WHK Horwath has verified Abbott & Co policy costings? G'arn!

Doesn't bluddy bode well. One of the only concrete things Abbott and Co actually do in the middle of all their campaign spin is to sidestep the Australian Treasury and contract the frequently rebranded accounting firm WHK Horwath (which is a listed company and the member firm representing Crowe Horwath International throughout Australia and New Zealand) to run a calculator over their policy costings.
"We aim to establish strong relationships with our clients, becoming an integral part of their organisation, adding value every step of the way through our proactive approach and driving their success." sez Horwath.
Gawd, I 'opes not!
In 2006 as Horwath & Horwath this company settled a claim "made in respect of 6 audits conducted by Horwath & Horwath as well as in relation to the preparation and verification of various financial reports pursuant to certain provisions of the trust deed. In particular the claim relates to the way Horwath & Horwath reported on, and failed to conclude that the provision for bad and doubtful debts in Geneva's financial statements was materially understated. It also concerns their failure to report on how Geneva did not have in place and maintain a satisfactory system of internal controls, as a result of which it followed poor lending practices."
And in its current manifestation it's into online footy tipping!
In 2010 WHK as it's now known may have agreed to honestly report on Coalition costings, but really, what in earth was it thinking to land the accountancy group in the middle of this particular political pottage.

2 more sleeps until polling day and......

.......Maud up the Street has invited me to put my feet under her table next Sat'dee and then stay on to see how the federal ballot plays out.
She said to come early as she will've slow cooked a Mista Rabbott with garden vegies and new potatoes using her grandmother's receipt.
Slowly stewing a symbol of the pollie everyone loves to hate. Hmm, a bit of sympathetic magic going down there perhaps?

Stimulus package debate - so who do you believe?

Still wondering if Tony Abbott and Co are right about the Rudd-Gillard Government stimulus packages?
This might assist..........

On ABC TV Q&A Opposition last night Leader Tony Abbott said this:

Well, again, it's horses for courses and don't expect miracles. Now, if spending was the sure fire answer to any problem like this, why is it that the Americans are in recession? Why is it that the British have been in a recession, because their stimulus packages were roughly the same as ours and it didn't work? What got us through the global financial crisis was not fundamentally the stimulus package. It was fundamentally the strength of our economy and I've got to say that that owes far more to the reforms of previous governments, including the Hawke Keating Government, than it does to the spending spree of the current one.

Yesterday John Quiggin also published this:

An Open Letter

We the undersigned economists are convinced by the evidence that the coordinated policies of the Australian Labor Government have prevented the Australian economy from a deep recession and prevented a massive increase in unemployment. Unlike most OECD economies we have come out of the Global Financial Crisis and the subsequent world recession with only one quarter of negative GDP growth and a smaller increase in unemployment.

We note that during a recession automatic stabilizers (increase in total unemployment benefit payments and decreased tax revenues) lead to an increased government budget deficit. In almost all the OECD countries there has been a massive increase in unemployment and in budget deficits. In Australia both have been trivial by comparison.

The Government Fiscal Stimulus package that was introduced was carefully crafted and implemented in a clever sequence. The first stage, the payment of $900 to most households, helped to boost confidence in the retail industry.

The second stage of the stimulus package (the Building Education Revolution, and the First Home Owners Grant) boosted the construction industry and created thousands of new jobs. Besides the employment effect, it also provided a much needed increase in the stock of public capital (better and greener homes, better schools) and prevented a sudden fall in house prices.

The last stage of the fiscal stimulus package (as it takes time to prepare plans etc.) was the infrastructure program that increased employment as well as increasing the stock of public capital and helping to overcome the significant short fall in Australian public infrastructure, and hence would increase future productivity, taxable capacity and the ability to repay public debt.

Just as a major corporation goes into debt to invest in its stock of capital, so does a government. Just as many householders have a debt to a bank or mortgage company, so does a government. A government has a budget deficit and a government debt, but it also has capital assets (roads, ports, better equipped schools, Broadband, etc.).

The performance of the Australian economy has been outstanding: the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have show-cased Australia as a model economy.

We hope that the economic achievements of the Australian Labor Government will be recognized by the population.

Signed by:

