NWhat a clever takedown of our four political parties by Peter Hartcher (“Four horsemen of the apocalypse are coming, one for each party”, October 31).
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horsemen → come → party
Their respective problems ring true.
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problems → ring → ?
No such pithy criticism of the independents, however, who hold an advantage over the parties in that their political platforms can be flexible enough to adapt to changing political, economic environmental and cultural issues, without the necessity to adhere to rigid party dogma.
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platforms → hold → dogma
If the major parties continue on their present paths and become increasingly unpopular with voters, it will be no surprise to find more and more independent members elected to parliament.
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members → continue → parliament
Will this mean Australia may one day be governed by the “sensible middle”?
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Australia → mean → middle
How would that work in practice?
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that → work → practice
Instead of shooting the messenger, the prime minister should listen.
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minister → shoot → messenger
Last week, the RBA governor again said that after 13 rate rises under his government, and another likely next week, the RBA’s focus remains taking the heat out of aggregate demand.
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focus → say → demand
So, as Hartcher says, instead of taking a swipe at the RBA and its use of the “blunt instrument” of interest rates, the PM could use the tools at his disposal, cutting spending or raising taxes.
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PM → say → taxes
He may want to look at AUKUS, overseen by his political ally Richard Marles.
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He → want → ally
Last week the PM granted him another adviser, bringing his total to 20.
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PM → grant → 20
Mike Kenneally, Manly
Hartcher’s colourful take on the current state of the major political parties to contest the next election shows a measure of justified exasperation.
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take → contest → exasperation
I cannot disagree with him, so I offer the following prediction: come the election, if Labor and the Greens don’t secure 76 lower house seats, which I believe they won’t, the Coalition and One Nation will, Heaven forbid, unite to form government, despite anything they currently say against that.
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they → disagree → that
What shape that government would take is anybody’s guess.
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take → take → shape
The only other possibility I can see that could save Labor is a “surge” in the number of Labor-friendly independents.
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that → see → independents
In his perceptive survey of what faces the parties, Hartcher asks, in effect, whether Labor has the guts to tackle inflation by cutting expenditure and raising taxes.
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Labor → face → taxes
I believe it does.
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it → believe → ?
It has shown considerable courage in tackling negative gearing and capital gains and trusts concessions.
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It → show → concessions
In the field of human rights, it could enhance its reputation by passing the draft Human Rights Act that has been awaiting consideration for many months.
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that → enhance → months
The Nationals’ tail has always wagged the Coalition dog because they have been essential to allow the Libs a parliamentary majority, and would brag that after each election they usually retained all or most of their seats.
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they → wag → seats
I suspect this will change dramatically for them at the next election.
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this → suspect → election
Pauline Hanson and Co will struggle to win many city seats; they may gain a few on suburban fringes; but they will surely decimate the Nats in rural seats, where One Nation often garnered 70 per cent of rural primary votes.
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Nation → struggle → votes
Whatever else happens at the next federal election, I’m sure the Horse of Death has his eyes on the Nats.
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Horse → happen → Nats
Ian Morris, Strathfield
I was amazed when Greens leader David Shoebridge failed to address any environmental policy in his recent National Press Club speech.
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Shoebridge → fail → speech
Thank you to the only journalist who seemed to notice – Peter Hartcher.
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who → thank → journalist
It’s time for Bob Brown to stage an intervention or for a name change, at the very least.
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Brown → ’ → least
Lorraine Hickey, Green Point
PM shifts the blame
The Reserve Bank (“PM attacks RBA over rate rises”, October 31) does not create the problems it sees in the economy – it responds by the only means available to it by attempting to take out heat with higher interest rates.
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it → shift → rates
Thus, the weasel words from the prime minister, trying to shift blame by the pejorative “blunt instrument” phrase, only serve to underline the abject inability of this crew of socialists to manage the situation by doing what responsible governments do, that is, stop feeding more heat by reducing government expenditure and wearing some of the damage themselves.
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governments → try → damage
But I won’t hang around waiting – it’s much easier for them to shift the blame.
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them → hang → blame
reflect on the prime minister’s concern that rate hikes are a blunt instrument.
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hikes → reflect → concern
Our prime minister cites the Iran war, global social instability and a range of other externalities for our cost of living pressures.
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minister → cite → pressures
He likens it to wartime politics.
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He → liken → politics
He could increase the GST or fully reform our tax system.
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He → increase → system
He could boost productivity with a considered focus on infrastructure, not a grants program focused on mates.
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He → boost → mates
He has survived because the opposition has shattered and now splintered.
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opposition → survive → ?
No prime minister before him had that given to him, and he still misses the point that he needs to have a vision beyond the next election and convince us it’s worth the pain to realise it.
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it → give → it
Brian Barrett, Padstow
The RBA seems to have a highly elevated reckoning of its clout.
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RBA → seem → clout
Suppose it increases the cash rate by one quarter of a percentage point and the mortgage rate goes up from 6 per cent to 6.25 per cent.
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rate → suppose → cent
For those with floating rate loans, such a move would increase repayments (principal plus interest) by less than 1 per cent for five-year maturities to a little over 2.5 per cent for loans with 30 years to run.
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move → float → years
The extra impost on borrowers would be very small given that a 1per cent cut in national expenditure would be more than $20 billion.
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cut → give → expenditure
…and 46 more, not listed.
The Aporia
