TREASURER

Jackie Trad is selling us an old line when she says our debt is manageable. I recall a similar pitch, “debt is good” before prime minister Paul Keating declared the recession we had to have as interest rates soared above 18 per cent.

Oh, how we soon forget when the carrot is dangled before us and the goodies trotted out with smiles and assurances that all is well, and that they are looking after us. Sure, they are attending to some of our needs but in the process are borrowing against our future from an economic base that will be hard to sustain without solid economic growth.

It’s our money they are playing with and they are spending far more than we are earning.

When it comes to politics, I have a golden rule, “don’t look at what is offered without looking at the motive behind it and how it benefits the giver”.

A lot of people are jaded with politics, they couldn’t give a stuff but here we are, a prime example of how politics has a major impact on our lives. It’s time to take notice and apply the economics we live by at home to what our government is selling us.

We create the money our government spends. That money is filtered through a convoluted, and dare I say expensive process by tens of thousands of public service employees at the behest of our government of the day. The filter of what we want and what we can afford is discretionary, hence my golden rule.

I’m reminded of an old cartoon where a smiling benefactor is openly offering a $20 dollar note while with the other hand taking your wallet out of your pocket. It’s a distraction and there is much about this budget that generates the same caution.

We need that type of infrastructure that will generate confidence, growth and private sector jobs. We also need a government that understands sound economic management, one that lives within its means and one that doesn’t leave a legacy of debt for the following government to manage. But perhaps, that in itself is a long-term strategy.

A following government would be under pressure to rein in the excesses of the former by making the necessary cuts. Unpopular but necessary.

And the result? A reversion to a spending government at the next election.

Yes, we have been there and so the wheel turns unless we all wake up, take notice, become involved because our future and that of our children depends on it.

One thing Keating said made sense. “We must tighten our belts.” We did and we prospered for it. Perhaps we could learn from that little bit of history. BOB JANSSEN, GOLD COAST