http://www.krg.com.au/qldstampdutycalculator/stamp_duty_explained

Bye bye stamp duty concession for home purchasers. (Except FHBs.) Should be worth a LOT of money to her!!!

This is why I am wary of big spending governments, simply because so much money is often wasted.

Pity there aren’t more muslims in the country -- She could convert to Islam and start wearing a burqa …

Maybe we’ll get a tie -- Similar to the Brits? And Tony and Jules can form a coalition. Both dump their partners and shack up in The Lodge together. I look forward to seeing the happy first family snaps of them strolling around the shores of Lake Burley Griffin hand-in-hand. Tony in his speedos and lifesaver cap with a little fan on top to keep the magpies away; And Jules in her matching red bikini -- Replete with said burqa of course!

This is a good good reason why you never give any Government too much money to spend! (and especially when it is borrowed money!!)

This editorial in The Australian today is perhaps reflective of the mood starting to take hold across the nation: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/time-to-draw-a-big-line-under-big-canberra/story-e6frg71x-1225832347280

http://www.skynews.com.au/business/article.aspx?id=374838

I note that Labor Senator Doug Cameron is quoted as saying you should never let an academic economist run the economy and that the IMF, the OECD the ILO and Treasury all agree with the method of stimulus. Who does Cameron think are at these organisations? They are packed with academics!

And if he claims that not a cent of this stimulus has been wasted then he is living in dream world.

I would like at least one member of the Government to at least come out and say that there have been some bits that they have got wrong, some parts they have mismanaged and overspent and other areas that are totally unnecessary and they won’t be pushing ahead with them because it would be wasteful and pointless.

As for investing in shares, well Ned it is bit like Australia playing cricket in England. The Australian team know the pitches will be made to suit the English, the crowd will be hostile, the weather unpredictable and the umpires could do anything. But the team get out there, try and play the best they can, overcome the hurdles and come out a winner.

Hopefully I can overcome the many stock market investment hurdles and sometimes come out a winner also

So our big export areas, mining, tourism and education are all down and yet the RBA and Treasury reckon the economy is bouncing back? Mmmm…does not quite add up to me.

Looking at America’s current difficulties should be a wakeup call to even the most ignorant. If it was only America, one could say Oh but they are different. But they aren’t that different -- Lots of the developed economies seem to be facing pretty big issues going forward.

Queensland -- Our third biggest “export” is Education. I’d like to think the second one was agriculture. But strongly suspect it is “cuddle a koala” while throwing another “shrimp on the barbie”?

Education is an interesting one -- I’ve got a sneaky suspicion that a huge amount of it is not that Aussie unis teach anything all that clever, but just that when the kid has their Aussie degree, they’ve cracked a passport to the West.

My concern is that we won’t change in the things where we’d be wise to. And where we do change, it will be change in the wrong direction.

Wonder why the Tamiflu scripts I bought in Oz were made in Switzerland and not here???

This means that Australian’s are starting to think there will always be money around and that the government will be ready to bail them out if they get into trouble. In addition it starts to become less attractive for people to put in the big hours because the higher incomes brackets are clearly going to bear much of the burden caused by governments need for funds to pay down debt.

It is going to be interesting to see how much the nation will change over the next few years.

Disincentives to work -- Plenty of them -- Self funded retirement is at best an unrealistic dream for most. And once one realises that, the whole focus changes to thinking in terms of what is the maximum amount that government will let me have (and in what types of asset classes [including super with its own special government determined risks and rewards]) and still get a part pension for the perks.

Especially given that we all really know just how many Aussies coast along doing comparatively little -- And/or spivving the system in one way or another. Why should I work and pay high tax to support all the others who don’t, becomes the mindset.

Ken Henry has a little problem there with his tax review -- On one hand I suspect he could be a socialist at heart? But on the other, he is clever enough to know that you don’t get many tax dollars back from welfare recipients.

This one is old (7 august 2008) but interesting. Especially given that Oz companies just mightn’t be doing so well anymore. Amongst other things it says:

“Treasury’s review of the Australian tax system shows there is little scope for lowering personal income tax, as the nation’s total tax on wages is already well below the average of OECD industrialised countries.

But it says taxes on “investment capital” -- including company tax, capital gains and property taxes -- are the highest in the world.”

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24140111-601,00.html

Always a pleasure to talk -- Cheers!

With almost wall to wall Labor Governments we are heading down a more socialist path. It is a bad day when a generation expect the government to just hand them everything and begrudge anybody that has worked hard to achieve their own goals.