02 July 2009 in Jamie’s View
It took me a while to realise it because usually, people who enter politics have some smarts and go in wanting to do what they believe is the right thing.
They pursue policies they believe will make our country an even better place.
That is why I have been at a loss to understand how a group of people who promised us in the lead up to the last election that they were "economic conservatives" who "believed in surpluses" could turn a low unemployment surplus economy into one with rising job losses, record spending and historic debt levels.
Then it hit me – it is not that Labor can't manage money – it is that they actually don't want us to get ahead and have our own money.
They are actually doing what they believe in.
You hear it everyday in Parliament with senior Labor members deriding Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull’s success. The truth is that the Turnbull’s are wealthy and successful because they worked hard and took their chances. Australia was built on the back on entrepreneurs like the Turnbull’s.
Labor and their cheer squad in the left love debt and they love having Australians in debt because it increases reliance on the State.
When the country is in debt we see interest rates go up and taxes go up - leaving Australians with less money in their pocket.
But when debt is paid off, taxes are low, interest rates are low, business is confident and people have more money.
When this happens, Australians become self reliant and take on more responsibility for themselves and for their family.
Small business prospers and people get jobs.
We saw this happen during the Howard Government.
During this period debt was reduced to zero, taxes and interest rates were low, business boomed and real wages went up, Australians took the opportunity to be responsible for themselves and for their families.
Many entered the housing market, buying their first home, many for the first time only to be derided by the left as living in “McMansions”.
Australians bought new electrical products and home wares, they took their families on outings and on holidays - and were decried by the left as being “affluent” and “greedy”.
Small businesses and private contractors boomed, creating real jobs and removing the need for unions - and were dismissed by the left as “part time” or “casual”.
More Australians got an opportunity at work and not just part time and casual work, full time jobs. For years the left complained about the casualisation of the workforce only to complain some more about the policies that produced the full time jobs! Go figure.
Of course Labor and the left dismissed these achievements as being the result of a ‘mining boom’, not because of dedicated and focused economic policy.
Australians reduced their reliance on the state, taking out private health insurance and sending their children to non government schools - all the while being heckled as "selfish" by the left.
Labor and the left loathe aspiration because they know it makes them irrelevant.
That's why Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan have declared war on aspiration - and have begun dismantling incentives for people to take responsibility for themselves.
Their actions on superannuation, private health insurance and solar rebates are just the beginning and the sooner they are stopped the quicker our country will recover.
The Liberal Party has always stood for policies built around self reliance, individual responsibility, small business growth and strong economic management.
Some people will question whether this kind of government is still relevant in the current economic climate - I say yes it is now more than ever.
What has become very clear over the past eighteen months is that - despite all the talk - the Liberal Party stands for wealth creation and independence, the Labor Party, the opposite.