Abbott's first 100 days

Abbott's first 100 days as the Prime Minister of Australia have been interesting to say the least.

The left wing Guardian newspaper teamed up with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to release sensitive security information regarding spying allegations. It is expected the Guardian will be releasing further information as the Abbott government settles into office, the Guardian could have released the information when it was first obtained in May. But why would a left wing socialist newspaper embarrass a Labor government when it was apparent it would lose office shortly? I am more than just a little suspicious of their motives. All in all, the government handled its first major hurdle well, there will be more challenges to navigate.

Holden announced it would cease manufacturing in Australia, as expected, Bill Shorten claimed the iconic Australian manufacturer (owned by the Americans) was lost on his watch dutifully forgetting this government was less than 100 days old and the policies of the previous government (of the last 6 years) had no bearing on the decision whatsoever - ouch.

 

Lets not forget both Ford and Mitsubishi had announced closure of their manufacturing facilities during the Labor government. Abbott moved quickly to abolish the fringe benefits tax debacle of the Labor government for business use of vehicles, but in all fairness to the previous Labor government, it was not one single action that brought Holden undone. In soccer - they call it an own goal, that is exactly what Bill Shorten did. Now Toyota is the only manufacturer in Australia, the plan to reskill South Australian workers from car building to defense projects such as the air warfare destroyers is warranted. Can't really see Toyota staying much past five years as the infrastructure for other vehicle manufacturers will soon shut.

Likewise, the Australian taxpayer shouldn't subsidise the car manufacturing industry if it is unable to survive on its own merits. Any fool sprouting the line that the Liberal government looks after its mates in big business had better look hard at themselves, the Labor government poured billions into the highly unionised and inefficient auto industry for no net return.

The Gonski funding model was a disaster for the Abbott government, they should have been more pro-active in this one - another own goal to Abbott. There is some interesting literature on schooling success from Finland, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and Switzerland - all advanced economies not necessarily spending huge amounts but instead concentrating on quality. Funds have also been diverted from higher education and vocational education - this has all the makings of a disaster.

Asylum seeker boat traffic is significantly reduced, not withstanding Indonesia withdrawing cooperation over the spying saga. Carbon tax scrapping is held up in the senate - that was always going to be the case. Same too with the mining tax - an inept opposition not wanting to admit their failures. The commission of audit to identify waste was an excellent plan, with so much wasted over the past six years - we need to be smarter how we spent sparse funds.

The media policy was warranted to start, after six years of daily press releases amounting to nothing, the public had grown tired of white noise - time to start building a narrative in the new year. 2014 is the time to get spending under control, the budget needs to be brought back into surplus and I hope Abbott and Hockey have the political will to make this happen.