A Frank View

It’s time to update the brute and ugly Tony Abbott’s WARTHOGs (What Abbott Really Touts, Holes Of Gargantuan Size)

Latest WARTHOGs:

1. Tony Abbott’s great big NANNY TAX – has conceded that the method he proposes to use to pay for his paid parental leave scheme would be a form of tax. Nanny rebate would cost $2b – But according to an analysis by the departments of education and finance, obtained by the Herald, including nannies would cost an extra $1.975 billion over its first four years, prompting the government to claim Mr Abbott could afford his ”thought bubble” only with big cuts to families’ existing childcare payments. READ MORE

2. Peter Costello savaged Tony Abbott on taxing 3300 companies to pay for the PPL scheme:

“Costello says it’s a bad policy that should have set Liberal alarm bells ringing. The idea of increasing tax
should be foreign to the Liberal Party, Costello warned in a newspaper article when Abbott announced the plan.

And he accused the opposition leader of adopting “the Crocodile Dundee approach” to outdo Labor on paid maternity leave. “In this kind of politics, if your opponent has a bad idea you try to outflank it,” Costello wrote. “Your opponent has a mildly bad idea, so you come up with a more extreme one and have a race to the bottom.”  READ MORE: 

3. Axing NBN. Tony Abbott would have to bring NBN on budget if they decide to sell. That would add another $15-20B minimum to the Blackhole

4. Ross Gittin savaged Tony Abbott on his deficits:

Two weeks ago the secretary to the Treasury, Dr Martin Parkinson, dropped a fiscal bombshell that since the global financial crisis, federal tax revenue had fallen by the equivalent of 4 percentage points of gross domestic product [about $60 billion a year, and was not expected to recover to its pre-crisis level for many years to come. The cumulative write-down in revenue against the forward estimates between 2007-08 and 2011-12 has been about $130 billion.

The most obvious (and least consequential) implication of this news is its threat to Julia Gillard’s resolve to
return the budget to surplus next financial year without fail.But Gillard’s problems pale in comparison to Tony
Abbott’s, with his oddly ideological and populist commitment to rescind both Labor’s carbon tax and its mining tax without rescinding all the tax cuts and spending increases the taxes will pay for.

There seems little doubt Abbott’s term in office would either be marked by an orgy of broken promises or be
consumed by agonising over what spending to cut, with eternal lobbying both before and after the fact. Probably a fair bit of both.  READ MORE

Previous WARTHOGs:

1. Axing Carbon tax: $27B
2. Axing Mining tax: $11B
3. Last election promise: $37B
4. PPL $3.3B
5. Indexation of veterans’ pensions: $1.7B
6. Direct Action: $3.2B
7. Abbott’s PPL will hit 3300 companies Vs PM Carbon Tax will ht the top 500 companies only
8. Tony Abbott’s Direct Action climate change plan of sequestering 85 million tonnes of carbon a year in soil by
2020 may fall short by between 30 million and 80 million tonnes of abatement
9. PM Gillard at #QT: Under your scheme the effective price is $62/tonne

1/2/3: ABC – They were leaked to Channel 7 and last night the Opposition’s finance spokesman Andrew Robb all but confirmed the $70 billion figure, by saying “It’s no great piece of investigative journalism. It’s a case of simple arithmetic.”

The figure includes $27 billion from dumping the carbon tax, $11 billion from axing the mining tax and $37 billion in promises the Opposition made during last year’s election campaign.The Prime Minister Julia Gillard seized on the $70 billion figure during a forum in Perth last night. – READ MORE

4. Phil Coorey, SMH – He has already alarmed sections of his party with a promised $3.3 billion paid parental leave scheme. – READ MORE

5. Leone Taylor – There was also his promise to provide more generous indexation for veterans’ pensions, which the Coalition costs at $98 million over the first four years and the government $1.7 billion  READ MORE

