuart – Mr Pyne, did well in presenting his case. The vote on all these motions came down to whether the cross benches crossed the floor and vote in favour of the motion. They did not – it also allowed any Member of the ALP serving in the Parliament to stand up and reject the ongoing corruption this Government is being charged with. They also did not. Not all that surprising given the heavy reliance on the ‘presumption of innocence’ all lawyers like to invoke. To have deemed the Members in question on the back of media speculation would not be fair. But if they are found guilty – then the whole of the ALP Members will be tarred with guilt. Very little real data is i the public domain. The MP’s have all the evidence and their opinion is to wait and see if a Prosecutor can prove a case. That is not justice being served because evidence is being destroyed over the last 3 years in Craig Thompson’s case – and Slipper has several previous allegations against him for similar breeches to which he has had to repay $10′s thousands of overspending on the taxpayers dime. Morally – Independents Winsor and Oakshott are the easy targets – Wilkie crossed the floor and The Greens Brandt stayed with the ALP. The bigger question is that the Labour MP’s all supported the vote against the motions thus supporting Peter Slipper and Craig Thompson. This is the core reason why Gillard is seen as a ‘whore’ in her efforts to remain at the Lodge. There is no circumstances in which she sees her Leadership as PM as inappropiate. What do the Australian people now do that Parliamentary Members we elected could not do to protect this Government’s integrity. Here is some humour to help you deal with the ‘spittin’ chips’ feeling I share with all of you. Larry’s latest cartoons are published below: [click on image to visit Larry's Facebook page to view all his cartoons.] _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ There is much hilarity in Larry’s portrayal of a Government lurching form one disaster to another. It may be that an Egypt type protest is necessary to send the message needed to make this Government step outside of itself and look at itself from where we have to look. Nobody has any respect for the ‘bitch’ – the ‘wabbly wallaby’ – the ‘Labour Unionist tart’ who slept her way to pre-selection, the ‘passed around mole’ that former lovers discuss in private hate sessions, the trollop who uses her ‘ass’ to waddle as Australia’s ambassador to the World … fuck-off Julia … if someone was to wish you harm – I would not stand in their way … _______________________________________ Please use the Federal Member links below to find your Local Member and let them know how you feel about these matters and any other matter that you think worth mentioning – or if you want you can just post a comment below and let off some steam.
Link to most recent Harry’s Growl Posts. _______________________________________
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EYE-BALL’s Harry’s Growl – “Question Time” – a Joke upon all of us …
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| Title: “Question Time” – a Joke upon all of us … |
| Today – 20th Mar 2012 – a day that will live in ‘infamy’ – a day that put Australia on a path to ‘War’ between the Mining Sector against all other Industry sectors and the Government of the day.This fuckin’ bunch of idiots fronted for ‘Question Time’ today and ‘hubris’ was humbled by the stench of the ALP ego’s.
The Duchess Bitch – dressed in mustard red to match her pastie complextion and hair, and used her monotone drone and field of ‘JackBoots’ filed in behind her to turn the House of Representative Chambers into another farce of Government achievement to gloat over the passing of the Mining Resource Rent Tax (MRRT). This Parliament is a joke beyond the ‘funny’ – it’s a Government with no futuristic understanding of what this MRRT will do to the Australian economy. It is a tax born from a spending boom never seen before and undertaken with the GST as its motivator. The reality is that whilst under RUDD the spend intentions were about saving Jobs and protecting mortgage holders and the Banking system – the reasons for the continued spend is a Government drunk with the fear of losing office … Several Members of the Government were today asked Question during ‘Question Time’ by ALP Members about how the MRRT would benefit their electorates. This was a transparent ‘sales-pitch’ to convince the electorate of the spend benefits of the MRRT – a debate that is well ahead of itself on so many levels. I shared the Press Gallery’ with the other dozen or so Journalists covering ‘Question Time’ and they were playing cards among themselves. None of the offerings put forth by the Government has any appeal to any of the electorate – as with the ‘Carbon Tax’ the complexities are beyond the capabilities of the Government to explain the tax. The efforts in ‘Question Time’ today were self-aggrandising on a scale that made me want to pull my ‘old fella’ out and piss on them all from the Press Gallery. My Editor felt for my want – he agrees with the pathetic shambles Government has descended into and has advised restraint – as interested as we all want to be aware of the political debate among the Leaders of our Nation – how can we be blamed for its mediocrity – none of them can answer a direct question – and the media dont know the right questions to ask. How can the public hold any respect for these fuckin’ ‘wankers’ operating in a self-created mushroom environment of toxic bile that consists of a nondescript diatribe everyday that nobody wants to hear. I stayed for an hour before I walked out and penned this column – I have no respect for any who serve in this Parliament – on either side of Politics – and less for Members Winsor, and Oakshott. They should have both woken from their slumber of ‘spotlight’ fame and made the choice on behalf of all Australians that this Government is woefully inadequate to handle the responsibilities necessary to guide Australia. It is a lesson learned by all of us that Independents, whilst serving their Members when they have the balance of power yields greater services and attention – their position of responsibility in serving the ‘whole’ of Australia is beyond their capacity. On the MRRT – it is a wealth redistribution tax – and even the Opposition have been reluctant to use the ‘Socialist’ reform it represents.
