Well since we all blabber I thought I would give my view on key policy battlegrounds and decide on whether a core policy or not and then give a score card who I think is in front. Add to the list anyone interested.
Core policies:
IMO personalities mean nothing with the electorate at a time they have seen i.) stagnant wages, ii.) increased cost of living, iii.) housing become less affordable, whilst iv.) business profits have gone through the roof and v.) all those profits heading offshore at little extra benefit to workers through wages growth whilst then vi.) seeing a government out of touch yabbering the diatribe of laffer whilst the budget goes further into deficit. This just shows how out of touch many in the LNP have become with the electorate.
Taking the above core policies to the electorate are:
1. Housing affordability and CGT discount. The ALP clearly in front here IMO.
To get some policy nouse back,for example a limit NG to say $40,000 regardless of how many homes anyone owns (i.e. that protects your mum and dad investors with one home) is not a bad differential policy basis to the ALP and remove the CGT discount on investment property,if the LNP had some balls, but maintain it on productive investments (and that would be easy to sell because you never lose all your money on an investment property but can lose the lot on a venture capital investment and furthermore most people don't sell their investment properties by teh way as they hoard them in trusts etc). You need venture capital to take risks in Oz and that is why targeting CGT discount to productive sectors is not a bad choice but removing it on unproductive investments. Banning foreigners outright from purchasing property would also be a vote winner IMO as well, but I doubt anyone has the balls to do that. So ALP in front here policy wise if you can call it that.
2. Cost of living: Wages have been stagnant for so long this is an area that both parties have an opportunity to win over the electorate. The Coalition has started on the wrong footing in this area though on wages policy but bringing down electricity prices might help. SM stated some rubbish on industrial relations which is code for we want to pay you even less despite wages been stagnant all these years, which again is another cross for the LNP in swinging voter eyes). A real vote winning policy ground, left largely untouched.
3. Who are the middle class: The ALP consider anyone above $85,000 rich, which is the average wage in Australia (i.e. just look at their opposition to tax cuts) as been rich. If you are on $100,000 to $150,000 these days you are not rich given where they average wage is meaning you are not even earning 100% more than the average wage on that salary - you are simply just ahead but even that salary doesn't go to far if you have a couple of kids and a mortgage in Melbourne or Sydney. This is you forgotten middle class that the LNP need to get back and one way to get them back is to show just how out of touch the ALP is in its class warfare, with the ALP seeking to tax the crap out of this income bracket in its pursuit of standard poverty for everyone else (i.e. yes I am been extreme but you get the drift that the ALP hasn't understood where the rich really start today because earning just above the average wage doesn't make you rich but not rewarding them makes them lose incentive to work towards a better Australia). The LNP need to win these people back.
Nice to have
4. Company or personal tax cuts: Personal tax cuts are the key not company tax cuts. The laffer curve isn't working and refer to point 1 and 2 above in how to get more money into people's pockets. How do you increase someone's disposable income at a time they are essenytially dipping into savings a key.
5. Swinging voters are likely to see withdraw from Paris a negative. The rusted hard right, even if they vote Bernardi or One Nation in te lower house are likely to preference the LNP before the ALP. ALP in front there
6. Immigration cuts: Populist but will help the LNP but at the moment immigration and reducing savings is what is ticking over a sick economy.
The latest GDP numbers are a disaster because whilst positive they actually mask the fact that GDP growth in Oz is been sustained by people dipping into their savings and immigration. People are dipping into their savings to make ends meet. The household savings ratio has now hit a 10 year low, and has significantly declined under a LNP government and it is now close to 0%, meaning it won't be long before people stop spending further (hence the sick retail sector we have in Oz). See the reason why the LNP are a high immigration government - you see a lot of refugees LOL fly into Australia and are called poms and NZ and South Africans don't leave, meaning they don't come by boat - and business loves immigration because between that and dwindling done your savings that is the only way the economy is growing after 15 years of rubbish full laisser faire economics been applied to it which has resulted in full time employment been replaced by part time and casual employment, job uncertainty increasing, whilst cost of living has skyrocketted particularly under this LNP government since 2013 (particularly in teh area of housing affordability)
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/bu...s-ratio-hits-10-year-low-20180905-p501vd.htm
7. Infrastructure provision: Both parties are hopeless here and any visionary policy will help them out.
8. Medicare: LNP needs to address the negative issue, but having fools in the party such as TA with their right wing agendas, whether true or not true, in voters eyes reinforces a view Medicare could be privatised. A negative, not helped by SM's brain fart on industrial relation which some are viewing as wage cuts and more profit to business.
9. Budget deficit -has become a disaster under the LNP and not sure how they will address it. The laffer curve has been a failure so who is going to do the medicine of some spending cuts and tax rises/reduce concessions without losing an election. ALP now in front there by saying Coalition is wors eat budget management than ALP.
Finally, there isn't a lot of difference between the LNP and ALP but the LNP are a basket case so they have a chance to regain the policy ground if the LNP can control the lunatics in the party. I am not sure they can and that is why the ALP will win, despite essentially a lack of policy. At the end of the day the above just shows to me that Government's lose elections, rather than the Opposition winning it.
Add what you want. Agree and disagree with the above, but lets see where this thread goes and see if anyone has common ground.
