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Howard breaks his silence: Work Choices should've stayed
First time Ex Prime Minister John Howard talks in yonks
and he still thinks Work Choices was the best thing since Vegemite despite being booted out of his constituent over Work Choices Make darn sure the opposition do not get in in case of an early election or you'll see Work Choices creep in slowly but surely. That's a true nutter this Howard. THE Rudd Government's stimulus packages and its abolition of Work Choices have made the economic situation in Australia worse, not better, former prime minister John Howard has said in one of his first interviews since losing office. Mr Howard also gave his support to embattled Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull during the 40-minute interview, broadcast on Sky News last night. Asked what he would have done to combat the global economic crisis, Mr Howard immediately pointed to the abolition of Work Choices, saying that by overturning the controversial industrial legislation the Rudd Government had added to unemployment. "Work Choices helped give us the lowest unemployment rate in 33 years," Mr Howard said. "The biggest challenge that the Government now faces is stopping unemployment going too high and they are now, by dismantling our industrial relations reforms, they are adding to unemployment. "If the name of the game is to protect jobs, why do you follow policies that destroy jobs?" The former PM, who lost the top job in 2007 to Kevin Rudd, said the Rudd Government's multi-billion-dollar stimulus packages had worsened the economic situation in Australia by increasing debt. Instead, they should have followed policies such as a "payroll holiday", which would have encouraged business to retain jobs, Mr Howard said. "I wouldn't have thrown money around and given cheques to people," he said. "I would have actually said to the states, 'We'll give you, I think it is $16 billion collected throughout Australia for payroll tax', give them payroll tax relief for a year in order to lift the burden of payroll tax, and that would have helped firms to keep staff. "By splurging all of this money and adding to our debt enormously, Mr Rudd has actually worsened the situation that has been exported to Australia. "The big thing he had going for him was that we left him with the strongest budget in the Western world, and the lowest unemployment for 30 years. We left him with that inheritance, so he got off to a flying start, but when the tsunami hit he has actually made it worse." Mr Howard endorsed current Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull when asked who he thought should be in charge at present: the member for Wentworth or former Treasurer Peter Costello. "Peter did not offer himself," Mr Howard said. "Malcolm is the leader. I thought he gave a great reply last night and he has my goodwill and my full support, as did Brendan Nelson. "Malcolm is very capable and I think he demonstrated last night not only a good grasp of economics, but also quite a good political touch. "I think he basically called the prime minister's bluff, all this silly nonsense from Mr Rudd about an early election. It's complete nonsense." Despite his support for Mr Turnbull, Mr Howard admitted it would be tough to beat Mr Rudd at the next election, with the Labor leader riding so high in the polls. "Anything can happen. It's hard to win when you've been in opposition for one term," he said. "It will be tough. The public always cuts a new leader a lot of slack." In the interview, Mr Howard attacked his successor as lacking a firm set of beliefs. Asked which Labor leader he regarded the highest after 30 years in office, Mr Howard nominated Bob Hawke, and not Mr Rudd. "The most talented person I faced in the Labor Party was undoubtedly Hawke. He just had more intelligence than any of the others, and he actually did have a theme to him, a set of beliefs," Mr Howard said. "Kevin Rudd's problem is epitomised in that 7000-word essay (published in The Monthly magazine). I read it and it was a bit of a chore. It was intellectually flawed, internally inconsistent, and historically inaccurate. "You finished reading it and you had absolutely no idea of what he stands for." |
I am not even going to enter in to this but hey let's bring on the double dissolution! Better to push them further into the backwater than they are now! hehe!
Do you believe that regulating the workplace and increasing penalty rates increases employment? If not lets go to an early election, whether you like it or not for once you are completely in the minority Frozo, thats whats making me happy for at least the last couple of years! hhheeh! |
As a has-been, Howard's opinion is now worth less than a pinch of s**t.
Brendan Nelson and Malcolm Turnbull have both announced the end of the policy as far as the Opposition is concerned. So wtf is this thread really about? And when is Krudd going to erase the WorkChoices he hates so much? Always amusing when the peanut gallery start passing off uninformed opinion as political commentary... :rolleyes: Let's give away some more taxpayers' money to the kiwis and poms... |
Do you believe that regulating the workplace and increasing penalty rates increases employment? By splurging all of this money and adding to our debt enormously, Mr Rudd has actually worsened the situation |
PAF -> PWNED!:ok:
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I was living out of the country for all of John Howard's tenure in office, so, watching from afar, I'm unable to share the passion against him that some (quite a few, actually) display here. The fact (from where I stand, at least) that his government got it wrong on occasion is undisputed. The one area (and by no means the only) that immediately comes to mind is their failure to commit a lot of the money they had at their disposal in such good times to large, long term infrastructure projects, in particular a major water project along the lines of the almost century old Bradfield Scheme. (To back that sentiment up, I understand that after the recent heavy rains in North Queensland, the equivalent of six Sydney Harbours a day were pouring over the spillway of the Burdekin Dam.)
