21 C
Byron Shire
March 27, 2024

Thus Spake Mungo: The beauty of Turnbull’s tergiversation

Latest News

Splendour 2024 cancelled

It's official, Splendour in the Grass 2024 has been cancelled.

Other News

Save Wallum finalist in NSW 2024 environment awards

The Save Wallum campaign has been named as a finalist in the Nature Conservation Council of NSW Environment Awards 2024. The award ceremony will be held in Sydney tonight, and Save Wallum spokesperson and ecologist James Barrie will be attending with Tegan Kitt, another founding member of the group.

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: Why Being Seen is Beautiful

There is something profound about being seen. Being accepted and loved for exactly who you are. It’s life changing. It’s simple. It’s transformative. But some people don’t get to experience this. Nearly half of transgender Australians have attempted suicide.That data tells the very real impact of discrimination, stigma and lack of access to gender-affirming surgery. I write this as a woman who was born a woman, who identifies as a woman. I’ll admit, that even in that gender role, that fits within the societal binary, I’ve had my own challenges.

We just love him!

If you’re over 50 you might not be a fan of Tom Jones, but you can bet your mum is. If you’re under 40 you might not even know who he is, but your grandmother probably wet her pants at the mere mention of his name.

Wild dog breeding season can increase attacks on domestic dogs

Local Land Services are reminding landowners to be aware of wild dogs as they have received five reports of domestic dogs being attacked and killed by wild dogs in the last two months.

Hiatus Beers

Launched to market in July 2022, Hiatus Beers is all about brewing crisp, refreshing, full-flavoured, non-alcoholic beer.  The founders...

Splendour 2024 cancelled

It's official, Splendour in the Grass 2024 has been cancelled.

MungoSo much for the miracle budget.

Just a week after, it appears that nothing has really changed – another bad negative Newspoll, war on two fronts with the banks and the Catholics, and, of course, more brawling in the party room. There must be times when even the unquestionably optimistic – and egotistic – Malcolm Turnbull wonders why he bothers.

The commentators who assured us that the formula of fairness, opportunity, security was a political winner, guaranteed of an immediate sugar-hit in the polls, have suddenly backtracked; now they tell us that the public is always a bit slow, but the wonder and beauty of Turnbull’s tergiversation will dawn on them in the next few weeks – or the ones after that, or at least some time before it is time to inaugurate plan B, if indeed there is one.

But in the meantime, the situation is, as almost always, fraught. Scott Morrison is publicly dismissive of the complaints from the banks; as he says, people don’t like them very much, and given that Labor is, for the moment, ready to support the levy, he finds no cause for alarm. But if – when – the banks pass on the new slug to their customers, shareholders and employees, it is a fair bet that the victims will squeal.

In the distant days of 2015, Morrison vowed that the single, most vital reform he could produce was income tax cuts. Now he has presided over a tax grab.

And this is likely to apply also to the increase in the Medicare levy, in spite of the fact that the punters initially approve of it. The black magicians of the government insists that it is a special impost, needed to fully fund the National Disability Insurance Fund. But whether, as Labor claims, the NDIS was fully funded or not, the propaganda is bullshit. It is no more and no less than a general tax increase, to be used how and where the government chooses.

And a tax is a tax is a tax, and most voters don’t like taxes – after all, Turnbull and his mates have been inveighing against the horrors of personal income tax for generations. In the distant days of 2015, Morrison vowed that the single, most vital reform he could produce was income tax cuts. Now he has presided over a tax grab.

It wasn’t his idea, the apparently impotent treasurer laments; he would much rather have reduced spending but those ignorant bastards in the senate wouldn’t let him. But this is a touch disingenuous. It is true that the decaying corpse of the budget devised by Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey was deemed unfit for human consumption, but there were, and are, alternatives.

It is not beyond the collective wit of the treasury to design a package that would satisfy the palates of senators who demand that the rich should suffer commensurately with the poor. Thus Morrison could have extended the deficit levy, placed limits on negative gearing and capital gains concessions and perhaps even tackled Liberal shibboleths like death duties, family trusts and exemptions to the value of the family home.