P.N. (Raja) Junankar Emeritus Professor UWS, UNSW, and IZA

G. C. Harcourt Emeritus Professor UNSW and Jesus College, Cambridge

Peter Kriesler Associate Professor UNSW

John Nevile Emeritus Professor UNSW

George Argyrous Senior Lecturer University Of New South Wales

Harry Bloch Professor Curtin University

Tony Bryant Associate Professor Macquarie University

John Buchanan Director, Workplace Research Centre University of Sydney

Jerry Courvisanos Associate Professor University of Ballarat

Mamta B Chowdhury Senior Lecturer University of Western Sydney

Barrie Dyster Senior Lecturer University Of New South Wales

Corrado Di Guilmi Post Doctoral Research Fellow University of Technology

Geoff Dow Reader The University of Queensland

Steve Dowrick Professor Australian National University

Chris Evans Professor University Of New South Wales

Peter E. Earl Associate Professor University of Queensland

Craig Freedman Associate Professor Macquarie University

Giuseppe Fontana Professor of Monetary Economics LUBS - University of Leeds

James Farrell Senior Lecturer University of Western Sydney

Roy Green Dean, Faculty of Business University of Technology

Boyd Hunter Associate Professor/Senior Fellow The Australian National University

Joseph Halevi Senior Lecturer University of Sydney

Neil Hart Senior Lecturer University of Western Sydney

Sasha Holley PhD student University of Sydney

Michael Johnson Associate Professor University Of New South Wales

Steve Keen Associate Professor University of Western Sydney

Bill Lucarelli Senior Lecturer University of Western Sydney

Bruce Littleboy Senior Lecturer University of Queensland

Marc Lombard Senior Lecturer Macquarie University

Elisabetta Magnani Associate Professor University Of New South Wales

Fiona Martin Senior Lecturer University Of New South Wales

Girijasankar Mallik Senior Lecturer University of Western Sydney

Robert Marks Visiting Professor University Of New South Wales

Stephane Mahuteau Senior Lecturer Macquarie University

Eddie Oczkowski Professor Charles Sturt University

Brian Pinkstone Associate Professor University of Western Sydney

John Quiggin Australian Research Council Federation Fellow, University of Queensland

B. Bhaskara (Bill) Rao Professor University of Western Sydney

Colin Richardson Visiting Professor of Economics Imperial College, London

Tim Robinson Professor University of Technology

Frank Stilwell Professor of Political Economy University of Sydney

Ingrid Schraner Senior Lecturer University of Western Sydney

Michael Schneider Honorary Fellow. La Trobe University

Ruhul Salim Associate Professor Curtin University

Chris Terry Associate Professor University of Technology

David Throsby Professor of Economics Macquarie University

Tim Thornton Associate Lecturer La Trobe

Phillip Toner Senior Research Fellow University of Western Sydney

Roger Tonkin Lecturer Macquarie University

Sean Turnell Senior Lecturer Macquarie University

Michael White Senior Lecturer Monash university

Other Signatories

James Arvanitakis Lecturer, Centre for Cultural Research University of Western SydneyNixon Apple Industry and Economic Advisor Australian Manufacturing Workers Union

Grant Belchamber Economist ACTU

Ross Buckley Professor of International Finance Law University Of New South Wales

Brad Crofts National Economist Australian Workers' Union

Rajinder Cullinan Client Services Accountant University Of New South Wales

Sandra Egger Associate Professor Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales

Rolf Gerritsen Professor, School for Social Policy and Research Charles Darwin University

Alan Morris Senior Lecturer University Of New South Wales

George McFarlane Retired Consultant, Sanders & Associates Pty Ltd

Gillian Moon Senior Lecturer University Of New South Wales

John Milfull Emeritus Professor University Of New South Wales

J. F. Pixley Senior Research Fellow Macquarie University

Ben Spies-Butcher Lecturer Macquarie University

Peter Sheldon Associate Professor University Of New South Wales

Big Mal, Love, Karmic Cuts, Miss Manners & Drunken Sailors

Electile dysfunction and sympathy with underdogs has struck Clarence Valley letter writers in August issues of The Daily Examiner, as electorates on the NSW North Coast stagger towards Saturday's finishing line.

3 more sleeps until polling day and......

...the rollicking silly season has arrived so it's b*gger the real news for many on The Internetz.

This ran on BigPond News:

"Opposition leader Tony Abbott may be running for the country's top job, but he's at the bottom of the list of desirable hubbies for Aussie women.
A study has rated Mr Abbott alongside bad boys AFL footballer Brendan Fevola, golfer Tiger Woods and actor Russell Crowe, whose partner-appeal was in also the doldrums.
The 1,200 respondents, women living across the nation and aged above 18, were asked to rank 12 high-profile men on a scale of attributes they either look for, or avoid in a partner.
Mr Abbott scored two out of a possible ten points, on a par with actor Tom Cruise, who also appeared an unfavourable hubby for Australian women."

And this is posted on Tony Abbot Is Right:

Latest Essential Research poll shows Labor under threat in 3 out of 5 mainland states

Somewhat going against recent poll trends comes the Essential Report of 16 August 2010.
This report summarises the results of a weekly omnibus conducted by Essential Research with data provided by Your Source.
The survey was conducted online from 10th to 15th August and is based on 1,001 respondents.

Federal politics – voting intention

Q. The Federal Election will be held on 21 August - to which party will you probably give your first preference in the House of Representatives? If not sure, which party are you currently leaning toward?
Q. If don’t know – Well which party are you currently leaning to for the House of Representatives?

2,160 sample size

Click on images to enlarge

NB. The data in the above tables comprise 3-week averages derived the first preference/leaning to voting questions. Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ are not included in the results. The two-party preferred estimate is calculated by distributing the votes of the other parties according to their preferences at the 2007 election.

CORRECTION:

In the state report which added figures over the last three weeks, there is an error which affects a number of the 2PP figures.
Corrected figures increase the 2PP for Labor by 1% in NSW, SA and WA.
2PP in NSW is then Labor 48 Coalition 52; SA is 54/46 and WA is 47/53.
National, Victoria and Queensland figures remain unchanged.

Zussino strikes out

It is rumoured that a NSW North Coast man of a many pseudonyms (who has for years written in both male and female guises to local editors and others) has finally come a cropper and it is alleged that he is currently the subject of police bail conditions which forbid him the use of some of his most persistent extra personae.

Who is Zussino? What is he

Zussino strikes again!