6. Leone Taylor – The only other spending would be on ”Direct Action” on climate change -

$3.2 billion over four years which most experts believe is woefully insufficient to reach the emissions reductions promised and a ”Green Army” to do conservation good deeds. The Green Army would be a big spending promise if it was to quickly reach its target of 15,000 soldiers, but as it was proposed at the last election it began more the size of a Green Platoon, costing $50 million in the first year and taking at least four years to build up to its full strength. Read more:

7. Sam Maiden: HERE’S a surprising fact about Tony Abbott’s paid parental leave plan that hasn’t attracted much attention: the new levy to pay for the scheme would hit more companies than the carbon tax.Surprised? Consider the numbers. Julia Gillard’s carbon tax will be imposed on about 500 of the nation’s biggest polluters. Abbott’s tax levy would hit an estimated 3300 businesses with a 1.5 per cent levy.Isn’t that a great, big, new tax coincidence, to deploy Abbott’s favourite mantra ? READ MORE:

11. CSIRO research suggests Tony Abbott’s direct action climate change plan of sequestering 85 million tonnes of carbon a year in soil by 2020 may fall short by between 30 million and 80 million tonnes of abatement

READ MORE

This is a bumper version of the BISONs. Latest Updates – 22/03/2012:

New BISONs (Beautiful Inspirng Set Of Numbers):

1. Australia No: 1 – 2012 RANKING OF 25 COUNTRIES FOR MINING INVESTMENT. Since 1999, the Behre Dolbear Group Inc.  has compiled annual political risk assessments of the key players in the global mining industry. Over time, our assessment indicates a positive correlation between the growth of a nation’s wealth and the prosperity of its mining industry – only when a country recognizes its critical need to adapt, and restructures burdensome policy, will it truly optimize this economic potential. READ MORE

2. Inflation measure hits two-year low, inflation gauge shows prices rose 0.1 per cent in February, taking the
annual rate to 2 per cent – Inflation reached a two-year low in February, a closely-watched price measure shows, giving the Reserve Bank room to cut interest rates this month. . READ MORE

 3. Hiring intentions have reached their highest level in more than three years as a report shows the jobs market has posted solid growth for the second consecutive month.The monthly ANZ job advertisement series shows the total number of positions advertised rose 3.3 per cent in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, driven by a strong 3.8 per cent rise in online job ads. ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan believes the labour market will see gradual improvement throughout 2012 based on this result. READ MORE

4. Our economy is up by 7.4 per cent on pre-GFC levels. Canada +3.5% USA & Germany +1%, UK -2.75%, Japan -3% Italy – 4.5% READ MORE

5. Australia’s GDP in 2011 was $1.444 trillion. Will be above $1.5 trillion next year

6. PM Gillard gets A-plus on International Women’s Day – Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been given the tick of approval by an executive leadership expert on International Women’s Day. The Australian Graduate School of Management’s Executive Education executive director Rosemary Howard has given Ms Gillard an A-plus for conflict management, legislative change and re-engaging with the public service in Canberra. READ MORE

7. Since 2007 the ratio of net debt to GDP of the leading western economies has grown from 52% to 82%”(a swing of 30%). In Australia, minus 3.8% to 8.9%(a swing of 13%)

8. The 10 year government bond yield is now around 4.0% having recent hit an all time low of 3.65% – it was above 6% in late 2007 when the Coalition was in office

9. The size of government – taken as government spending – will fall from 26.0% of GDP in 2009-10 during GFC to 23.6% of GDP in 2012-13. The Howard government’s average government spending to GDP ratio was 24.2% of GDP.

10. The Tax to GDP ratio will rise from a 30 year low of 20.0% of GDP in 2010-11 and will reach 22.3% of GDP in 2012-13.The Tax to GDP ratio in the last Howard year was 23.7% and the average Tax to GDP ratio under Howard was 23.4% of GDP.

