Tuesday 23 April 2013

Tony Abbott's lifestyle


Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott lives at 32 Lady Davidson Circuit, Forestville, NSW.

Houses offered for sale in that street can have an asking price of $1 million plus, houses for rent sometimes cost renters close to $900 a week.

Forestville is in the Warringah local government area - which is in the "least disadvantaged" category when assessing socio-economic advantage and disadvantage.

Mr. Abbott is paid a base salary of $190,550 per annum plus allowances as a Federal Member of the House of Representatives. As Leader of the Opposition he also receives a further 85% of that base figure as additional salary. His wife works in the private sector. He has three adult daughters.

Tony and Margie Abbott would have a combined gross weekly income in excess of $7,000 dollars a week.

Despite this generous household income Mr. Abbott also expects Australian taxpayers and voters to pick up the tab for his wife and daughters and, in the first six months of 2012 they cost the nation $9,694.48:

Presumably so that the Abbott family could enjoy photo opportunities similar to this:


Again despite his comfortable income, Tony Abbott also appears quite happy to accept gifts of Max Liondos tailored suits and clothing from Les Taylor.

There seems to have been only one blip in this happy scenario. Apparently unwilling to alter his life-style after he went to the opposition benches in late 2007 as an ordinary MP, he appears to have entered into a shared equity loan arrangement - possibly in 2008 or 2009 when the Rudd Government was supporting these loans through investment by the Australian Office of Financial Management in the very financial institution listed in his mandatory declarations found in the Register of Members' Interests when he finally entered the details in mid-2010.

According to Google Earth the property snapshots below are of Mr. Abbott’s family residence, complete with pool and entertainment area.


So, the next time this privately educated son of a successful English orthodontist pulls a long face and talks about the need to reduce pensioner allowances, the advisability of forcing those under 30 off unemployment benefits, removing superannuation tax cuts for low income wage earners or that under his leadership it will be necessary for budget measures to "hurt" ordinary people – remember that he has no real idea of how ordinary people live in this country.

Monday 22 April 2013

Australian Opposition Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey and national unemployment rates


Opposition Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey frequently refers to Australia having had a lower national unemployment rate during the Coalition’s last term in federal government. He was doing so on again on 11 March when discussing that month’s unemployment figures.

On the floor of the House of Representatives in February 2012 he erroneously stated:


Here Hockey was shamelessly taking credit for a low national unemployment rate of 4.1 per cent (not the 4 per cent he quoted) which occurred during the term of the Rudd Labor Government.

Interestingly, his idea of a generation is somewhat limited as Baby Boomers might recall that unemployment in their childhood years was well below 4 per cent, averaging out at 2 per cent between 1945-6 and 1974-5.

So how much lower was the Howard Government’s unemployment rate during its last term when compared with the current Gillard Labor Government?

Well for the record Australian Bureau of Statistics data reveals it was between zero to a provisional 1.2 per cent lower across the Howard Government’s final term, using ‘swearing in’ months, end of year month figures and general election months.

Unemployment rates during the Federal Coalition Government’s last term in office from 16 November 2004 to 24 November 2007:

5.3% Nov 2004
5.1% Dec 2004
5.1% Dec 2005
4.6% Dec 2006
4.4% Nov 2007

A change of federal government occurred on 24 November 2007. The Howard Coalition Government departs and the Rudd Labor Government is sworn in on 3 December 2007, ending the caretaker period overseen by the public service.

Global Financial Crisis (mid 2007 – late 2009) begins to significantly impact on Australia in 2008.

Unemployment rates during the Federal Labor Government’s current term in office 14 September 2010 to date:

5.1% Sept 2010
5.1% Dec 2010
5.3% Dec 2011
5.4% Dec 2012
NK   Sept 2013

Or if you prefer a graph - here is one from Grog's Gamut:

Sunday 21 April 2013

Aotearoa passes legislation establishing legal same sex marriage


The New Zealand Parliament, Pāremata Aotearoarecognizes the importance of human dignity and civil rights for all

Saturday 20 April 2013

Abbott has not won federal government yet, but still the threats have started.....


Conversations at the Qantas Gala Dinner held on 18 April 2013, reading from bottom 51m to top 12m:
By the next day, van Onselen was tweeting:
And the mainstream media had identified the staffer in question as Abbott's policy advisor Mark Roberts and the person most likely to have been on the receiving end of his anger as Australian Indigenous Education Foundation CEO Andrew Penfold.


Making Abbott's most recent Director of Policy Mark of the Seven Hundred and Seventy-Four Days. Though what an Abbott demotion entails is anyone's guess - perhaps a bigger Christmas bonus?

Federal Labor's Craig Emmerson tweeted what many are perhaps thinking: