Looks like he has finally got his feet under the table.
Well
that was disappointing for me personally but perhaps Abbott is not such a bad
thing.
Things have been going back and
forth in the ALP camp for some time, although admittedly I do like the policy
perhaps economically speaking it’s a good thing Ruddy is out.
First off the bat will be the removal of Carbon Tax laws
in the first sitting of the new house this October.
In an election debate where
the real question on climate policy – how to reach the targets guided by the
science (i.e. 25 per cent or more) – has never been raised by the mainstream
parties, Abbott revealed that he was quite prepared not to even make it to
first base/believe in Science. If the budgeted $3.2 billion proved to be
insufficient to reach the 5% reduction target – as Treasury and private
analysis conclude unanimously – he would not spend another dollar to ensure
that it does.
Putting aside Australia’s record high temperatures
over the last 12 months, and just three weeks ahead of the IPCC report, the
fact that the ALP couldn’t agree on the tax has left us in the same situation
we are in now with the non-believer Abbott. Perhaps once he has brought the
house together he can return some confidence to the market.
On that note, if he can bring some order to things his side
the hung senate should hopefully be a bit easier to navigate. The persuasion may be in his favour so should
be able to deals but when there are deals to be made in the senate there is a
price to pay. As the numbers stand, eight minor party senators from separate
groups, some of them virtually unknown entities with no track record and no
known policies, will be given the power to decide whether or not each
government bill should be passed.
We owe this miracle to the fact that roughly 25% of the
votes on Saturday went to the downright odd and obscure parties. It’s almost as
if the ‘people’ couldn’t care less, or realise that we are between a rock and a
hard place with these two. A gloating winning speech followed by a gloating
outgoing speech on the night told a different story. Even if this was a time
when you 'know you have given it your all', and time for the old guy to step
down we could have had more positive change then this. As the ALP seeks to maintain
as a fighting force for the future I hope for all of us we are directed towards
a more definite and confident market in the interim.