The MRRT is a Socialist policy aimed at distribution of proportionate wealth to those less wealthy. Whatever this Government claims as the distribution reasons – this MRRT is about delivering the ‘promised’ surplus for the 2012-13 year by this Government. Talk of the tax raising $110 billion in the next year are all premature – any use of the MRRT to balance the current $50 billion deficit of the 2011-12 are far in advance of the realism of collecting the MRRT. It is all ‘smoke and mirrors’ and the joke being played is on all Australians – few if any of the brighter minds in the land are up for the fight – the ‘good v evil’ WAR brewing in the behind the scenes of Federal Politics as a WAR that none of us are really interested in. We deserve everything we get – allowing this Government to ruin the Nations Natural resources and tax the consumers to fund the Governments lust and depravity to win Government at any cost – a game played by both sides – just makes you want to walk away … _______________________________________ Please use the Federal Member links below to find your Local Member and let them know how you feel about these matters and any other matter that you think worth mentioning – or if you want you can just post a comment below and let off some steam.
Link to most recent Harry’s Growl Posts. _______________________________________
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EYE-BALL Opinion on – The Prospect of WAR …
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| Title: The Prospect of WAR … |
| The role of a soldier is never really understood by those who have never served i the military. Modern warfare is not like it was in WWI and WWII – or the jungle wars of Vietnam.
The insurgency and guerrilla type enemies that our Defence forces encounter in current conflicts are morale sapping. Identifying the enemy among families brings hesitation and challenges a soldiers eagerness to confront an enemy he cannot see or be sure of. The question is and has always been the ‘value of life‘ – we have a culture that places a value on life above all else. Most of the enemies our forces are in conflict with do not have the same perspective on their ‘value of life’. How do you compete with an enemy who wants to die – and all you want to do is survive and get back to loved ones. Watching movies and archival footage of the ravages of war hardly make if real for the viewer. Unless you have been in a conflict – faced death and had to fight and kill for survival – the understanding what our soldiers put themselves through to defend our Nation cannot be fully understood. Americans place a high value on Leaders who have served in the military and faced conflict. In Australia this is never raised or even discussed of our Leaders – yet these same Leaders are eager to send our troops into conflict without ever having experienced the theatre of WAR – and then join in the mourning of their loss for political gain. I can identify with the American’s on electing Leaders who have experienced – those who have served understand what it is to send men into battle knowing that there will be casualties – experience in that scenario is all important. What would Howard have known of these things when he committed troops to Iraq and afar? What did Menzies know when he committed to Vietnam? Reading some history on Vietnam gives and broadens the knowledge base as to why Australia committed troops to the Vietnam conflict – read some of that history here … [Australia's Involvement in the Vietnam War, the Political Dimension - Part 1 - © Brian Ross, 1995] Another reference page can be viewed using this link – [takes you to the ANZACday.org.au history section.] The pomp and ceremony attached to uniforms are celebrated by all cultures – but few really understand the sacrifices endured to wear the uniform – be it police, fire brigade or the military. There are always lessons taught in the history of WAR – the killing of an enemy is only part of the battle – living with the killing and the atrocities war embraces kills us all – especially our soldiers when they become less than who they were. Where the western World is now – and with political leadership so far down the pipe in terms of respect and quality – who would want to fight in a war these leaders want us to fight? For some 65 odd odd years Wars have continued to rage since the lessons of the two WORLD wars – what lessons did we really learn – how to make more efficient weaponry – how to be more subtle in covertness – it is still so easy to go to war to decide a conflict and it is always threatened – just listen to the Israel’s as they posture over IRAN. I for one would not be wanting my children or grandchildren fighting in a war that this Government or any other Australian Government chose to join in. To defend our shores – yes – and to wage covert war on terrorism – yes – but to join America as we did in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam before that – No … Peace keeping missions and the like I can agree with. The very act of WAR and the killing of innocents like what is happening in Syria and before then across the Nth African Nations – civil war needs to be stopped when Dictators kill indiscriminately – these are wars that America and the like wanted to stay out of – it was the French who led the charge into Lybia – the Yanks joined in but they are spread very thin. In coming decades the American’s will be like the British Empire after WWII – forever shrinking and losing influence. And all this war mongering – who pays attention to the humble soldier doing the dying … their families left behind, loved ones , fatherless and motherless children