Do Not Feed the Socialists

The new parliamentary year has kicked off in Australia, and, as expected, the prime minister’s broken promise on tax cuts has dominated discussion. As also expected, the opposition is picking its battles carefully.

Peter Dutton has confirmed he will not “stand in the way” of stage three tax cuts, describing Anthony Albanese as the “liar in the Lodge” over his decision to revamp the reforms.

In his first public comments following a meeting of the Coalition partyroom to discuss its stance on the stage three tax cuts, the Opposition Leader said most Australians would be shocked the Prime Minister was willing to “look the Australian public in the eye and (was) prepared to lie to them”.

Actually blocking the changes and stopping Labor’s cash splash would be suicidally foolish. Never get between voters and a pot of their own money, after all. But that doesn’t mean the Coalition can’t hammer Anthony “I’m a man of my word” Albanese for most emphatically not being a man of his word.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has attacked Anthony Albanese for his lack of integrity by breaking his promise not to amend stage three tax cuts, with the legislation due to be debated in parliament today […]

“It’s clear that this is the most egregious breach of trust and promise by a Prime Minister in recent history,” he said.

“I think the public is still shell shocked by the fact that we have a Prime Minister who has looked the Australian public in the eye and completely told a lie to them, and I think Australians won’t reward that.”

Especially as, in the months to come, it becomes abundantly clear that Labor throwing a few pennies at voters isn’t doing much at all to ameliorate a largely Labor-imposed cost-of-living crisis.

The OECD has provided a reality check for mortgage holders and investors hoping for multiple rate cuts this year, saying monetary policy settings will need to stay “restrictive in most major economies for some time to come”.

The warning from the Paris-based institution comes ahead of a Reserve Bank interest rate decision on Tuesday afternoon, one that marks the start of a new era for the central bank and which could have long-lasting consequences for monetary policy. The changes come as governor ­Michele Bullock approaches the most difficult decision of her short time in charge: when to begin cutting rates and, ultimately, how low should they go.

If rates stay mostly unchanged — or worse, continue to rise — it will be yet another major blow to Labor’s chances of being re-elected.

As indebted homeowners anxiously await for signs of when borrowing costs will fall, the OECD warned against central banks declaring premature victory in the battle to regain control of ­inflation.

The Australian

Worse for the government is that it is coming under increasing pressure from its own left factions, not to mention the Greens, to go all-in on wealth re-distribution. Labor are already hinting at changes to negative gearing and capital gains — which they also promised, hand on heart — not to do.

Given the broken promise on stage three tax cuts, nothing the government says on the issue can be taken at face value. Greens leader Adam Bandt has made it clear there is no end to his party’s redistributive ambitions. These include free dental care, higher dole payments and increased rental subsidies. The problem is, as Margaret Thatcher famously observed, socialists will eventually run out of other people’s money to spend.

The Australian

By which time, though, they’ll be well out of office and free to avoid accountability.

And the Coalition will once again be left to try and sort out Labor’s socialist messes.

Did somebody say NDIS?