But this would inevitably enrage those within the party who regard any trimming of what they see as their base as tantamount to treason. Thus Morison has capitulated, but it may be a non-solution to a non-problem – the clamour for lower taxes will not go away and although the delay in implementing the bank levy and the Medicare levy will provide a reprieve, they will cut in, one way or another and probably both, well before the next election.

The screams of relief will have to be appeased, and it appears that Morrison is relying on the fantasies of exuberant economic forecasts to produce enough fat to produce a bonanza by 2019. As all the economists worth reading, not to mention many who aren’t, have pointed out, this is wishful thinking on an almost cosmic scale: the projected revenue from wages growth and company receipts will, as usual, fall far behind the predictions.

So what does ScoMo do then? Well, presumably hope for the best; but in the meantime there is a more urgent and present danger ahead, the Catholic crusade. Fortunately for Morrison he can hide behind Education Minister Simon Birmingham to avoid the full force of the onslaught, but it appears that, like previous crusades, there will be plenty carnage, rape and pillage to be delivered before the smoking battlefield remains fit for human, or even political habitation again.

The Catholics are miffed: they thought they had sweetheart deals secured by the previous government and they are not about to let them go. Hence a huge and tear-jerking propaganda blitz is in prospect, and one which will stretch the loyalties of many conservative supporters.

One of the problems is that many of the toughest right-wing warriors in the Liberal Party room are also Catholic hardliners – Captain Catholic himself, Tony Abbott, is only their most prominent general. And the Catholics know how to keep them on side, and how to fight their cause; after all, they have the experience; they have been practising for several hundred years. The Liberal Party, while willing enough in a stoush, are mere blow-ins in comparison.

The storm troopers of the Murdoch Press are already flocking back to the church militant: not only are they vigorously promoting the coming war, but they are recycling every Catholic handout they can find to enhance the victory of the true faith.

And the onslaught may well be irresistible. Birmingham started by talking tough, but within a week was wavering, offering negotiations – presumably as a preamble to surrender. It may satisfy some of the critics in the party room, but it will enrage others, and even destroy the great Gonski coup in the process – if Turnbull cannot hold the line on this one, it will confirm, if further confirmation is needed, that he is weak, indecisive, a ditherer, a puppet of the right wing.

There is one saving grace: Bill Shorten, whether a true son of the other church or through sheer opportunism or, most probably, a combination of both, has embraced the holy war. And if he is on the side of the rebellious Catholics, it follows by definition that their cause is decidedly suss.

Thus it may be that the knee-jerk loathing of Labor by the right will be sufficient to quell, or at least ameliorate, the revolt of the clerics. If it doesn’t, the budget may be the first step to Armageddon – the end of all things, but most particularly Malcolm Turnbull.


Support The Echo

Keeping the community together and the community voice loud and clear is what The Echo is about. More than ever we need your help to keep this voice alive and thriving in the community.

Like all businesses we are struggling to keep food on the table of all our local and hard working journalists, artists, sales, delivery and drudges who keep the news coming out to you both in the newspaper and online. If you can spare a few dollars a week – or maybe more – we would appreciate all the support you are able to give to keep the voice of independent, local journalism alive.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

We just love him!

If you’re over 50 you might not be a fan of Tom Jones, but you can bet your mum is. If you’re under 40 you might not even know who he is, but your grandmother probably wet her pants at the mere mention of his name.

Peter Garrett gives Bluesfest the nod

If I say the words ‘US Forces give the nod’, I can pretty much guarantee that you will hear the unmistakable voice of Peter Garrett ringing in your ears. Your head may even start to bob up and down a bit. 

Save Wallum finalist in NSW 2024 environment awards

The Save Wallum campaign has been named as a finalist in the Nature Conservation Council of NSW Environment Awards 2024. The award ceremony will be held in Sydney tonight, and Save Wallum spokesperson and ecologist James Barrie will be attending with Tegan Kitt, another founding member of the group.

New report highlights gaps in rural and remote health

The second annual Royal Flying Doctor Service ‘Best for the Bush, Rural and remote Health Base Line’ report has just been released. Presenting the latest data on the health of rural and remote Australians and evidence on service gaps, it identifies issues in urgent need of attention from service providers, funders, partners and policy makers.