all left behind – lives not lived – dreams not fulfilled – all wasted on the foreign lands of other people’s wars … The decision to go to WAR should be a conscious vote on every Member of parliament – no party lines – no executive decision – but once entered or not – that decision should be supported in whatever means available. The West’s propoganda on Nth Korea and Iran is intimidating – but as the lesson of the Weapons of Mass Destruction WMD lie still hangs over America and all those who were sucked in – what can we really believe – it will yet again be the soldiers who do the dying if Leaders declare WAR. _______________________________________ To have your say where it counts: – contact your Local Federal Representative and have your say – please use the links below to find your Local Member and let them know how you feel about this – of you can just post a comment below and let off some steam. [Links updated 23rd Feb 4:00pm Sydney Time due to page move.]
Link to Previous EYE-BALL Posts. ________________________________________
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EYE-BALL Opinion on – The Real TRUTH – Politicians Lie and Bureaucracy help cover it up …
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| Title: The Real TRUTH – Politicians Lie … … and the Bureaucracy help cover it up … |
| The 2010 non-fiction Movie - “Fair Game” – staring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts as Mr and Mrs Joe Wilson, is a political drama about the ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction‘ (WMD) lie pushed upon the American people and the world at large as justification to go to war in Iraq.
he movie plot is a perfect example of how a lie is formed to fit the will of the Leader and his advisors – how the evidence to support the lie is constructed – and how those who know the truth become marginalised – and then put in harms way because of the cover-up undertaken to defend the lie. This Joe and Valerie Plame Wilson story can be further read at the Wikipedia site linked here. The reality of what we all know about the WMD bullshit – and how easily we have forgotten how Politicians behave to get what they want and satisfy their ego’s – continues to visit us every day. PM GILLARD has stood before the Australian people and told a lie countless times – her sincerity in reinforcing the lie appears genuine – it gives lip-service to the saying that they who have the megaphone can say what they want – the millions of people screaming back can never be heard. How it works – a political leader finds a media-baron to support them – i.e. Murdoch – they then fill their papers, TV News, and airwaves with negative stories about those who they don’t want to win and positive stories about those they want to win. The people are brainwashed by continued negativity – they have questions about it all but where do they get the answers? The human attention span is diminishing – life and its pressures and stress’ get to us all and then we can’t be bothered and just go with the media flow of opinion. That is how easy it is … And to get it to this point – the politicians change the media ownership laws on cross media ownerships and market share to allow them to have greater influence – how do we fuckin’ know what is true anymore – the media never report the negatives unless they have changed allegiances – and then they will bury the former supported Government … That takes us to the very question – are Politicians bought and paid for? In the movie example mentioned above – Vice President Dick Cheney is portrayed at the Nations traitor – the actions of him and those who worked for him caused great embarrassment and loss of life upon the American people and Iraqi citizens. The message is that Democracy as practised by the ALP caucus in ousting RUDD was not the will of the people – it was not a part of how we view our democracy should work. When one watches a political press conference these days with Julia out front directing traffic – getting to pick what questions she chooses to answer and not answering those with a pointy end – is exactly how we the people become deluded to what is actually happening. It is good for the soul to remind us every now and them that complacency is how America killed itself – it allowed GW Bush to lead them by the nose with lies and manufactured evidence to complete an agenda that is still to be revealed in all truth. His daddy never got to finish the job on Saddam and whether GW Bush Jnr was sent in to finish the job is still a question hanging out there. On the home front – the Carr appointment and Gillard walking the tightrope of ‘misleading the House’ on questions about his appointment came and went without further recourse – it is as if when the news shifts – all the past is forgotten until the wheel turns and the story resurfaces again in connection with another lie and mislead. We own it all – and if we sit by and watch it descend into chaos and crap – then it is us who were responsible – we let the leaders do to us what they believed was in our best interests – we knew is was not – i.e. immigration policy, carbon tax, NBN, schools program, insulation program, MRRT, all debt accumulation and future revenue schemes to pay back the debt – but it will be someone else’s job to fix the mess left behind … _______________________________________ To have your say where it counts: – contact your Local Federal Representative and have your say – please use the links below to find your Local Member and let them know how you feel about this – of you can just post a comment below and let off some steam. [Links updated 23rd Feb 4:00pm Sydney Time due to page move.]
