Fascinating - defending the indefensible....strap yourself in, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.
It seems that a day doesn’t go by without someone from the Coalition side of politics recounting the fact that the Howard Government inherited $96 billion of net Government debt when it won the 1996 election and that over the course of the next decade, it “paid it off”.
hahaha...I'll just grab my truck and start driving around the gaping holes in this contorted hogwash.
No need for inverted commas around "paid it off". It's a fact. They did pay it off....all of it.
Oh, and why wouldn't they keep repeating it, it was a monumental achievement on Costello's part to get rid of Keating's mountain of stinking debt, which was costing upwards of 7 billion in year in offshore interest to foreign banks.
Champion effort, and the foundation stone for everything good that has happened to Australia sailing thru the GFC. Labor takes the credit due to Swanny's "world's best Treasurer" tag....but he's taken it from +20 billion down to minus 150 billion....hmmmm, not so good.
There is no denying the fact that net debt was $96 billion in 1995-96 and it was eliminated in 2007-08, the year that the Howard Government lost office.
There certainly is no denying the fact. Labor simply doesn't talk about it though. Don't bring it up, speak nothing of it. Debt to GDP is amazing low apparently compared to basket cases like Greece etc at ~ 16% GDP, but they inherited -3% of GDP....so not that good in only 4 years.....as usual, going the wrong way with Labor....uphill debt all the way.
It is useful and enlightening to look at some other facts behind that $96 billion level of debt “inherited” by the Howard Government, given that there is an implication that all of the $96 billion was racked-up under the Hawke and Keating Governments between 1983-84 and 1995-96.
The writer has even got the dates wrong. You'd expect the Labor writer to get the dates the Labor Govt was in power to get it right...but even this is wrong.
Hawke.......1983 to 1991
Keating......1991 to 1996
Come on guys - lift your game !!
Something that you never hear, until now, is the fact that almost half of the $96 billion of debt was sourced from the Fraser Government, which in its last few years had Mr Howard as Treasurer.
That's simply not true.....let's have a look at the spin and see how they did it.
When John Howard was Treasurer, net Government debt rose at a steady pace, hitting 7.5% of GDP when Fraser lost the 1983 election.
Government inherited $96 billion of net Government debt when it won the 1996 election and that over the course of the next decade, it “paid it off”. [/QUOTE]
hahaha...I'll just grab my truck and start driving around the gaping holes in this contorted hogwash.
No need for inverted commas around "paid it off". It's a fact. They did pay it off....all of it.
Oh, and why wouldn't they keep repeating it, it was a monumental achievement on Costello's part to get rid of Keating's mountain of stinking debt, which was costing upwards of 7 billion in year in offshore interest to foreign banks.
Champion effort, and the foundation stone for everything good that has happened to Australia sailing thru the GFC. Labor takes the credit due to Swanny's "world's best Treasurer" tag....but he's taken it from +20 billion down to minus 150 billion....hmmmm, not so good.
There is no denying the fact that net debt was $96 billion in 1995-96 and it was eliminated in 2007-08, the year that the Howard Government lost office.
There certainly is no denying the fact. Labor simply doesn't talk about it though. Don't bring it up, speak nothing of it. Debt to GDP is amazing low apparently compared to basket cases like Greece etc at ~ 16% GDP, but they inherited -3% of GDP....so not that good in only 4 years.....as usual, going the wrong way with Labor....uphill debt all the way.
It is useful and enlightening to look at some other facts behind that $96 billion level of debt “inherited” by the Howard Government, given that there is an implication that all of the $96 billion was racked-up under the Hawke and Keating Governments between 1983-84 and 1995-96.
The writer has even got the dates wrong. You'd expect the Labor writer to get the dates the Labor Govt was in power to get it right...but even this is wrong.
Hawke.......1983 to 1991
Keating......1991 to 1996
Come on guys - lift your game !!
Something that you never hear, until now, is the fact that almost half of the $96 billion of debt was sourced from the Fraser Government, which in its last few years had Mr Howard as Treasurer.
That's simply not true.....let's have a look at the spin and see how they did it.
In 1996 dollar terms, 7.5% of GDP is around $40 billion which is in fact the real level of net government debt “inherited” by the Hawke Government when it won the 1983 election.
Wrong again, it was only 4.8% of GDP the last time Liberals were in control. The election was in Jan 1983, Hawke swept to power and by Jun '83 it had risen to 7.5%....as you'd expect under a Labor Govt.
It then continued to rise, under a Labor Govt as you'd expect, to well over 10% in just 2 short years.
In 1987, Hawke pulled his finger out, and managed to wrestle it back down, until 1990 and 1991 when it was down to a very respectable 4.0%.
Then Keating knifed him in the back, and all hell broke loose. Debt went through the roof during Keating's 5 years tenure. It jumped immediately and continued to jump every year until he got turfed out.
1991.........4.0%
1992.........7.5%
1993........12.5%
1994........15.2%
1995........16.9%
1996........18.2% Out of control...turfed out.
Recall, by way of context, the fact that the Fraser Government “inherited” zero net government debt from the Whitlam Government in 1975-76, so all of the build up in government debt in the Fraser years was self imposed by the Coalition, its policies and the business cycle.
Going from 0% to 4.8% is definitely not good....I wonder what they used the debt for though ?? Infrastructure, or $ 900 plasma handouts ??
Coming back to the issue of the $96 billion net debt inherited by the Howard Government in 1996, it’s a fact that 42% of it was bequeathed from the Fraser Government and left for Labor to deal with during its term of government.
No, that is not true, the writer has falsely inflated jan '83 dollars up to Mar 1996 and called it good. This is wickedly deceiving, especially given the large inflationary figures in the late 80's. The whole thing is false based on this spin of escalating and inflating dollars over a large 13 years period.
So next time you hear someone from the Coalition or elsewhere for that matter banging on about the $96 billion of Labor Government debt that was paid off by the Howard Government, remind them of the fact that $40 billion of it or almost half was a hangover of the debt left to Labor by the Fraser Government in 1983.
That's a patently false lie.....but don't let it get in the way of telling a good ol' Labor yarn.
I still find it amazing that a Govt set of fully audited figures can still be spun and spun and spun around as many times as is necessary to spin whatever lie any side of politics wishes to spin.
The average mug punter hasn't got a ghost's hope of diseminating the truth. They won't know whether either side is telling the truth.
I suspect a lot of them think both sides all full of **** and simply vote Green, or in the Democrats in frustration.
