Federal Coalition Government 2013-?

[Braveheart81]

MBP's profits are directly linked to the government's private healthcare rebates and penalties designed to drive people to buy private health insurance

That's a long bow.

It currently costs taxpayers $5.5b a year for the private health insurance rebate and Medibank private pays a dividend back to taxpayers of roughly $500m per year.

If there is even an inkling of government policy being driven by reaping profits from Medibank Private then that is the dumbest thing ever.

 

[Gnostic]

So the government should be in the private insurance industry?

I guess it depends on what you believe a government's role is.

Oh, and is there actual evidence the profit would "increase over time" with calls to drop the rebates? And are the rebates included in the "profit"

The Government of Singapore is often used as a model of a good Democratic government in terms of policy and budgeting etc. Indeed many "study" trips by our pollies include Singapore.

The Singapore Government is the main shareholder in Singtel (optus), Singapore Airlines, their water and power infrastructure and many other enterprises.

Royal Dutch Shell is owned by who?

The list goes on. A government is in the business of servicing the people. If that requires them to have a Telco to ensure equity of service across the populous so be it. If it requires them to own a Health Insurer, Power Grid, water supply.......... so be it. I do not subscribe to the right wing view that the Government should have no assets that generate wealth. That is my wealth as a citizen. Indeed I go the other way all such assets should be held in trust, like the future fund, and run by totally independent boards with the only reporting requirements to that fund. The Government has no input into the business. Our Governments have a very poor track record of using the capital from asset sales. Take Telstra for instance, sold the business for less than the accumulated dividends since the sale, service levels have gone down to significant areas of the population with a Service Guarantee worth two parts of SFA and the infrastructure has declined to the point on serviceability in many areas.

Now add to that the fact that Australia is now importing Telco Technicians and Engineers where under Telecom/Telstra we were a net exporter of skills and expertise. The same can be said in areas of Electricity Generation and supply (the Generating Companies outsource their maintenance and install trades work, and contractors do not employ apprentices in the Volume that the old Electricity Commission/Pacific Power did. Hence we have a skills shortage and again we import labour and have higher youth unemployment. But lets create jobs. How are we going to do that long term? Make everyone shop assistants with half a dozen part-time or casual positions?

 

[Runner]

Runner: rewriting history, again.

Belcoonen Mall
Commonwealth bank
Williamtown Naval dockyarrds
Qantas
Aerospace Tecnologies
Avalon Airport
etc
etc

History rewritten

 

[Runner]

How exactly are they running a business though? They just own it. It has a board of directors and the employees aren't members of the public service.







The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) condemns the Government’s decision to sell Medibank Private saying it would lead to job losses, reduced competition and potentially higher premiums for customers.

The unions web site seems to think they work fopr the government?

 

[Runner]

Shell has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. As of 6 July 2012, it was the largest company on the FTSE, with a market capitalisation of £140.9 billion.[11] It has secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Dutch_Shell

 

[boyo]

Shell has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. As of 6 July 2012, it was the largest company on the FTSE, with a market capitalisation of £140.9 billion.[11] It has secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Dutch_Shell

So what?

 

[Runner]

Question put by Gnostic , "Royal Dutch Shell is owned by who?"

 

[boyo]

I'm fairly sure that it was a rhetorical question.

 

[Slim 293]

Waleed Aly:

For starters, it's not a burqa. It says everything that we can't even get the name right – as if we're demanding a pernicious, industrial-scale ignorance.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/burqa-ban-a-political-excuse-for-persecution-20141002-10p0mc.html#ixzz3F26BfbTx

 

[fatprop]

The Government of Singapore is often used as a model of a good Democratic government in terms of policy and budgeting etc. Indeed many "study" trips by our pollies include Singapore. ............................

And yet with all those "study trips" our publicly owned business have been bloated by bureaucracy, comfortable safe, monopolies (well all the ones I have dealt with, our have worked for)

As for Telstra, mey, I don't know how old you are, but I can still vividly remember the services levels provided by that pile of crap before it was sold.

It is still being dragged kicking and screaming forwards, as is Qantas etc

 

[Gnostic]

And yet with all those "study trips" our publicly owned business have been bloated by bureaucracy, comfortable safe, monopolies (well all the ones I have dealt with, our have worked for)

As for Telstra, mey, I don't know how old you are, but I can still vividly remember the services levels provided by that pile of crap before it was sold.