11. Francis Fukuyama, the doyen of US Conservatives endorsed the #MRRT: “Developing countries are giving away the store because they let the benefits of the mining industry flow to a small group. You’re not going to end up like Peru or Bolivia because you have a strong democracy. All developed countries have some redistribution. In the long-term interests of social stability you have to redistribute.” The proposed tax on Australian mining super profits “seems just fine to me”. READ MORE

12. New figures show Australia’s resources and energy exports predicted to reach a massive $225 billion in 2016-17 READ MORE

13. Australia leads the OECD pack in GDP forecasts – Mar 8th 2012, 20:24 by The Economist online. READ MORE 

14. The Gillard Govt has committed more funding to urban public transport since 2007 than all Govts combined since Federation

15. #MRRT will ensure Australians get more Super from 9% to 12%. FIND OUT MORE

16. NAB chief economist just told insolvency conference media is over blowing carbon tax which only cuts 0.25% off GDP growth and clips 25k jobs

17. The profits-based Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) for iron ore and coal will begin on July 1, 2012, and apply to all new and existing iron ore and coal projects. The Treasury estimates the tax will generate A$3.7 billion in fiscal 2012/13, A$3.8 billion in 2013/14 and A$3.1 billion in 2014/15.

18. MP Rob Oakeshott says “this parliament is working and I’m proud of it” – 300 bills passed

19. GM Holden will promise today to keep making cars in Australia for at least another decade after securing a subsidy package from the federal and South Australian governments worth more than $200 million. READ MORE

20. We are in Asia. Time to reform to meet Asia challenge, says former World Bank chief James Wolfensohn. March 22, 2012. FORMER World Bank president James Wolfensohn has warned that the world is not prepared for the global power shift from West to East, as Asia drives the international economy’s future prospects.In a speech to the Asia Society last night, Sir James said Asia was forecast to account for nearly 60 per cent of the world’s economy within the next four decades.However, he said, most Western nations – led by the US and those in Europe, but including Australia – were still discounting the fact that the composition of the global economy was rapidly changing. READ MORE

 101 Economic Fundamental:

1. Unemployment 5.1% (Canada 7.5, EUROZONE Avg 9.3, UK 8.7, USA 8.3, Japan 4.1, NZ 6.6, China 4.1, India 9.4, Brazil 4.7. South Africa 25%, Singapore 1.9, South Korea 3.7)

2. Inflation 2%%

3. GDP Growth 3.5% – The Australian economy is now around 7 per cent larger than it was prior to GFC Mark 1. By way of comparison, most developed countries have gone backward.

4. RBA Interest Rate – 4.25% – RBA Interest rate 4.25%, compared to 6.75% when Howard was voted out.

5. Current Govt Net Debt – 8.9%

6. Total Public Debt – 27% GDP (Canada 81%, EURO 97%, France 99%, Germany 84%, Japan 205%, UK 91%, USA 95%)

7. Trade Surplus $22.4 billion last financial year – easily the biggest surplus in raw terms for the past 40 years
of records compiled by the ABS

8. Sovereign Rating – Australia one of just 15 countries to hold the top AAA Rating from all Agencies

9. Currency – AUD/USD 1.04, AUD/UK 0.68 AUD/Euro 0.82 – The floating of AUD is the single most important economic reform introduced by Labor. It acts as a shock absorber to external economic conditions

10. Australia is in Asia, the growth engine averaging 6% and part of the Asian Century. It’s middle and aspiration class is expected to hit 800 millions by 2020. Double of USA+Europe.

11. NBN – One of the most advanced high speed Internet enabled network in the world. Australia’s first national wide, open access FTTP broadband network with minimum 93% coverage, capable of achieving 1 gigabit per second broadband speeds.

12. Australia is the richest country in the world according to Credit Suisse Research Institute’s most recent
Global Wealth Report, the median wealth of Australians now is well over $200,000, ahead of Switzerland, 4 times USA.

