,

Minister of Everything

ONCE UPON A TIME IN CANBERRA ….

Last week’s revelation that Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself ‘Minister of Everything’ while PM, hardly comes as a surprise.

For three years we’ve seen how poorly democratic principles rank with those in Canberra.

Most see democracy as something to be ‘got round’, not protected or upheld.

What was surprising, were the protestations of innocence that flew thick and fast, from all those claiming they ‘knew nothing’ whatsoever about it.

Something I find very difficult to believe.

Even harder to believe is the idea that Morrison came up with the plan himself and then plotted on his own to bring it all about!

And yet that is what we are led to believe.

Of course they admit the Governor General knew, but there’s a huge push on to quarantine Hurley from any suggestion of culpability or blame.

However, serious questions do need to be asked about the role the Governor General played in all these secret ministerial appointments.

Such as why he didn’t consult the Solicitor General or even Buckingham Palace about what Morrison was asking him to do.

He claims it was “not an unusual process” and every ‘constitutional expert’ in the country has been rounded up to back up that claim.

If it everything was as ‘ho-hum’, however, why all the SECRECY?

Even Malcolm Turnbull has said the whole episode is “sinister”, and that Hurley needs to explain to the Australian people exactly what his thinking was at the time.

“The governor-general is not just a rubber stamp. He has a constitution to uphold”.

Turnbull also pointed out that if he had tried to secretly appoint himself to a ministry, “neither the former governor-general Peter Cosgrove, nor his own senior staff would have allowed it”.

There’s no doubt Morrison’s behaviour deserves a Royal Commission, but one that thoroughly investigates all those around him, particularly those in the Executive.

The chances of that happening, though, are pretty slim.

Albanese has ring-fenced his outrage over the incident to Morrison and Morrison alone.

But for many Australians, including myself, Morrison is just the ‘head of the fish’ as far as the whole rotten system is concerned.

There are just too many unanswered – and unasked – questions about the whole story for my liking.

Like why the story was ‘leaked’ in the first place?  We all know the power governments have for keeping things secret nowadays, so why not this?

Here’s another for you.

Has Morrison been cast to the wolves, not for any ‘secret ministries’ he held, but because he recently did the unthinkable and warned Australians that their government and THE UN were NOT TO BE TRUSTED?

Just a thought …

/0 Comments/by
,

Interest rate hikes

IS AUSTRALIA HEADED FOR ECONOMIC ARMAGEDDON?

Remember in 2020 when EXPERTS told us that, contrary to what we were all taught in the past, mountains of government debt was actually a good thing?

It was called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and it all hung together beautifully in the models.

Well you don’t hear much about MMT anymore.

Not since inflation started skyrocketing and central banks began hiking their interest rates.

This month, Australia’s RBA raised interest rates to 0.85% and Goldman Sachs says it could hit 2.6% by year’s end.

Which makes RBA’s actions incredibly reckless, in my book.

Property and household debt are pretty much the only thing still driving this country’s economy.

We generate no real wealth, create no productive jobs, while private investment and wage growth have been stagnant for decades.

Where is the national productivity agenda?  There is none.

Australia is now a ‘service’ economy – ‘services’ and the longest running property bubble in history!

In 2020, the Treasurer said gross government debt would be $1.1 trillion by June 2024.

According to Treasury’s models, the total interest payable on all that debt was predicted to be $113 billion by June 2025, or close to $20 billion each year.

There’s just one tiny problem.

The  models were calculated on the ‘assumption’ that there would be A STEADILY FALLING INTEREST RATE ACROSS THAT PERIOD!

Which as everyone knows, didn’t happen. Instead of falling, interest rates have tripled.

So instead of having to pay around $20 billion in interest each year, the federal government could be looking at $60 billion.

And despite what MMT theorists believe, governments absolutely MUST pay their annual debt interest payments – or the whole house of cards collapses.

Imagine if interest rates do hit that 2.6% Goldman Sachs has predicted.  We could be looking at an annual interest bill ten times the amount predicted in 2020.

Even at $60 billion, Australia’s interest bill would be the Government’s third largest expenditure item behind health and aged income support, according to the IPA.

And remember! Australia’s Big Four Banks are 60-70% exposed to the property sector.  Even a moderate run of defaults could finish them.

And here’s the kicker.

Under the Financial Claims Scheme Guarantee, deposits of $1 million or below with Australian-owned banks, building societies, credit unions and even Australian subsidiaries of foreign-owned banks are automatically guaranteed by the Federal Government!

That means if the property market collapses and some or all of the banks crash, guess who’s on the hook to bail them out?  The Federal Government.

It would bankrupt the country.

Let’s hope the RBA knows what its doing!

/0 Comments/by