Costello Dupes Us Again

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: democracy doesn’t work. In a true democracy, the combined will of the majority would ensure that many of our national efforts were directed to a common good. Sounds a little like Communism in some ways, which maybe explains why the West has feared it for so long – it sounds so foreign. The state of democracy here and in most other proponents is the same: a powerful few hold most of the money and most of the power – and use both primarily to perpetuate said money and power.

Bear with me here; this isn’t going to be a new communist manifesto. Following last night’s transparently short-sighted budget though, I’m wondering how much worse that would really be. In this instance the purse strings, on what is a staggeringly large purse, were only slightly parted – wide enough to offer a range of sweeteners to a soon-to-vote public. In short, tax cuts, one-off payments (read bribes) and half-measures were the order of the day, with an emphasis on maintaining low inflation, and of course: the fat surplus. In a widely choreographed move, Howard’s Liberals chose to preserve much of their (and by their, I mean our) $15 billion surplus, while spending just enough to try and bolster their poll numbers.

I’m not surprised – the budget is exactly as I thought it’d be. But I’m enraged. I’ve had enough of the way our politics is played and am crying out for a change. In my view, its nothing short of a disaster that Costello has smugly chosen to promise over $30 billion in tax cuts – amounting to about $14 a week, unless you earn over $180,000 or under $20,000 – and waste another $4 billion in ‘one off payments’ to swing voters like the elderly, veterans and carers. It was insane when they pulled a stunt like this last year, and it’s insane now. The biggest loser again was the public school system, whose $3 billion short-fall was again ignored – they were placated instead with a summer school program for teachers. Not surprisingly, this buck (like the hospital system) was passed to the Labor states.

The biggest tragedy is that the average punter probably content this morning with their extra $14 a week, while legions of the elderly celebrate their one-off $500 windfall – with everyone oblivious to the fact that they’ve been duped. For the umpteenth year in a row, a small cash sweetener has distracted the media and the electorate from Howard’s faltering government. The Libs poll numbers will no doubt improve and most likely, this stunt – and those upcoming could get them over the line again.

It’s sad really. The cycle has been set up and is now self-perpetuating. You cut taxes, we’ll re-elect you. We love one-off payments, and meagre increases. We fear high interest rates (especially those that are Labor’s fault), and yearn for economic growth. The Libs know the formula and have repeated it with staggering success. But do me a favour between now and election day: imagine an alternative. A government who tax you reasonably and diligently invest in education, health care, transport and other infrastructure. Higher education is affordable, if not free – you can have a complex operation like a heart bypass, without taking out a second mortgage, and your 10 year old knows how to read. The majority of us can agree that these are our true wants, and very few of us would list ‘fat surplus’ or ‘target inflation’ among our priorities.

I respect sensible economic management, but it’s about time the system started to work as it was intended: for the good of the majority.