13. Under Coalition spending grew by average of 3.7% per annum, under the current Labor spending growth is
averaging 1.5%

14. More people at work today than any time in our Nation’s history. In Jan 2012, 46,300 new jobs created for the month of which 12,300 full-time jobs and the Unemployment rate is now 5.1% from previous 5.2%

15. Australia net debt is expected to peak only at 8.9% in 2016 (MYEFO) – READ MORE

16. THE Gillard government’s reforms to financial advice will boost the retirement savings of Australian workers by $130 billion over 15 years

17. Retail turnover up 0.3% in January. (0.1% fall in December.) from ABS

 102. Political Fundamental

1. “ALP best manager of money, history shows” – George Megalogenis READ MORE

2. No interest rise for the 14th consecutive month (last rise was Nov 2010) Vs 10 consecutive rises under

Howard/Costello. The lowest rate, since 1960, of 3% was in April 2009 under Labor. Lowest under Howard 4.25%,
Fraser 7.65%, Gorton 5.7%, McMahon 4.3%). Interest rates will always be lower under Labor.

3. “The Atlantic magazine named Gillard as one of its “2011 brave thinkers” for her resolute strength in pushing through a carbon tax. “Whether you see the move as politically expedient or as a principled course correction, there’s no denying the risk that it entails in a country where climate change is a wildly contentious issue,” writes Geoffrey Gagnon”

4. NEW Treasury analysis finds Mining played minor role during GFC, it says service industries such as retail -
which received a hefty boost from Kevin Rudd’s stimulus package – were crucial in sustaining the economy during its darkest days.

5. Wayne Swan – Treasurer of the Year 2011

6. PM Gillard solved #QANTAS dispute in 36 hrs, Hawke solved the Pilot Dispute in 1 month and Howard solved the Waterfront Dispute in 6 months.

7. How good are nations at keeping the promises made at G20 summits? – Australia NO: 1 – READ MORE

8. PM Julia Gillard elected & confirmed as PM with the greatest thumping winning margin in history 71-31 with one supporter away on leave, otherwise it will be 72-31

 103. Social Fundamental

1. Australian families depending on one breadwinner pay among the lowest amounts of tax in the world and have become better off under the Gillard Government – Natsem

2. The Herald/Lateral Economics Index of Australia’s Wellbeing rose 2.2 per cent in the quarter, outstripping GDP growth of 1 per cent. READ MORE

3. The number of people filling for bankruptcy in Australia has fallen by 16%.

4. Recently released IMF estimates show that Australians are the fifth richest people in the world, behind only
those living in Luxembourg, Qatar, Norway and Switzerland READ MORE

5. AUSTRALIA is second best – almost but not quite the greatest place in which to live, according to the latest
United Nations human development index. Norway pips us by a flared nostril. Australia scores 0.93 on a scale of 0 to 1, where 1 is the highest score possible. At 0.94, Norway’s margin over Australia is close to invisible

6. Ave weekly earning +4.7% in yr to Aug. 10 years of real wage gains.

7. Aust & Holland have the best pension systems in the world followed by Sweden, Swiss, Canada, UK READ MORE

8. Australia top destination for expats globally: HSBC – AUSTRALIA’S image of healthy outdoor living and reputation for a work-life balance has elevated it to the top destination for expatriates globally, according to a worldwide survey by HSBC.

9. THE Gillard government’s reforms to financial advice will boost the retirement savings of Australian workers by $130 billion over 15 years

10. From Mega: Costs of the Paretal Leave Scheme: The total cost of the government scheme is $1.4
billion in 2012-13, covering 126,000 families. The Coalition’s 2010 election policy document put the cost of the
Abbott scheme at $4.3bn in 2012-13. A professional woman on more than $150,000 a year would receive $75,000 from Abbott and nothing from Labor.  READ MORE

104. The Future

1. Business investment spending is expected to grow by 15 per cent this year and another 15 per cent next year. – Ross Gittin

2. Australia in good shape if another crisis hits, says IMF – 8/8/11

3. BHP Billiton $80B Olympic Dam copper/uranium/gold mine in South Australia creating 6000 jobs during a decade- long construction phase, 4000 ongoing jobs at the mine and 15,000 indirect jobs.This is despite the Resource Tax

4. The strength of the nation’s markets during the Global Financial Crisis was highlighted by the World Economic Forum, which in 2009 ranked Australia as the world’s second-best financial centre after the UK. Australia was the only country in the top 20 to improve its ranking.With around A$1.7 trillion in assets under management, Australia is the largest funds management market in Asia, and the fourth-largest in the world. Australia has one of the highest levels of managed funds per capita in the world, with total investment fund assets in Australia projected to reach A$7 trillion by 2028.

