Mangled Thoughts

No, rather finish them off entirely, in view of the demolition job called carbon taxes. The fallacy of consumption drives economic growth, as against the truth only capital accumulation drives growth.

Rudd and Swann, bye the bye, is intensifying what Costello did in office, ‘closed loopholes’, inclusive of on taxation of super funds. What it is sacking more capital hitherto not extinguished by a Governments’ ‘grab it and spend it policies’ that are now eupehmistically called ‘investment. Swann’s budget is a massive increase in ’snatching and squandering’.

Amusingly, the Key to the Rudd-Swann ‘plan’ for economic frowth is to consign all to universities. Pieces of paper, unlike capital and its accumulation, is ‘the new way’ forward to increasing economic prosperity. Saner types would see in it the reduction absurbum showing why the consumption notion is not only fallacious but itself destructive. To ram it home, Rudd isn’t proposing fuel supply can be increased and so prices cut by an army of ’skilled Australian graudates” is he?

But then, Rudd is in becauase the Right are economic illiterates too. We are in deep sewerage water and for this we can thank the likes of Kroger. So, we read in Hansard this (in “Continued”)

Tuesday, 27 May 2008

Mr DREYFUS (Isaacs) (8.39 pm)—The Commonwealth
budget is an opportunity for a government to
lay out a path forward for our nation. It is an opportunity
for the government to address the challenges that
our nation faces now and in the future. This budget
demonstrates to the Australian people that this is a
government which will fulfil its commitments on edu

A Rudd Labor government is committed to the international
law of human rights. The Attorney-General
and the Minister for Foreign Affairs recently announced
that Australia is beginning the process of ratifying
the optional protocol to the Convention against
Torture, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities and the Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women. All these international
conventions were effectively ignored by the Howard
government. As Australians we can do better. We will
do better. The Rudd government has embarked on the
process of working on these international conventions.
Our consultation at the national level on human
rights and civil responsibilities will ensure that all Australians
are given the opportunity to have their views
heard on this critical question for our democracy. The
consultation will provide the opportunity to talk about
the rights which we value, the rights which we cherish
and the rights which we want to protect. The $2.4 million
commitment in this budget is the next step in Labor’s
long record of protecting human rights. We know
that community consultation can be very effective from

Mr COMBET (Charlton—Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement) (6.08 pm)—The Export Market
Development Grants Amendment Bill 2008 satisfies an election commitment to improve Australia’s trade performance.
Of course, that is central to securing the long-term economic future of the country. In the first six
months of government, Labor have put a lot of work into recalibrating our approach to trade negotiations

The disastrous trade performance under the last government occurred because they failed to invest in the drivers
of economic growth and international competitiveness—skills, education, innovation and effective infrastructure.
Investment in R&D and other forms of innovation is a key success factor in our international competitiveness.
Unfortunately, that investment also stalled under the previous government. In the nine years to 1995-96—
Labor years—business investment in R&D grew in real terms by 11.4 per cent per year. In the nine years to 2004-
05—the Howard years—business investment in R&D grew by only 5.1 per cent per annum. That is 11½ per cent
versus 5.1 per cent. What is even more appalling is that, over the two periods, the annual real growth rate in manufacturing
research and development—which is crucial to being able to participate in the growth of trade and
elaborately transformed manufacturing—fell from 10.6 per cent to 1.9 per cent. As a result, again, Australia’s
business investment in R&D as a share of GDP is only 62 per cent of the OECD average. That is a very important
means of measuring the seriousness with which we in Australia are approaching the challenge of R&D.
A strong education skills formation and training system is vital to our international competitiveness. Over the
last 150 years the measure of a nation’s economic development was the number of tonnes of iron and steel it produced.
In this century, it will be the number of graduates, especially in science and engineering, that our nation
generates. Investment in education is the linchpin of our future economic potential and trading performance. And
what did we see in the last 11 years of the Howard government? We saw the proportion of Australian adults with
A strong education skills formation and training system is vital to our international competitiveness. Over the
last 150 years the measure of a nation’s economic development was the number of tonnes of iron and steel it produced.
In this century, it will be the number of graduates, especially in science and engineering, that our nation
generates. Investment in education is the linchpin of our future economic potential and trading performance. And
what did we see in the last 11 years of the Howard government? We saw the proportion of Australian adults with

Ms VAMVAKINOU (Calwell) (6.22 pm)

We live in an age where the competition over resources, skills and technical expertise and access to emerging
and established markets has become more and more pronounced. We simply cannot afford to become complacent
and we cannot afford to drop the ball. That is why the Rudd government has adopted a coordinated approach to
tackling the economic challenges Australia faces, both now and into the future—creating additional places in
skills training, boosting government investment in education as part of our commitment to an education revolution,
committing $4.7 billion to build Australia’s first national broadband network, introducing new government
initiatives aimed at fostering a culture of innovation and encouraging greater emphasis on research and development
in Australia’s manufacturing and industry sectors, and establishing Infrastructure Australia, whose principal
aim is to provide a strategic blueprint for Australia’s current and future infrastructure needs. Nor can we afford to
become complacent when it comes to providing real and tangible support to Australian exporters, as well as those
businesses looking to break into the export industry for the first time.
I would like to briefly turn to one area of Australian manufacturing—

Mr CREAN—

The funding for these measures was confirmed in the budget, but they were not the only measures in the budget
that will contribute to improving Australia’s trade performance. Those years of neglect of the Howard government
in the provision of essential infrastructure will be addressed through the new $20 billion Building Australia Fund,
which will be used to build critical economic infrastructure such as roads, rail, ports and broadband. The infrastructure
development will benefit all exporting sectors, including manufacturers, miners, farmers and the services
sector, particularly in increased productivity.

Budget
Ms JULIE BISHOP (3.25 pm)—My question is to
the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the
$2.5 billion tax grab from gas field condensate announced
in the budget. What consultation did the government
undertake with business prior to this decision?
Can the Prime Minister guarantee that this additional
$2.5 billion tax will not drive up the price of domestic
gas for households and businesses in Western Australia?
Mr RUDD—The government maintains a close
working relationship with the mining sector and the
resources sector in Australia. We have done so in the
past; we will continue to do so in the future. Secondly,
on the question of tax, those opposite have a clear set
of priorities here. That is, when it comes to the taxation
arrangements for condensate, taxation arrangements
for luxury cars, taxation arrangements across the board,
it seems that those opposite do not have their priorities
right, and they need to get their priorities in order.