$950 government handout

[Speedz]

Even though some of us liked Howard...

Rudd made the correct campaign based on the fact Howard

1) has been there too long, therefore perceived out of touch with the public on several key issues...

2) tussle with Costello on who wants to be PM

3) made a crap loads of fuss on the asylum and children over board saga

4) Howards refusal on Kyoto and Reconciliation issue... even if Howard was right on both issue public sentiment thought otherwise... Rudd took full advantage on that issue/ opportunity quite well...

5) lastly, the bogans thought we will continue to ride the economic boom when Rudd takes over coz they think its too easy...

alot of us know Rudd almost copy word for word on any of Liberals core promises during the election, but in the end i think Kyoto and Reconciliation was what tipped the public's vote to Rudd... (not to mention the media all of the sudden backed Rudd like the 2nd coming of Christ and Howard the Devils Advocate...)

if the global down turn happened 9 months sooner, Howard probably would have still be our PM ...

[Leroy]

Yep. The man spoke Chinese for a fleeting moment, and apologised on my behalf for something I shouldn't have to apologise for...

lols i joined that facebook group thingo

Be a man. Do the right thing. Don't let the "Don't let Malcolm Turnbull take away our $950" facebook group stop him from taking away that $950.

Edited February 12, 2009 by Leroy

[kolourhero]

Apparently it's $900 now.

[MT]

I miss Mr Howard

x2 but if he was still in youd be complaining bout that too

Had you been a part of any of the political debate threads in the past you would know that this is absolutely not the case. I was in the Liberal camp. See "Federal Election" in club lounge.

Speedz: the Rudd campaign was well marketed... Now we will all suffer.

Leroy: I didn't steal any kids from their families either...

[JSTCHLN]

personally I have always favoured the libs and probably always will but in terms of the 950 - or possible 900 dollars handouts i think the idea with it is to get the money into the economy asap. Yea sure infrastructure is much more practical and will be better for our standard of living, jobs etc. but the reality is that big infrastructure projects take many years to accomplish and for the economy to react to the injection. in saying this i dont know whether to think the handout is a good thing or not but just something for everyone to ponder about. Also why these handouts are in favour towards low income earners, students etc. is because they (in the scale of things) do not have as much debt as people with higher incomes and are more inclined to spend it straight away rather than put it against a mortgage or loan or anything of the like. The reality is we need to fight the visible symptoms of a possible recession now not over a 10 year period.

[Leroy]

Yea sure infrastructure is much more practical and will be better for our standard of living, jobs etc. but the reality is that big infrastructure projects take many years to accomplish and for the economy to react to the injection.

The idea behind infastructure is to keep people employed. Sure we end up with a new highway etc - but until that time, people who otherwise would have been laid off due to a contraction in demand have a job for a year or 2.

Also why these handouts are in favour towards low income earners, students etc. is because they (in the scale of things) do not have as much debt as people with higher incomes and are more inclined to spend it straight away rather than put it against a mortgage or loan or anything of the like

I'd argue that the handouts should actually be given to higher income earners, because its they who are going to spend it at a restaurant or buy another playstation.

You also want people to be paying their mortgages in times like these... the more people that use the handout to pay their mortgage; the more money the banks have to invest elsewhere, and then the less reason the banks have to repossess their houses - preventing stress on the welfare system.

Whilst handouts to low income earners are more equitable, they will arguably only be used in certain pockets of the economy - largely groceries and essential bills (and cigarettes and alcohol in some cases) - and not have as large an effect.

Edited February 12, 2009 by Leroy

[trdsaads]

apologised on my behalf for something I shouldn't have to apologise for...

My thoughts exactly

[JSTCHLN]

Yea sure infrastructure is much more practical and will be better for our standard of living, jobs etc. but the reality is that big infrastructure projects take many years to accomplish and for the economy to react to the injection.

The idea behind infastructure is to keep people employed. Sure we end up with a new highway etc - but until that time, people who otherwise would have been laid off due to a contraction in demand have a job for a year or 2.