5. For dealmakers Down Under, 2011 will go down as a vintage year for inbound M&A activity, according to the latest data from Dealogic.So far this year, Australia has attracted a record US$59.9 billion of total inbound deals, already surpassing US$55 billion achieved in the whole of 2010, according to the data provider. READ MORE

6. The figures show September quarter spending on exploration for coal up 12 per cent to a new record high of $227 million, spending on iron ore exploration up 9 per cent to a new record high of $235 million, and spending on onshore petroleum exploration up 33 per cent to a new record high of $249 million.

7. The ABS figures follow Tuesday’s Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics forecast of record energy and minerals export earnings of $206 billion in 2012. If realised, they will boost government revenue, making its forecast surplus easier to attain. The bureau says capital expenditure by resource companies stands at a record high of $232 billion.

8. Bloomberg has done a survey and found that Australia is the 5th best and easiest place in the world to do
business after HK, Netherlands, USA and UK. READ MORE

9. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Australia is probably the best positioned of the developed countries to handle a further deterioration in the global economy. IMF Asia and Pacific region director Anoop Singh told a media briefing in Washington that the institution supports the Australian government’s plan to return the federal budget to surplus in 2012/13.

10. Manufacturing activity remained in positive territory in January 2012, according to the latest Australian
Industry Group. Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) is 51.6, readings above 50 indicate an
expansion in activity

11. Trade surplus up $366m in Dec to $1.7b. Total exports second highest monthly level on record at $27.7billion.

12. A SURGE of global demand for Australian government bonds has saved the federal government from issuing at least $10 billion in debt, cutting more than $500 million a year from its future interest bills.

13. The rate for Australian Government 10 year bonds (the “yield”) is at record low 3.75%

14. Amid the global economic turmoil and credit squeeze, Australia remains a gold standard country to invest in, says BHP Billiton boss Marius Kloppers, as BHP Billiton delivered a $US9.941 billion ($A9.23 billion) first-half profit.

15. Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Philip Lowe: business investment had jumped about 20 per cent in 2011, and the Reserve Bank expected “double-digit increases in business investment in each of the next couple of years,” he said.

That’s it. I have had enough of Tony Abbott, especially after this afternoon at #QT with his STOP THE GUNs rant.

It’s time for his brute and ugly WARTHOGs (What Abbott Really Touts, Holes Of Gargantuan Size – courtersy of my fellow PB Poroti) to be exposed. Keep them WARTHOGs coming in folks.

1. Axing Carbon tax: $27B – ABC
2. Axing Mining tax: $11B – ABC
3. Last election promise: $37B – ABC
4. PPL $3.3B – Phil Coorey
5. Indexation of veterans’ pensions: $1.7B – Leone Taylor
6. Direct Action: $3.2B – Leone Taylor
7. Abbott’s PPL will hit 3300 companies Vs PM Carbon Tax will ht the top 500 companies only – Sam Maiden
8. Latest Newspoll – Preferred PM: Gillard 39 (+3) Abbott 37 (-1)
9. Latest Newspoll – The Opposition PVs is lower now (43%) than at the 2010 Election (43.6%)
10. It’s another 18months, 78 weeks, 547 days, 13128 hrs, 787,680 secs of Gargantuan hole to be filled with more of his no, no, no, no and no
11. Tony Abbott’s Direct Action climate change plan of sequestering 85 million tonnes of carbon a year in soil by 2020 may fall short by between 30 million and 80 million tonnes of abatement – The Oz
12. PM Gillard at #QT: Under your Direct Action scheme the effective price is $62/tonne

