We are getting close to a year now enough time to judge how Rudd’s team has been managing Australia’s economy. Has he actually been able to keep his promises to all those people who voted him in? Probably the biggest promise was the inference that once in power interest rates would cease to rise and will even decrease. So far this has turned out to be a dud promise and banks have increased interest rates even above that set by the Reserve Bank. Where we can actually expect the Reserve Bank to set a decrease in the near future, it seems that banks will not be passing this on to the consumer.
Now let’s look at Rudd’s promise to supply access to a computer for every child in Years nine to 12. This is another promise that isn’t turning out at all well, and many schools will not be taking up the grant as they can’t afford to actually run extra computers. I wonder if they new this all along and were in fact counting on it or are they really that dumb not to take into account the running costs of all these extra computers.
Something else that Rudd led Australians to believe was that he could put downward pressure on grocery prices. This is another promise that seems to have fallen by the wayside. The long awaited ACCC inquiry into grocery prices seems to have turned into a joke as the ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel seems to be actually struggling to identify that any problem actually exists. This is bullshit when you consider that we actually have a duopoly where the big two, Coles and Woolworths, actually control the grocery market. It isn’t all that hard to come to this conclusion when you realize that they actually control about 80% of the market and are continually trying to increase the margin even further. The Government should really put a stop to this. So, while the inquiry did show Rudd was doing something, in essence it was a total waste of time and money.
Then there was the inferred promise of cheaper fuel prices, well I think most people will agree that this just hasn’t happened. While Rudd can say that he cannot control world fuel prices, why make the inference at all? Was it to cast a smokescreen over those gullible Australians that wanted to believe in all his hype?
We also hear today of those companies who supply solar panels, having to lay off workers because of Rudd’s policy to have the $8000 grant to install solar panels to homes means tested. It seems that this has caused a whole heap of canceled orders and this from a new Government who expected Australia to lead the way in the green revolution.
I day say there are more broken promises out there, but I just do not have time to do an in depth research on the matter. Perhaps you may like to add to the list or even argue for Mr. Rudd’s benefit, but please do not use his gobbledygook.
