Surely Carole James could have complained about some legitimate complaint – public-private partnerships – but she did not say a word about those.
What she did was, after the Liberals had with great difficulty achieved a balanced budget in the fourth year of their first term, said there was lots and lots of money to spend. If the Liberals didn’t spend it, they were not being fair to the public. By then, the accumulated deficit had reached $40 billion, and she must have known it.
If a political party goes into deficit for the year, in my opinion, when the figures come out, the other party should be able to walk across the floor of the house and take over. Also, when MPs get into Parliament, they should become free agents, and be able to voice their own views without regard to their official party view.
It is not right that one party can make themselves popular by maxing out the charge card, and then the next party has to conserve to pay it down.
When there is a budget deficit, we are living beyond our means. How much do teachers and nurses get paid, for example? These figures are kept quiet. One way to stop this game-playing, might be for health care and education to take up a percentage of the budget, sort of like profit sharing.
This would stop people ranting on and on about how teachers and nurses should get more money. They deserve it.
Yes they do deserve it. They are very valuable members of society. But can we afford to pay it?
Judy Whytock
Victoria