1/2/3: ABC – They were leaked to Channel 7 and last night the Opposition’s finance spokesman Andrew Robb all but confirmed the $70 billion figure, by saying “It’s no great piece of investigative journalism. It’s a case of simple arithmetic.”  The figure includes $27 billion from dumping the carbon tax, $11 billion from axing the mining tax and $37 billion in promises the Opposition made during last year’s election campaign.The Prime Minister Julia Gillard seized on the $70 billion figure during a forum in Perth last night. – READ MORE

4. Phil Coorey, SMH – He has already alarmed sections of his party with a promised $3.3 billion paid parental leave scheme. READ MORE   

5. Leone Taylor – There was also his promise to provide more generous indexation for veterans’ pensions, which the Coalition costs at $98 million over the first four years and the government $1.7 billion. READ MORE

6. Leone Taylor – The only other spending would be on ”Direct Action” on climate change – $3.2 billion over four years which most experts believe is woefully insufficient to reach the emissions reductions promised and a ”Green Army” to do conservation good deeds. The Green Army would be a big spending promise if it was to quickly reach its target of 15,000 soldiers, but as it was proposed at the last election it began more the size of a Green Platoon, costing $50 million in the first year and taking at least four years to build up to its full strength.  READ MORE

7. Sam Maiden: HERE’S a surprising fact about Tony Abbott’s paid parental leave plan that hasn’t attracted much attention: the new levy to pay for the scheme would hit more companies than the carbon tax.Surprised? Consider the numbers. Julia Gillard’s carbon tax will be imposed on about 500 of the nation’s biggest polluters. Abbott’s tax levy would hit an estimated 3300 businesses with a 1.5 per cent levy.Isn’t that a great, big, new tax coincidence, to deploy Abbott’s favourite mantra ? READ MORE

11. CSIRO research suggests Tony Abbott’s direct action climate change plan of sequestering 85 million tonnes of carbon a year in soil by 2020 may fall short by between 30 million and 80 million tonnes of abatement - READ MORE

The BISONs are still roaring and running free by The Finnigans. Latest Updates – 03/03/2012. New BISONs:

1. Julia Gillard elected & confirmed as PM with the greatest thumping winning margin in history 71-31 with one supporter away on leave, otherwise it will be 72-31

2. The power of 1.It was a brilliant & stunning move by PM Gillard to bring Bob Carr into the Senate. It is a game changer in so many ways:

* PM Gillard stamped her authority
* Australia gets a top notch FM with deep knowledge, a sense of history & intellect.
* Carr will be formidable in the Senate and wipe the smile off Brandis & Erica
* Carr will be a good advocate of the Gillard Govt’s policie and provide sound political & tactical advice to PM
* A firewall to #Ruddstoration, Bruce Hawker’s whiteanting and no more 3rd Candidate

3. Retail turnover up 0.3% in January. (0.1% fall in December.) from ABS

4. Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Philip Lowe: business investment had jumped about 20 per cent in 2011, and the Reserve Bank expected “double-digit increases in business investment in each of the next couple of years,” he said.

5. Official figures yesterday suggested the gap between the bonanza in mining and poor conditions in other industries would widen further over the next 18 months.In its first estimates for 2012-13, the Bureau of Statistics said miners planned to invest $120 billion in the next financial year, taking total capital expenditure to a new high of $173 billion.   Read more

6. More BISONs from Mega: Costs of the Paretal Leave Scheme: The total cost of the government scheme is $1.4 billion in 2012-13, covering 126,000 families. The Coalition’s 2010 election policy document put the cost of the Abbott scheme at $4.3bn in 2012-13. A professional woman on more than $150,000 a year would receive $75,000 from Abbott and nothing from Labor.  Read More

101 Economic Fundamental:

1. Unemployment 5.1% (Canada 7.5, EUROZONE Avg 9.3, UK 8.7, USA 8.3, Japan 4.1, NZ 6.6, China 4.1, India 9.4, Brazil 4.7. South Africa 25%, Singapore 1.9, South Korea 3.7)

2. Inflation 3.1%

3. GDP Growth 3.5% – The Australian economy is now around 7 per cent larger than it was prior to GFC Mark 1. By way of comparison, most developed countries have gone backward.

