While politicians of both sides carry on day to day nothing is being done to address the impending disaster of a slowing economy.
While the trade unions continue to stifle jobs and growth the ALP have nothing to offer to change the shrinking jobs market.
The LNP blaming weather and China for our woes...Bowen and Shorten blasting the Government and taking no blame themselves...it is always some one else's fault.
The opposition are just opposing, they bring absolutely nothing to the table to assist, nothing at all. They don't even have a policy to bless themselves with!
The LNP are stuck in a time warp, the state Governments are all over themselves doing nothing.
To me it seems all energy now goes into who is getting elected and when...how popular he is or she is, or which Government is getting the most votes in the Polls.
Who gives a Damn honestly! Nobody is looking after the country and economy now, it is a rudderless ship heading for the rocks which are plainly in view.
Australia’s economy has slowed to a crawl, prompting fears we may be slipping into a recession
Treasurer Joe Hockey insists the latest growth figures of 0.2 per cent are in line with budget forecasts.
Weak economic growth has prompted fears of a recession. Picture: AAP
Source: AAP
WITH slower economic growth than Greece, the mining boom a distant memory and living standards slipping, it has to be asked: is Australia heading for recession?
The Federal Treasury’s latest accounts reveal the economy grew by a feeble 0.2 per cent in the June quarter, around half the rate economists were expecting.
It’s the weakest growth since 2013, and slower than Britain, Greece, the United States or the European Union — so much for the lucky country.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott went into damage control this morning, telling 2GB Radio that being open for business was “in the DNA” of his government, while conceding: “I’m not saying for a second that things are perfect.”
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told ABC radio the government’s plan for stronger growth and jobs was on track, playing down the figures.
Mr Cormann blamed a decline in exports, linked with the closures of coal ports due to bad weather in April.
“We are very optimistic about the outlook moving forward,” Mr Cormann said.
But Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said the government was “in a parallel universe” if it thought everything was OK.
“The treasurer’s actually got to have a dose of reality,” Mr Bowen told ABC radio, saying that just talking about jobs and growth didn’t deliver them.
‘Australia is still open for business.’ Picture: Ray Strange
Source: News Corp Australia
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten slammed the Abbott Government’s economic stewardship, saying: “This explains why we have the highest number of unemployed people in Australia in 20 years, 800,000 people.”
Poor productivity, low wages, falling profits and the largest fall in trade in 50 years meant that vast majority of our economy did not grow at all in the three months to June.
The only reason GDP was higher than zero was that the Government splashed out on defence spending, tipping in an extra 41 per cent for equipment at the end of the financial year.
Terms of trade — which measures export prices against import prices — fell 10.6 per cent over the last financial year, as China’s demand for our minerals fell.
Singapore-based global hedge fund executive David Dredge has warned of a repeat GFC, telling Fairfax Media that the recent share market convulsions are “just the beginning”.
“August will go down in the record books, much like July 2007 or July 1997, as the beginning of the coming contractionary cycle,” Mr Dredge, co-chief investment officer of Fortress Convex Asia Fund, said.
He said expanding credit and our dependence on China put Australia vulnerable to global shocks.
China’s slowing economy has hit mineral exports. Picture: Bloomberg
Source: Supplied
Annual growth is now heading for a meagre two per cent, well below the long-term average of three to 3.25 per cent.
Real net disposable income slid 1.2 per cent in the biggest drop in standards of living since the global financial crisis.
The Australian dollar has dipped below US 70 cents for the first time in six years, and is tipped to be heading towards US 60 cents.
The situation can’t even be blamed on China’s stock market plunge, as the figures were recorded before our biggest trading partner’s recent woes.
Treasurer Joe Hockey insisted that Australia was still doing better than other commodity-based countries.
“Despite having the biggest fall in our terms of trade in 50 years ... the diversity and flexibility of the modern Australian economy is continuing to get us through the recent massive falls in commodity prices,” Mr Hockey said.
Canada had not been so lucky, overnight reporting it had officially fallen into recession, while New Zealand and Brazil were facing headwinds, he said.
“I tell you what, the Australian economy is showing a deep resilience that people in Canada and elsewhere would die for,” Mr Hockey said.
