OP/ED - AUSTRALIAN LEADERS DEBATE - FEDERAL ELECTION SEPTEMBER 2013 On national television tonight between 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Australian Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott engaged each other in political debate, each seeking to persuade voters to support them. The following is a synopsis of the telling points that were made during the hour long confrontation. 1. Spending as a proportion of GDP has been 25% under the ALP and was 24% under the LNP. 2. Under the much touted "Pacific Solution" of the former Howard LNP government, 70% of asylum seekers sent to Nauru for processing were eventually settled in Australia. 3. In terms of "ordering the boats around", as is the LNP policy, this will result in the smugglers scuttling their boats, subjecting asylum seekers to possible drowning and forcing the Royal Australian Navy, under international law of the sea, to rescue immersed survivors. "Ordering the boats around" will also jeopardize harmonious relations with Indonesia which will not accept any such returning boats into its territorial waters. 4. "Slash and burn" cuts to public expenditure, as foreshadowed by the LNP, have been tried in the United Kingdom with the deleterious result of causing a recession. 5. Under the ALP, the Child Care Rebate has been increased from 30% to 50% of payments made to needy families. 6. Under the Fair Work Act, legislated by the ALP after abolishing the hated "Work Choices" programme of the LNP, economic productivity has increased by 1.9% as distinguished from 0.7% under the Howard government programme. 7. In terms of a promised "New Economy" under a re-elected Rudd government, jobs, following the end of the decade long mineral resources boom, will come from manufacturing and agribusiness industries. 8. In terms of actual jobs growth under the ALP, one million new jobs have been created despite the Global Financial Crisis. 9.According to Shadow Treasurer Mr Joe Hockey, cited by Prime Minister Rudd, the LNP economic programme it is taking to the people in the 2013 Federal Election has a A$70 billion "black hole" in its costings. OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF THE DEBATE: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was affirmative and positive; whilst Opposition Leader Tony Abbott was evasive and inarticulate. AUTHOR: DR MICHAEL VAUGHAN [Political Scientist and Enrolled Elector] DATE: SUNDAY, 11 AUGUST 2013 TIME: 8:00 PM AEST PLACE: BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 10:01:54 +0000
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