4. RBA Interest Rate – 4.25% – RBA Interest rate 4.25%, compared to 6.75% when Howard was voted out.

5. Current Govt Net Debt – 6% GDP – Vs EURO 70%, Japan 130% USA 70% UK 75%

6. Total Public Debt – 27% GDP (Canada 81%, EURO 97%, France 99%, Germany 84%, Japan 205%, UK 91%, USA 95%)

7. Trade Surplus $22.4 billion last financial year – easily the biggest surplus in raw terms for the past 40 years of records compiled by the ABS

8. Sovereign Rating – Australia one of just 15 countries to hold the top AAA Rating from all Agencies

9. Currency – AUD/USD 1.07, AUD/UK 0.68 AUD/Euro 0.82 – The floating of AUD is the single most important economic reform introduced by Labor. It acts as a shock absorber to external economic conditions

10. Australia is in Asia, the growth engine averaging 6% and part of the Asian Century. It’s middle and aspiration class is expected to hit 800 millions by 2020. Double of USA+Europe.

11. NBN – One of the most advanced high speed Internet enabled network in the world. Australia’s first national wide, open access FTTP broadband network with minimum 93% coverage, capable of achieving 1 gigabit per second broadband speeds.

12. Australia is the richest country in the world according to Credit Suisse Research Institute’s most recent Global Wealth Report, the median wealth of Australians now is well over $200,000, ahead of Switzerland, 4 times USA.

13. Under Coalition spending grew by average of 3.7% per annum, under the current Labor spending growth is averaging 1.5%

14. More people at work today than any time in our Nation’s history.In Jan 2012, 46,300 new jobs created for the month of which 12,300 full-time jobs and the Unemployment rate is now 5.1% from previous 5.2%

15. Australia net debt is expected to peak only at 8.9% in 2016 (MYEFO) – READ MORE

16. THE Gillard government’s reforms to financial advice will boost the retirement savings of Australian workers by $130 billion over 15 years

102. Political Fundamental

1. “ALP best manager of money, history shows” – George Megalogenis  READ MORE

2. No interest rise for the 14th consecutive month (last rise was Nov 2010) Vs 10 consecutive rises under
Howard/Costello. The lowest rate, since 1960, of 3% was in April 2009 under Labor. Lowest under Howard 4.25%, Fraser 7.65%, Gorton 5.7%, McMahon 4.3%). Interest rates will always be lower under Labor.

3. “The Atlantic magazine named Gillard as one of its “2011 brave thinkers” for her resolute strength in pushing through a carbon tax. “Whether you see the move as politically expedient or as a principled course correction, there’s no denying the risk that it entails in a country where climate change is a wildly contentious issue,” writes Geoffrey Gagnon”

4. Labor’s Tax take 21.75% of GDP Vs 25% under Liberals

5. NEW Treasury analysis finds Mining played minor role during GFC, it says service industries such as retail – which received a hefty boost from Kevin Rudd’s stimulus package – were crucial in sustaining the economy during its darkest days.

6. Wayne Swan – Treasurer of the Year 2011

7. PM Gillard solved #QANTAS dispute in 36 hrs, Hawke solved the Pilot Dispute in 1 month and Howard solved the Waterfront Dispute in 6 months.