Also why these handouts are in favour towards low income earners, students etc. is because they (in the scale of things) do not have as much debt as people with higher incomes and are more inclined to spend it straight away rather than put it against a mortgage or loan or anything of the like

I'd argue that the handouts should actually be given to higher income earners, because its they who are going to spend it at a restaurant or buy another playstation.

You also want people to be paying their mortgages in times like these... the more people that use the handout to pay their mortgage; the more money the banks have to invest elsewhere, and then the less reason the banks have to repossess their houses - preventing stress on the welfare system.

Whilst handouts to low income earners are more equitable, they will arguably only be used in certain pockets of the economy - largely groceries and essential bills (and cigarettes and alcohol in some cases) - and not have as large an effect.

Yea dont get me wrong im all for spending on infrastructure i think its a good thing but it is a long term injection - and for that matter over time yes we will see more jobs opening up as a ramification of infrastructure projects but this will only occur over time as large projects have to go through so many stages. The idea behind the cash injection is that it happens immediately - we are in a recession now so we need to tackle it now and that is the perspective the government is taking.

Yea but it is the higher income earners who have the lcd televisions, can afford to take the family out to dinner more often, etc. so not such a big deal for them - they already have higher disposable incomes. Thus why we will see a bigger change in spending with low income earners.

With the economy how it is I find it hard to believe that banks would look to invest the possible inflow of money from loans as with the current economic climate, why would you? Everything is so unpredicatable at the moment no one can tell whether this is the end or start of it all. and at the end of the day the banks are a business and businesses have obligations to their shareholders/investors to retain high profits, pay higher dividends etc. Commonwealth bank announced it made a larger half year profit than expected yes dividends are going to be matched to what was paid last year but the ceo also said that future dividends will not be as high because they are looking to retain more of their profits so as to ensure they have a safeguard if things were to get worse. I think we will find that this is the thinking of many enterprises of scale.

Edited February 12, 2009 by JSTCHLN

[SuperDave]

Yea dont get me wrong im all for spending on infrastructure i think its a good thing but it is a long term injection - and for that matter over time yes we will see more jobs opening up as a ramification of infrastructure projects but this will only occur over time as large projects have to go through so many stages. The idea behind the cash injection is that it happens immediately - we are in a recession now so we need to tackle it now and that is the perspective the government is taking.

Sure $900 would get an immediate spend, but what I think Leroy's rebuttal (and my thoughts) is that infrastructure projects employ people and allows them to earn that much (or more) money each week, with effects just as immediate (weekly/fortnightly/monthly) as the $900 handout. This then goes over a 1-2 year spread. Sure there is a period of time to get the projects designed, but a lot of projects have been designed and have been shelved or have shrunk, all that needs to happen is funding and they can be built. The infrastructure will then hopefully be in place for the next boom where it can be fully utilised. That is the downside of governments of late, they plan for now not the future.

[JSTCHLN]

Yea dont get me wrong im all for spending on infrastructure i think its a good thing but it is a long term injection - and for that matter over time yes we will see more jobs opening up as a ramification of infrastructure projects but this will only occur over time as large projects have to go through so many stages. The idea behind the cash injection is that it happens immediately - we are in a recession now so we need to tackle it now and that is the perspective the government is taking.

Sure $900 would get an immediate spend, but what I think Leroy's rebuttal (and my thoughts) is that infrastructure projects employ people and allows them to earn that much (or more) money each week, with effects just as immediate (weekly/fortnightly/monthly) as the $900 handout. This then goes over a 1-2 year spread. Sure there is a period of time to get the projects designed, but a lot of projects have been designed and have been shelved or have shrunk, all that needs to happen is funding and they can be built. The infrastructure will then hopefully be in place for the next boom where it can be fully utilised. That is the downside of governments of late, they plan for now not the future.

yea mate i totally agree with you im just stating their logic. but in some ways i can see where the rudd government is coming from. - whether it is correct or incorrect i dont know and I guess no one 'knows' as it is all based on assumptions as to how they expect the australian public to react to the stimulus. I just hope they are correct because it is a lot of money to just throw around hope it works (as was evidently done in december). coz at the end of the day it is us (who pay tax) that is inevitably funding it all.

