Some facts about debt
Where does the truth lie in political speak? I think it's been difficult to decipher truth from lies so I did a bit of fact checking.
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I found government debt under the Liberal government has consistently risen since Hockey got the debt ceiling raised to $500 billion. Rudd had it capped at $250 billion. It looks like there are going to be some big debt repayments down the track created by the three Liberal prime ministers of late. When good income producing Australian assets keep getting sold off and tax revenue declines, followed by a potential world downturn for resources, where is the tax revenue to pay essentials going to come from? Will the Liberals guarantee the banks as did the Rudd government in the worst downturn since the Great Depression?
At first I thought Labor's tax changes were not good but on a second look I now believe they are necessary and the race to the bottom for lower taxes must be managed as Shorten has stated, or our children will all pay the price of bad policy decisions sooner or later. We should allow our children and grandchildren to be able to afford their own home and have the family they wish for. Uncontrolled negative gearing is just not fair.
Do Labor governments really tax more than the Liberals? The truth is not what I have heard from current leaders. The figures in the government supplied graphs show clearly that the six years of Labor under Rudd and Gillard from 2008 to 2014 were lower tax years than all the previous and current 15 years under Liberal governments.
D. Freeman, Woodburn
PM dodges farmers
The PM made a second visit to the Shoalhaven and again would not meet with dairy farmers, the biggest rural industry in the Shoalhaven and the largest dairying area in the NSW.
Under the PM's watch since August 2018, dairying in NSW and northern Victoria has contracted by one billion litres of milk; half a billion dollars at farm; and two billion dollars from regional and rural areas like the Shoalhaven.
Worst of all it represents 7700 jobs lost (7.7 jobs for every 1 million litres of milk) since August. Does the Prime Minister not care? Has the government lost interest in regional areas? Any one industry that suffers so significantly and can't get the attention of the PM .. something is seriously wrong. I guess we are not his mate.
R. Miller, Milton
My money on Schultz
The federal election is going to be a fascinating contest in Gilmore. It is basically a 'four - cornered' contest between the three major parties and an independent candidate who was the local Liberal branches' pick, Grant Schultz, and who the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, decided he would dump in favour of former ALP president, Warren Mundine.
Labor you would think was in a winning position, but they have a major problem in Gilmore, and her name is, Fiona Phillips. This candidate is 'going-around' for the third time - and is considered by many to be mediocre.
Then you have the Coalition's decision to allow the National Party to stand a candidate up against their partner the Liberals. They have effectively thrown Warren Mundine under a bus. Can the Nats' Katrina Hodgkinson garner a big enough primary vote with the pie being dissected like it is? it's very doubtful.
So why has the Coalition done this? The answer is simple. They want to spoil any chance Independent candidate Grant Schultz may have of beating them.
Former Liberal Member for Gilmore, Jo Gash, is running around supporting Katrina!
The other thing to note is that Liberal branch members in Gilmore are being recruited to help the National Party's candidate. No wonder independents are getting up all over the country. My money is on Grant Schultz.