Romulus:
Really Sunny? I expected better from you. There is no need to be a LNP lickspittle, but basing your arguments on facts and logical outcomes would be a minimum I would expect from you.
As you know I am a "natural" Liberal voter with faith in free markets.
What concerns me is that Abbot and Co. are from the hard right of the party and are friends of the miners and big Agriculture. Since they are "price takers" they see anything that increases their costs as anathema. That includes a thriving manufacturing sector which, by definition, increases the value of the Australian dollar.
To put that another way, Abbotss backers see themselves as the natural Aristocracy and dont mind seeing the rest of the country become peasantry. Similar forces are at work in Britain and of course the USA, all having taken a leaf out of the Russian Kleptocracy playbook.
To put that another way, the Abbott Government has no intention whatsoever of raising the living standards of average Australians, quite the reverse. The intention is to maximise the income differentials and marginalise and disenfranchise the poor. I would expect to see attempts at "voter ID" and similar laws in the second term.
To put that another way; the "personal responsibility" (ie: there is no social compact) mantra will be followed by the "choices" mantra (blaming the poor for their own circumstances). That will be followed by voter ID laws and an attack on compulsory voting if American Conservative thought is any guide.
Oh Yes! And gated communities to insulate the well off from the consequences of the policies they espouse.
Sorry to say I'm a "small l" liberal like Peter Costello, not an arsehole like Eric Abetz.