By the way it looks like it has all just passed through the upper house

[jaderd]

we got it

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/751546...-goes-to-senate

[DJKOR]

I don't follow all this stuff cause I live in a little bubble, but this 'package' means we do get the $900 odd bucks right?

[apg39]

Yep if you lodged a tax return last financial year (not too late if you havent) & earned under $100k, between $80-100K there's less of a payout. Pretty sure there's a minimum too but I dont know it?

Comes in April some time.

[jaderd]

mine + girlfriends = nice new modular lounge suite for new house (sign contract on house Tuesday:) *fingers crossed*

[1rocky]

Yep if you lodged a tax return last financial year (not too late if you havent) & earned under $100k, between $80-100K there's less of a payout. Pretty sure there's a minimum too but I dont know it?

Comes in April some time.

also if you put in a tax return but your income was too low to pay tax for example you paid $0 in tax you will not recieve the bonus. according to the taxation website.

[juvenile]

mine + girlfriends = nice new modular lounge suite for new house (sign contract on house Tuesday:) *fingers crossed*

Good on you both. Congrats & good luck :)

[spillige]

I miss Mr Howard

x2 but if he was still in youd be complaining bout that too

Had you been a part of any of the political debate threads in the past you would know that this is absolutely not the case. I was in the Liberal camp. See "Federal Election" in club lounge.

Speedz: the Rudd campaign was well marketed... Now we will all suffer.

Leroy: I didn't steal any kids from their families either...

was talking more what people would be thinking in general not so much your self

Yea dont get me wrong im all for spending on infrastructure i think its a good thing but it is a long term injection - and for that matter over time yes we will see more jobs opening up as a ramification of infrastructure projects but this will only occur over time as large projects have to go through so many stages. The idea behind the cash injection is that it happens immediately - we are in a recession now so we need to tackle it now and that is the perspective the government is taking.

Sure $900 would get an immediate spend, but what I think Leroy's rebuttal (and my thoughts) is that infrastructure projects employ people and allows them to earn that much (or more) money each week, with effects just as immediate (weekly/fortnightly/monthly) as the $900 handout. This then goes over a 1-2 year spread. Sure there is a period of time to get the projects designed, but a lot of projects have been designed and have been shelved or have shrunk, all that needs to happen is funding and they can be built. The infrastructure will then hopefully be in place for the next boom where it can be fully utilised. That is the downside of governments of late, they plan for now not the future.

i agree they do tend to do things by half then ends up costing more just to fix or upgrade things.

on the other hand i think road workers and rail workers shouldnt get the funding just cause they so damb slow and lazy

i once went to work in the morning bout 7ich i see 5 road workers looking at a road sign, mind u they decided to block off half the street and put caution signs every where. at lunch time i went past there again to grab something to eat and they had dug out alittle hole where they were going to pull the sign out, this little hole took them 5 hours to dig and 3 of the workers were sleeping on a near by hill, i went back to work

later that night on the way home went past there again an they had just put up caution tape all over it and left :o

[akuma]

easy money, goin to spend it at the casino. that why if i lose it i dont feel bad.

[mrs.sportivo]

easy money, goin to spend it at the casino. that why if i lose it i dont feel bad.

lol dont do that ! you might as well go on a shopping spree or something

i hate gamblers >=/

[sikwitit]

i'm gonna buy a full exhorst system for the cam and red and white tail lights

sean

[Simo]

Mine will probably go towards a bond, I want a lawn to tend too in my underpants while I drink beer :)

[Leroy]

easy money, goin to spend it at the casino. that why if i lose it i dont feel bad.

And that's why the stimulus package will not work. All too much of it will be spent at your local tavern/tab.

Even Nick Xenaphon, who gave in to this round, pointed that out about the last package in December.

[SuperDave]

If anyone is spending on their cars, Whiteline, King Springs, Superpro and Nolathane are all Australian.

Might be worth a mention since it has pretty much been forgotten about. The Alcopops tax actually hasn't been passed in the senate; now you all know where some of the money is coming from ;)

[Modular]

Mines going on my rego and green slip.

And thats pretty much all of the $900

[Speedz]

Mine will be to my missus master degree unit...

that will cost 1500 bucks... :(