Link to Previous EYE-BALL Posts. ________________________________________
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EYE-BALL Opinion on – The Purpose, the Meaning – and what is the End-Game?
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| Title: The Purpose, the Meaning - and what is the End-Game? |
| Large questions for a World with diminishing purpose and outlook – in the macro sense it would seem that each generation just rolls into the next – each civilisation exists and repeats itself.
What has 2000 years of recorded history really achieved – better housing and sanitation – living longer – stripping are the natural resources never to be replaced – in real terms what is the progress made in the time we have lived on this planet? According to the scientists much has been achieved knowledge on how the planet works and what harms it – manmade control over rains and water storage – the moon, stars, and how we gaze beyond to new horizons – the perception of Government’s and so-called ‘democracy’ to control the masses – what is the purpose of all this wisdom and time spent if it just means a new generation gets to inherit wisdom and the same belief’s in an afterlife and an a-moral existence. What is the end-game? Where is all that has been – and all that is to come leading civilisation – what is the higher learning – what can be the higher purpose? What about our ability to kill man – in wars, in crime – and then there is the poverty and hunger suffering by more than half the world – the medicines and advancements in health care – the very best of it only comes if you can afford medical insurance – and then there is the moral sustenance – where sexual behaviour and its promiscuity have turned full circle to the depraved perversions of Roman orgy’s … The very best the world has to offer has become the yardstick of our existence and is only available to those who can afford it. Our Leaders tell us at every turn about helping the working class while at every turn they take care of themselves first. Leadership demands large sacrifice and responsibility – yet our Leaders give themselves 40% pay increases – superannuation beyond what the populace can obtain – perks for life – and an insular existence from the reality of what most endure. So the question remains – what will another 2000 years bring – what is the END-GAME - Is it Legacy – we all get old and reflect on our life and look to our children to carry on the name – the gene pool. But do the children care – is it about inheritance for them as opposed to family? Looking forward and not back – how many have said that is is our past that our future lies … If not Legacy – then what can it be – 7-8 decades upon this earth if your healthy and lucky – for what – if you became a somebody – then history repeats your name and depending on your deeds – you might be infamous or famous for a while after – who really knows history – it is purely someone’s version of how they saw a life. Is it about a ‘good life’ – then why are so many living a life with no goodness – not their own fault but the fault of where they were born and into what civilisation they were born – no it is not about this - If you can see the end-game and where it ends – then you could see a purpose and meaning – the rest is just existing and following in the path of previous generations … a path that leads to an unknown that some future generation will spore and perhaps find an answer – or just ask the same questions asked here. In context – Gillard, Swan, Rinehart, Forrest, Palmer, and all the other notable people that we all love or condemn – who are they – is any of them went away – they’re not irreplaceable – someone else will step into their shoes – so what is their function – to make our lives better – to give us something to talk about – common … would any of us want what Gillard and Swan have to do every day – what about the responsibilities Palmer, Forrest and Rinehart deal with every day … It’s war of a different kind – talk about paper bombs … they is where they wage their war – do you think they would be so openly at eachother if the war they were fighting cost lives? Please … someone – can you yield an answer – what do we have today that is so far different from where we were 2000 years ago – forget length of life, material things, and the ability of man to think on a much bigger scale – what has really changed … we still eat, drink, reproduce, where has life’s purpose changed? _______________________________________ To have your say where it counts: – contact your Local Federal Representative and have your say – please use the links below to find your Local Member and let them know how you feel about this – of you can just post a comment below and let off some steam. [Links updated 23rd Feb 4:00pm Sydney Time due to page move.]
Link to Previous EYE-BALL Posts. ________________________________________
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