Reason 500 as to why Barnaby Joyce is right

Posted by Chief Blogger – 10 March, 2010

Ever since Barnaby Joyce became opposition spokesman for Finance he has been hounded by the ALP, unions and their sympathetic media for comments he made about the risks to US sovereign debt. In this context he also has warned about the risk to Australia of continually racking up more Federal debt.

I’ve outlined on a number of occasions why Barnaby is right on the mark. Virtually every month more evidence comes out supporting Barnaby’s position. Here are two such examples I highlighted in January and February. Here is another example supporting Barnaby this month.

Investors should avoid government securities, including U.S. Treasuries and the debt of other nations, because of the risks associated with excessive borrowing, a leading U.S. fund manager said on Tuesday.

“The most dangerous market there is national government debt because the borrowing doesn’t seem to be ending soon — and it’s not just a U.S. phenomenon,” Dan Fuss, vice chairman of investment manager Loomis Sayles, told Reuters.

The important point here is perception and confidence.

  • John Comnenus

    I am very angry with Abbott’s ridiculous maternity leave policy. Apart from the lack of consultation it is a big new tax. Why, oh why, do so called conservatives always seem to want to outflank the ALP from the left?

    Abbott clearly doesn’t get how he came to be leader and his lack of consultation on maternity policy isn’t a one off, it is a pattern. Tony Abbott became leader because of a massive grass roots revolt against the elites on the ETS. But alas the Liberal party, of which I am a member, is so bereft of creativity and political vision it has unbelievably wasted this opportunity. A massive gift of hundreds of thousands of Australians emailed the Liberal Party and we haven’t heard back from the Liberal Party about our concerns. Has Abbott even written a short email to thank all those who emailed? The answer is no. Shortly after Abbott became leader I spoke to Bill Heffernan and Liberal Party HQ to offer my services to help the Liberal Party use the one or two percent of the electoral role it had in its email database (I wasn’t asking for a paying job and I have a background in this kind of work). The Liberal Party has never bothered to get back to me. The Liberals seem keen to squander this massive asset.

    Who are the people who emailed? What seats do they live in? What are their demographics? How did they decide to email? Did someone suggest they should? Was it really 2GB driven? What are their other concerns? Who knows? Certainly not Abbott or the Liberals – they have never asked.

    Abbott and the liberals had the opportunity to do three things with this email database: firstly engage in an interactive discussion with this highly motivated group to find out who they are, what seats they live in and what other concerns they have. In effect it is akin to a massive on line focus and policy testing group; secondly, these people are motivated and prepared to act. With the right encouragement they might be prepared to donate to the Liberals especially if they were nurtured and engaged with the Liberal Party and its parliamentary leadership. But that would require genuine consultation not just emailing incessant press releases written for journalists not constituents; and thirdly, there are few media outlets with a guaranteed audience of hundreds of thousands. This list allows the Liberals to speak directly to a sizeable percentag of the electorate without media filter, opposition spin and hostile comment. It is also relatively cheap compared to direct mail outs. Tony Abbott could have spoken directly to the electorate rather than the media, an opportunity he appears happy to pass up.

    I doubt that maternty leave is a top priority for this group, but who would know. Tony Abbott and the Liberals had the opportunity to create an Australian ‘billy tea party’ movement, instead Abbott opted for maternity care. Pathetic. Unless the Liberals change tack fast, we will have three more years of Rudd to look forward to as Abbott snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. Last week Abbott was a contender, this week he’s a joke!