8. How good are nations at keeping the promises made at G20 summits? – Australia NO: 1 – READ MORE

9. MP Rob Oakeshott says “this parliament is working and I’m proud of it”.” – 282 bills passed

103. Social Fundamental

1. Australian families depending on one breadwinner pay among the lowest amounts of tax in the world and have become better off under the Gillard Government – Natsem

2. The Herald/Lateral Economics Index of Australia’s Wellbeing rose 2.2 per cent in the quarter, outstripping GDP growth of 1 per cent. READ MORE

3. The number of people filling for bankruptcy in Australia has fallen by 16%.

4. Recently released IMF estimates show that Australians are the fifth richest people in the world, behind only those living in Luxembourg, Qatar, Norway and Switzerland READ MORE

5. AUSTRALIA is second best – almost but not quite the greatest place in which to live, according to the latest United Nations human development index. Norway pips us by a flared nostril. Australia scores 0.93 on a scale of 0 to 1, where 1 is the highest score possible. At 0.94, Norway’s margin over Australia is close to invisible

6. Ave weekly earning +4.7% in yr to Aug. 10 years of real wage gains.

7. Aust & Holland have the best pension systems in the world followed by Sweden, Swiss, Canada, UK READ MORE

8. Australia top destination for expats globally: HSBC – AUSTRALIA’S image of healthy outdoor living and reputation for a work-life balance has elevated it to the top destination for expatriates globally, according to a worldwide survey by HSBC.

9. THE Gillard government’s reforms to financial advice will boost the retirement savings of Australian workers by $130 billion over 15 years

104. The Future

1. Business investment spending is expected to grow by 15 per cent this year and another 15 per cent next year. – Ross Gittin

2. Australia in good shape if another crisis hits, says IMF – 8/8/11

3. BHP Billiton $80B Olympic Dam copper/uranium/gold mine in South Australia creating 6000 jobs during a decade-long construction phase, 4000 ongoing jobs at the mine and 15,000 indirect jobs.This is despite the Resource Tax

4. The strength of the nation’s markets during the Global Financial Crisis was highlighted by the World Economic Forum, which in 2009 ranked Australia as the world’s second-best financial centre after the UK. Australia was the only country in the top 20 to improve its ranking.With around A$1.7 trillion in assets under management, Australia is the largest funds management market in Asia, and the fourth-largest in the world. Australia has one of the highest levels of managed funds per capita in the world, with total investment fund assets in Australia projected to reach A$7 trillion by 2028.

5. For dealmakers Down Under, 2011 will go down as a vintage year for inbound M&A activity, according to the latest data from Dealogic.So far this year, Australia has attracted a record US$59.9 billion of total inbound deals, already surpassing US$55 billion achieved in the whole of 2010, according to the data provider. READ MORE

6. The figures show September quarter spending on exploration for coal up 12 per cent to a new record high of $227 million, spending on iron ore exploration up 9 per cent to a new record high of $235 million, and spending on onshore petroleum exploration up 33 per cent to a new record high of $249 million.

7. The ABS figures follow Tuesday’s Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics forecast of record energy and minerals export earnings of $206 billion in 2012. If realised, they will boost government revenue, making its forecast surplus easier to attain. The bureau says capital expenditure by resource companies stands at a record high of $232 billion.

8. Bloomberg has done a survey and found that Australia is the 5th best and easiest place in the world to do business after HK, Netherlands, USA and UK. READ MORE

9. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Australia is probably the best positioned of the developed countries to handle a further deterioration in the global economy. IMF Asia and Pacific region director Anoop Singh told a media briefing in Washington that the institution supports the Australian government’s plan to return the federal budget to surplus in 2012/13.

10. Manufacturing activity remained in positive territory in January 2012, according to the latest Australian Industry Group. Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) is 51.6, readings above 50 indicate an expansion in activity

11. Trade surplus up $366m in Dec to $1.7b. Total exports second highest monthly level on record at $27.7billion.

12. A SURGE of global demand for Australian government bonds has saved the federal government from issuing at least $10 billion in debt, cutting more than $500 million a year from its future interest bills.

13. The rate for Australian Government 10 year bonds (the “yield”) is at record low 3.75%

14. Amid the global economic turmoil and credit squeeze, Australia remains a gold standard country to invest in, says BHP Billiton boss Marius Kloppers, as BHP Billiton delivered a $US9.941 billion ($A9.23 billion) first-half profit.