Costello Leads The Voter Up The Golden Path...

Wow, hasn't the government done a great job by gaining a $7.5Bn surplus! Fantastic!  It makes me feel so good that the government has so much money in the bank to spend.... to spend on.... nothing really.

What has really annoyed me this week is how the smarmy Mr Costello, Prince of Darkness, has been spinning the Australian public on how much trouble this country is financially and how we have had to all pull together and tighten our belts and cop a few price hikes and degrading public infrastructure (hospitals, schools, universities, transport) and do our bit.

Then he turns around and delivers a massive $7.5Bn surplus much to even his surprise.  He had forecast in June a surplus of about $3.9Bn (which with all the financial issues mentioned above is a little hard to take) and then just a mere quarter year later announces that it wasn't $3.9Bn but rather $7.5Bn.

This news is designed to make us all feel good about our cute and cuddly little treasurer, give his belly a scratch and elect Howard (i.e. Costello) at the next election. 

But my question is this.  If the Federal Treasurer miscalculates his annual budget to the tune of $3.5Bn, then is he really competent to be doing the job he was asked of?  If he can sign off that the bean counters in Treasury have gotten it correct and then 3 months later say, no it's actually $7.5Bn rather than $3Bn, then something must be seriously wrong.

Or is it the more plausible, but sinister theory...

That Costello new that the budget was in massive surplus and that it is the role of the government to support the populace to the best of its ability by spending our hard earned tax dollars on items for the common good - the aforementioned infrastructure - and not to overly horde wealth.  Sure, paying off government debt is fine, keeping a bit aside for a rainy day is feasible, but $7.5Bn dollars!!  If that's for a rainy day, where the hell is Noah and his Ark?? 

No, the government has underplayed how much surplus we have had, has raised the spectre of extra taxes arising from the War on Terror, the extra spending required on security and immigration and then at the last minute disclosed that it isn't as bad as it seems and that in fact the surplus is massive and hence use it as a government ace in the deck for the next election.

If a public company only disclosed half its profits at year end and then announced the full story later to gain market advantage, then the company directors would be criminally charged for fraud.  But for our esteemed treasurer and his master Our Johnny, that is only good political practice.

Australia, you have been conned!

RELATED READING

SMH article on the potential budget surplus (no where near $7.5Bn) [link]

An ACOSS Budget Paper 03/04 Federal Budget Kit - refer p6 [link]

Transcript of an ABC Radio broadcast on 12 May 2003 re the Budget [link]