It is still being dragged kicking and screaming forwards, as is Qantas etc

Mate I'm old enough that I can remember the day that my parents got their first phone connected and that was a very modern day. As I remember when we got the first colour TV.

Having lived in the country and the city I can say that both in the "old days" and in recent times since the sell off, I can honestly say that service delivery levels in the country have fallen a long long way.

You might say the organisations were bloated by bureaucracy, but that is no different to any other organisation now. I contract to a top 20 ASIC company that provides infrastructure maintenance to the NSW Government. The bloating in that company is obscene, there is almost one "manager/analyst/safety officer" to every actual worker who delivers the service that the contract exists for, and they are not an isolated case.

There is a great myth that privatisation will result in cheaper prices and better quality for consumers. In some cases it may be true, but in a country like Australia with a low and dispersed population density it is generally not true for anybody outside of the major centres.

I always come back to the de-regulation of the Milk/Dairy sector as a good example of what can happen. Farm gate prices dropped massively so that many producers left the industry and prices did not decrease and quality did not improve. Some people may try to use the Coles/Woolies examples of how milk prices are at relative historic lows, but the fact is these retails are selling the product at a loss to encourage custom and purchase of high margin items.

In any event, back to the Telecom/Telstra example, with modern management (ie. 1 manager to each worker) would it be less bloated than what it was. AND have prices decreased in real terms?

 

[boyo]

A good read:-

Nation's prosperity relies on continued economic reform
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-e...ontinued-economic-reform-20141005-10qjab.html

"Rather than trying to settle political scores with the previous Labor administration, the Abbott government needs roll up its sleeves for some hard work if it is to get any runs on the board in this critical area of policy before the next general election."

 

[Runner]

Pass the budget may help some of those reforms to happen.

 

[redstragic]

Pass the budget may help some of those reforms to happen.

The government better get onto that then. It is their job to get their budget passed.

Wasn't abbot only just saying they are going to re-draft the damn thing though? Next years budget will be here before we know and this thing will still be swinging I the breeze.

 

[Runner]

Who has rejected the savings measures in the budget? The ALP and Greens in the Senate.

The ALP are playing an interesting game as you can see they have no strategy to solve their mess except to say there was no problem and any measures the Libs put up is to be rejected. The Greens just say no and PUP is about what Clive can get.

 

[Ruggo]

Who has rejected the savings measures in the budget? The ALP and Greens in the Senate.

The ALP are playing an interesting game as you can see they have no strategy to solve their mess except to say there was no problem and any measures the Libs put up is to be rejected. The Greens just say no and PUP is about what Clive can get.

Very baited statement Runner. Highly contestable also might I add.

 

[fatprop]

In any event, back to the Telecom/Telstra example, with modern management (ie. 1 manager to each worker) would it be less bloated than what it was. AND have prices decreased in real terms?

yes and yes

 

[boyo]

Who has rejected the savings measures in the budget? The ALP and Greens in the Senate.

The ALP are playing an interesting game as you can see they have no strategy to solve their mess except to say there was no problem and any measures the Libs put up is to be rejected. The Greens just say no and PUP is about what Clive can get.

The Coalition isn't known as the the "No-alition" for nothing.

Whilst they they were in opposition they were obstructionist, so you have a hide throwing stones.

 

[boyo]

Has TA over-ridden Eric Abetz using his self-proclaimed people skills?

Abbott government abandons plan to make job seekers apply for 40 jobs a month

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abbott-government-abandons-plan-to-make-job-seekers-apply-for-40-jobs-a-month-20141007-10r46j.html#ixzz3FQ3fs83z

"Speaking in Canberra, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the decision did not constitute a backdown."
(Said with a straight face)

 

[Runner]

The Coalition isn't known as the the "No-alition" for nothing.

Whilst they they were in opposition they were obstructionist, so you have a hide throwing stones.

Read Julia's book. They got 95% of their legislation up only when they upset the Greens did they not and sometimes when they did the opposition voted with the gov't.

ALP has passed very little in the same period and it will not be 95%