Particularly towards the end of the Howard Government, I believe they were suffering from collective hubris, much as was the MacMahon Government that lost to Gough Whitlam in 1972. For someone old enough to recall that time, there are parallels between the Whitlam 'experiment' and what Rudd is doing now. In both cases, it was and is a bit like watching any one of the 'Lethal Weapon' series or an Eddie Murphy cop flic – great entertainment, with lots of great, immensely gratifying to the eye car crashes, but with little to no regard to the poor bastards who, if you took a moment from eating your popcorn, you knew in the real world would have to come along behind Mal or Eddie and clean up – and pay for - the wreckage. Howard got the boot for a number of reasons, one of the main ones being that Joe (or should that be 'Bruce'?) Oz 'didn't like him'. (And if Joe/Bruce didn’t initially, 90% of the Australian print and television media and 100% of the ABC told him he didn’t repeatedly until it became an almost religious mantra.) With Howard, I’m reminded of the commercial management of the airline I work for. 95% of the pilots in the airline – (I don’t think this is too strong a word) – dislike them, some with a passion bordering upon hatred. However, you’d struggle to find 5% among that same group who wouldn’t accept that those same commercial managers do a rather good job raking the money in and keeping the company expanding and in the black, even (or should that be ‘particularly’?) in these troubled times. Perhaps because of television, too many people these days seem to want a leader they can like rather than one who can deliver the goods, (even if the delivery of said ‘goods’ sometimes involves pain for some, a la Work Choices). Some of the most successful leaders of the last hundred years wouldn’t get a look into a political leadership role today because they couldn’t deliver their lines for television the way today’s leaders must. Sadly, that means we are now getting a succession of actors rather than leaders, and like too many actors, when these ‘leaders’ don’t have a script to follow, they have nothing to say. (I’m not sure if Kev fits into this ‘good actor class’, but Howard certainly didn’t.) As I said in my opening paragraph, I don’t think Howard got it right on many occasions, but I’m really uncomfortable about the size of the debt Rudd is saddling the country with and can’t share the sentiments of those earlier in this thread who have (it would seem to me) blithely asked “what’s the big deal about operating under a deficit?” I’d recommend anyone interested in what’s happening re our burgeoning deficit to read this article by Lenore Taylor in today’s ‘Weekend Australian’: I dreamed I saw a truthful treasurer | The Australian |
I’d recommend anyone interested in what’s happening re our burgeoning deficit to read this article by Ross Gittens in today’s ‘Sydney Morning Herald’:
Big deficit is a good step for more jobs |
Howard Did Nothing
Howard just had good old fashion dumb luck.He happened to be in power when the greatest post war boom was happening.Virtual full employment had nothing to with him.
In this time he could have built roads,railways and improved ports around the country.He did squat.The children overboard charade was Howard at his worst.Appealing to the xenophobia of ill informed. He did crack the double though...losing the election and his own seat. Justice in my book |
'The Sydney Morning Herald', over the last few years, the Australian edition of 'The Guardian'.
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For all those whining that Howard never built any infrastructure I will just point out that he was ringed by Labor State Govts. And its Labor State Govts who are still fcking this country up the clacker...Desalination plants instead of dams is a classic example.
Howard tried to nationalise water but ran out of time...so we get to watch Labor State govts privatise what, historically, fell from the sky for free. |
Hahaha
Howard did a lot...............
He sold everything that we owned as citizens of Australia to private enterprise :ugh: Telecom, Airports and so on........ Then he wouldn't spend on Education and Health for the majority of Aussies. The list goes on. I used to love him his bullsh!t line of "the economy is great, we're in a surplus (some of the cooked books anway)." Most people I knew were going backwards due to inflationary effect he was having on everything. He had good advisers and they knew when and what to spin..... := |
I opened this thread with immense trepidation - I expected the majority of posters to agree with Howard.....so it was a great pleasure to see that most people think the way I do - ie: Howard was the worst and most devisive PM this country has ever seen. The slimiest and meanest excuse for a human being that literally made me feel ashamed to be Australian.
Getting kicked out of his own seat was the sweetest revenge I have ever had to pleasure to experience. For 10+ years he enjoyed the greatest post war boom this country has ever seen, and yet we look on them as the wasted years....... I will never forget the little prick and his "non-core promises" and children overboard. Good Riddance!!!!!! |
Wow, Woolly! That's hilarious. A 5 year old child has tantrums so similar to that it's uncanny. Like a child, the Australian voter will learn the hard way. By watching their country spiral into a financial cesspit and as someone who doesn't plan on returning for a while I hope rational thought will prevail at some stage in the future. As far as 'luck' goes... Well, isn't it peculiar how 'unlucky' "labour" seems to have been when you correlate the country's national debt with who was in power at the time?
