What The Fuck, Australia (Federal election 2013)

The previous Labor government did a lot of good things:

Gonski reforms 

I have spoken to three teachers, all of whom are strongly in favour -- they must be good.

Carbon pricing and the Tax Cuts

Labor introduced a carbon price, yes, but at the same time they increased the tax-free threshold from $6000 to $18200. Since the tax rate on this was previously 19%, this is a cut of $2318 for everyone who earns more than $18000.  That's nearly a whole baby bonus, every year, for every worker.

But I didn't see it mentioned once during the election.  A $2300 tax cut for everyone. Not once.

Also, fuckers, electricity prices are going up because the state governments are allowing the electricity infrastructure companies to charge whatever they like for maintenance. Guess what's happening there: per-kwh prices for electricity are pretty stable but the connection fee is getting enormous.

The National Broadband Network

The fourteen people I have spoken to are all in favour of fibre to the home.

Here are my earlier thoughts:
It is worth building the NBN just for television's sake. iView on ADSL sucks.
It is also worth building the NBN just for video calling's sake. I want to be able to see my grandchildren clearly on Skype.
It is also worth building the NBN just for education's sake. I want to chat with teachers and use highly interactive applications.
It is also worth building the NBN just for e-Health's sake. I want my GP to be able to call on other doctors if necessary and be able to keep my shared file updated.
It is also worth building the NBN just for small business's sake. I want to be able to work remotely and transfer large files quickly when it is necessary.
It is also worth building the NBN just for a whole lot of other reasons we don't know about yet.
It is also worth building the NBN just to avoid having to maintain all the copper.
Any single one of the above reasons justifies building the NBN. All of them together makes an overwhelming case.

With regards to the price: it's fucking $40 billion over 8 years. That is 0.3% of our national GDP. Civilisations survive and flourish partly based on how good their communications are -- is 0.3% really too much?

The Coalition NBN is an intentionally hobbled piece of crap, because Abbott sold Australia out and became Murdoch's little bitch. It is a shame Howard sold off Telstra because building the NBN is much more expensive as a result, to the point that the Telstra sale was a net loss.

Disability Care

I don't know much about this but I've heard three people in favour and no-one against.

The Mining Tax

Fucking hell, I thought that this sounded like a great idea. Those resources are in the ground and getting taken out. Once gone, they're gone. I want businesses to have to fight tooth and nail to make a profit from them. All these lucky rich idiots spouting self-serving crap about how they deserve more money makes me angry.



All this aside, perhaps the worst part is that the coalition had almost no policies. When I see their supporters on facebook spouting empty lines like "end the waste" or "restore the economy", I want to ask what the fuck they are talking about, because I'm damn sure they don't have a clue, and are parroting echoes, as though they were at a football game. I enjoy turning my brain off as much as the next guy, but seriously, this is our future. Is a few minutes' critical thinking really too much to ask?

The only real policy I heard about was the paid parental leave scheme, which was ironicially very similar to something the Greens had suggested. Except that it was a bigger waste.

While it is true that the Coalition has historically had a positive impact on the budget's bottom line, it is almost always in a short-term way that is bad in the long term. The sale of Telstra is an example, as are the usual cuts to education and health spending.  America's economic management leaves a lot to be desired, guys, don't copy them too much.


So basically, Australian voters, fuck you.

Of course, it wasn't all bad.