If you were tuned in to Sky after Tuesday night’s budget you may have heard me say that the budget was a vote of no confidence in the future of Australia.
To truly understand that, you need to look past the smoke and mirrors of a lucky surplus and deceptively rosy economic forecasts.
Before I do though, congratulations to the government for likely delivering a surplus. It’s something no other Australian government has done for a decade and a half.
It’s just disappointing the surplus was so pathetic.
The windfall from resources taxes and royalties should have seen a $40 billion surplus. Instead, we are told to be grateful for a fraction of that.
But that’s the best news. The rest is downright depressing.
There are billions in handouts for almost everyone, except those people actually working, building businesses and paying tax to support all of those who don’t.
We’ve got more money for welfare recipients while businesses can’t fill the available jobs.
It’s so hard to get people to work in this country that the government wants to bring in more than a million migrants in the next few years to do the jobs our current crop won’t do.
Even their ABC inadvertently belled the cat on the outrageous mentality at work, or should that be NOT at work, within the country.
The 730 program profiled a couple of British migrants living on the Sunshine Coast.
They’ve been struggling on Centrelink.
Mark Goodrick is a chef who says there is no point working full time. He prefers to read at his local cafe, while enjoying a part time job at a service station, topped up by centrelink payments.
His wife is well qualified for work but is on a carers payment to look after their teenage daughter who reportedly has autism.
That makes her eligible for close to $1000 a fortnight in payments.
Neither of these two have worked full time since moving from Sydney in 2018 chasing a more affordable life.
They’ve both got a car, their 15 year old daughter goes to a private school and they manage to spend $350 a week on groceries.
I have to ask, why are we, the people paying taxes, propping up the lives of people like this?
And yet, stating that having 1 million people on the dole while businesses desperately need workers is a disgrace, is only met with abuse by the feral and entitled left.
And therein lies the problem.
So much of the country has an entitlement mentality it’s destroying us.
Alarmingly, it’s being fed by our politicians who continue to throw more handouts toward those they deem worthy - regardless of whether they are or not.
There handouts for power prices, rent, lazing around, child care and buying a home. We’ve got race based handouts for education and medical care, handouts for doctors and billionaires chasing improbable green dreams.
The only one’s seemingly not getting something are the small business owners.
You know those people who risk everything so that others can have jobs.
Actually, they do get some tax benefits if they spend their own money to buy things for their business. I support that but wonder why the principle isn’t extended consistently through the community.
Why not provide support through the tax system rather than through the money churn.
If someone isn’t working, why do we need to pay for their childcare? If government policies push the price of power sky high, aren’t we better off changing the government rather than creating a catch 22 of subsidies.
I’d wager yes, but, in that space and so many others there hasn’t been much difference between the two major parties recently.,
And that’s why I think our country is headed downhill.
We’ve got too many people dependent on the public drip, always demanding more for themselves from government while seeming expecting less and less prudence and responsibility by the government.
Right now, the only thing propping up our economy is the agriculture and resource sectors.
Incredibly, both are under attack by this government - with higher taxes and charges, red, green and black tape, and an apparent desire to make both of these important industries disappear - to save the planet from climate change of course.
If you doubt that, the move is already on to limit fertiliser use, de-stock cattle herds, have us eat bugs instead of beef and stop live animal exports.
We’ve also got next to no backup diesel supply in this country. Let me tell you, the entire supply chain runs on diesel. It’ll be a long time before that changes.
But the rot is deeper than a lack of planning or becoming a socialist welfare state.
The attitude here is one of defeatism and compliance with crooked authority.
COVID showed us how willingly people go along with the most insane things.
Now we are asked to accept fiction as fact in all manner of things.
The ABC is apparently unbiased and is compliant with its charter. You can change your gender on a whim, people have to propagate your pronouns - even if they defy conventional English language rules.
On a recent plane flight there were even a bunch of weird cats known as ‘furries’. These are the people who claim to be, or pretend to be, animals.
Normal people shouldn’t have to pretend that that rubbish is real and yet you can be punished for mis- gendering someone or be sacked for using non-preferred pronouns - even if they claim to be a cat!.
It’s madness. Just like the idea, we can attack the industries that support us financially while simultaneously building a welfare state which covers such a large percentage of the population.
That includes many who appear to have little interest in getting off whatever tax-payer funded supplement to their lifestyle they can find.
We are in a parlous position and if something doesn’t change soon, it could be too late to arrest the national decline.
Now to the Opposition’s budget in reply on Thursday night.
Frankly, I thought it was pretty good. Of course that doesn’t mean it will make any difference but it did plant a flag in the sand for where the coalition under Dutton will be heading.
It was a flag of hope.
Let’s now be optimistic that the hope is not forlorn and that his party will back him on this path.
I think Peter Dutton summed up how a lot of people feel - pretty disappointed by what's going on in politics.
There does seem to be a government grind on the real income of households.
Dutton pointed out that the government was being deceptive with energy policies while finally committing a coalition government to the possibility of nuclear energy.
That possibility doesn’t mean it will happen, just that it is at least open to the potential.
He also pointed out that the government is planning on bringing in more than 6000 people per week to the country while we have housing shortages, an electricity crisis and a bunch of what he called ‘working poor’.
As I said, none of Dutton’s words will make any difference to the government but they could make a heck of a difference to the Coalition and the vision they have for our nation going forward.
It remains to be seen if the chicken little liberals who love chasing the rainbows and unicorns of the left will allow him to see his vision through.