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The first time I was old enough to vote, I voted for Bob Menzies. There never was a prime minister that that came anywher near Bob since then. Except John Howard! I bet some of his detractors would gladly vote for the Communist party if it was still around.:rolleyes:
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Speaking of Super...those of you in industry funds watch as they dry up "investing" in Krud's policies. Don't worry. KRudd says only those funds who want to will put up the funds.....for the simple....thats code for Union Funds.
While KRudd plays at spin, we are going down the gurgler. 48billion in hand outs plus another 56billion deficit this year? Ute Man must be hurting every time he buys a carton of Black Cans and must be wondering by now if he made the right choice. When you think that government changed over by less than 10000 votes it makes it hard to believe the price paid by the unions to buy those votes. Those of us that lived in QLD during the Goss years know what playbook KRudd and Swan are running....we are in for a wild ride...and the pantry is empty, there is nothing left to sell except Aussie Post. Now we have reports that our soldiers should consider taking out their own life insurance to cover their deaths in serving our country?????:yuk: Hey Froz, checked out any good premiums to cover death by AMRAAM? |
Ok, I'm going to have to withdraw from this discussion, PAF.
Ok Ferris. So you advocate people losing jobs. At least your honest. Why doesn't the government borrow $5 trillion dollars and spend it. it will create jobs right? Your logic is that just spending money creates jobs right? By all means, continue with your schoolboy passion and hysterical support for your ultra-conservative position. Why not try doing it with some intellectual rigour? Otherwise, I'll leave you to your rabid, illogical rants. |
Ferris, FDR kept his country in recession longer because of his "New Deal" policies.
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FDR actually turned recession into depression with his new deal policies...remarkably similar with what many politicians (especially US politicians) around the world are doing right now.
No one argues that a govt needs to go into a level of debt in a recession...its what that money is spent on that counts. By all means borrow and spend on infrastructure that will give Australia a competitive advantage when good times return. That creates employment now and creates wealth down the track...so we can pay off the debts in a reasonable time frame. Dams and other water infrastructure that helps balance out our countries water supply and keeps this most basic need as cheap as possible...not privatisation by stealth which is what desal plants are...that will drive the price of water through the roof. More and better coal fired power stations that will provide the second basic need, electricity, at the cheapest possible price to both private consumers and commercial consumers so they can make better profits and employ more people...not semi privatised power companies who's only answer is rationing power...and killing many old/sick people during extremes of both hot and cold weather because blackouts stop their aircon etc. Believe it, it happens. Certainly not treating our most bountiful competitive advantage - shedloads of cheap coal - as if it was pure poison. Better roads, rail, port and airport (ALL kinds of airports) so that goods can be transported efficiently. All the above means the other basic need, food, is cheaper. People can afford better quality...producers, retail etc are more profitable and can afford more staff. Can you imagine these morons running the place back in the 50s...we would NEVER have had the Snowy River scheme just for starters. The $900 checks mailed out to most people was grotesque waste. Same with the pink batts/schools and, if it actually goes ahead, so will the internet broadband plan. The ETS is the worst piece of legislation since Federation. $100 billion I believe is the approximate number for the handouts/pink bats/BB internet. It costs $2 billion to build a dam and maybe several billion more and we could have a pipe network connecting the northern water storage systems with the southern ones...probably 50 sydney harbours/annum of free fresh water to distribute from the wet north to the drier south. Imagine the employment this sort of modern day snowy scheme would create for the next several years at least - and the benefits to our society. Anyone heard about that plan? Thought not. Instead lets throw billions at the car industry - and subsidise the production of something few people in Australia want to buy at the moment let alone need...a new car. If the car industry disappears from our shores that is NOT the end of the world. The Libs were not perfect...I agree they were getting a little too full of themselves...but Labor/Greens will fck this country just like every other time they have been in power. As far as workchoices goes...well where did you get the idea that a good job/certain level of wages was a right? We are born with certain rights...Life, Freedom, Free speech, a right to own property...that is it...everything else is aspirational. Economic 'rights', which are what you talk about when you rail against IR legislation like Workchoices, are not actually rights. |
Oz, pretty pointless arguing what might or might not have been the result if someone in history had done something differently.
PAF. I'll give you a couple of examples of why I am going to discontinue engaging with you. I explained that I would, and why. You show a staggering lack of understanding of basic economics You then go on to confuse my comments about intellectual rigour with what the government is doing. I would have no problem with you calling into question what the government is spending money on, setting out your reasoning, and offering an alternative. Confusing the issue with straw man argument leads me to believe that my first instinct was correct, and that you are incapable of interesting me in further exchanges. It's not the gravity of the economic situation that I find "school-yard", it's your ability and style of arguing. Is that clear? Finally, I am not an apologist for the Rudd government. I believe they are making some mistakes. But the Lib side of politics arguing that a conservative government wouldn't be spending it's way into a deficit is, well, disingenuous at best. Regardless of your economic 'school', external credit restraints and demand drivers are limiting the governments monetary control, necessitating increased fiscal stimulus. That PAF, is economics 101. |
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