As I wrote recently, God save us from a drowning socialist government. A country with a socialist government facing imminent defeat at the ballot box soon finds itself even further in a debt mire, in a futile effort to save the incumbent’s hide. Left-wing politicians spend other people’s money: it’s what they do. All they do. They go at it even harder when they’re in their political death throes.
Consequently, the Albanese government is throwing money around like confetti as its poll numbers sink to record lows. In just the last few months they’ve announced billions of new spending, on everything from pork-barrel projects in marginal seats, to aged care and childcare. Now, it’s throwing itself another nine billion dollars (futile) lifeline, with its big-spending move on Medicare bulk-billing.
As one economist quipped: “The level of spending from Canberra is disgusting.”
The battle over Medicare is a triumph of politics over policy […] Anthony Albanese has been wrong-footed in believing that Labor could turn the election into a referendum on bulk billing […]
Cheaper doctors’ fees may be a morally superior pursuit in a cost of living crunch, and it would have been hard to argue against.
But even the Australian Medical Association cast doubt on how effective it will be. While rural and regional communities could expect to benefit, it said it would make no difference in the metropolitan suburbs where out-of-pocket expenses are highest.
Even worse, the political demands – to not cede any ground to Labor on its last remaining possible ‘battleground issue’ – have seen the Peter Dutton opposition rush to match Labor’s spend.
Albanese had not even finished his speech in Tasmania on Sunday when Dutton released a statement not only backing an $8.5bn spending boost to Medicare but declaring his plan would increase funding by $9bn.
Dutton clearly was trying to shut down the debate on a Labor policy strength so he could get attention back on his preferred areas of cost of living, energy and immigration. Nevertheless, neither Albanese nor Dutton can explain how the plan to vastly expand bulk-billing incentives – at a cost of $2.4bn a year by 2028-29 – will be paid for.
Neither side has outlined spending offsets or proposed revenue increases; it all just seems destined to be added to the nation’s credit card bill.
The problem for coalition bean counters is that the opposition is running on a promise to reign in out-of-control government spending and lower the tax burden on struggling Australian families.
As some of his colleagues admit privately, there would be little point to a Coalition government if it can’t deliver on what is not only an article of faith for the Liberal Party but an expectation of its constituents.
A failure to deliver on personal income tax cut reform would be a betrayal of the Liberal Party base.
Dutton has just made that job a lot harder – unless he is banking on Albanese rolling out billions more in union sweeteners that the coalition can oppose.
At is stands, the $100bn in savings that Dutton and Angus Taylor claim to have identified don’t get them to where they need to be.
Adding another nine billion dollars in spending is going to make it even harder.
Especially not when the spending situation is even worse than Labor are pretending it is. That’s because Albanese and Chalmers are pulling the same trick Julia Gillard did with the NDIS: moving the spending off-budget, as if that magically means the debt doesn’t exist. There’s the 10 billion dollar housing fund, the 22 billion dollar Future Made in Australia fund, 15 billion dollar reconstruction fund, 20 billion dollar ‘rewiring the nation’ fund (they really love their Maoist slogans, these Labor socialists), 16 billion dollars for student debt and so it goes. Seemingly without end.
This is all going to be a political nightmare, should (as seems increasingly certain) Dutton win the election. Either they cut the spending, inviting shrill screams about ‘breaking promises’, or come clean on the debt Albanese and Chalmers tried to hide and get pilloried by a mendacious Labor, now in opposition, and their media bootlickers for ‘increasing national debt’. Just ask Joe Hockey and Tony Abbott about that one.
Save us all from a drowning socialist government, indeed.
