FED:Editorials Thursday Dec 1, 2011

AAP General News (Australia)
12-01-2011
FED:Editorials Thursday Dec 1, 2011

SYDNEY, Dec 1 AAP - Treasurer Wayne Swan's paper-thin surplus promise of $1.5 billion
in 2012-13 is a triumph of politics over policy, The Australian says on Thursday.

The paper's editorial says the Treasurer's fiscal strategy relies more on a wish and
a prayer rather than the tools of sound fiscal management and a realistic assessment of
the global economy.

"The Australian people are expected to believe that a buffer of only $1.5 billion between
surplus and deficit will be sufficient, when the deficit has already grown by $14.5 billion
this year, from $22.6 billion to $37.1 billion," it says.

"The slightest economic hiccup - such as a fall in the Australian dollar, a protracted
crisis in the eurozone or a downturn in China - and the thin surplus vanishes."

The editorial says structural budget reform is a critical priority given heightened
economic uncertainty coupled with the impending carbon and mining taxes.

"Governments will be judged on their commitments, of course, but above all on their
economic management. It is why reforming treasurers of the past have always known that
good policy is always good politics, and not the other way round."

The Sydney Morning Herald says Australia's spending cuts of just $7 billion over four
years is little more than a budget trim and could all be blown into irrelevance by international
developments.

The paper says the federal government's commitment is a purely political promise and
should be abandoned should it become clear that developments in Europe or a slowing in
the Chinese economy will negatively affect Australian growth.

"(The government) must allow the budget's automatic stabilisers - the tendency for
revenues to fall during a downturn and expenses to rise - to work uninhibited.

"If the outlook is bad enough, the government should also consider replacing retreating
private demand with public demand via new stimulus measures.

"Either way, one would hope the government is preparing itself for all potential scenarios,
including the worst case of a sudden collapse in the euro."

Melbourne's Herald Sun says federal politicians are in line for a big pay rise but
they should set an example in these difficult economic times and say no.

The paper says the pay rise, which includes $90,000 more for Prime Minister Julia Gillard
and an extra $70,000 for new Speaker Peter Slipper, is not fair.

"Australian families are being asked to tighten their belts as politicians prepare
to enjoy huge salary increases," the editorial says.

"The government must be red-faced, but like most pollies will hide behind the report
of the Remuneration Tribunal."

The paper suggests that Australia's soldiers in the front line should be getting more
in their pocket rather than the politicians in Canberra.

Sydney's Daily Telegraph says the federal government has become more concerned about
media attitudes as it has become less popular with voters.

The paper says a wide-ranging media inquiry is the result of the government trying
to even the score with its perceived opponents.

"Earlier this year privacy minister Brendan O'Connor called for public submissions
into making Australia's privacy laws more punitive and limiting," the editorial says.

"If Australia was indeed suffering a privacy crisis we should have expected thousands
of submissions with claim after claim of brutal media abuse of helpless citizens.

"Instead, the government has received just 70. (On Wednesday) nine were released, including
a puzzling document from a man who believes celebrities are being tracked by satellite.

"It's no surprise that the government should treat this claim seriously. After all,
in the government's current mood, such a strange view probably seems completely rational."

The Age says a regional approach to resettlement is the surest, fairest and safest
way to manage a refugee flow that defies unilateral solutions.

The paper says there are far more refugees who have arrived here by plane than the
ones who come in leaky boats.

The paper says Australia's illegal immigrants are not the 3800 boat arrivals in detention
but the 60,000 people living without valid visas.

It said the freed detainees undergo more stringent checks than most visa overstayers
and asylum seekers who arrive by air.

"The latter groups have weaker claims, if any, to settle here than do boat arrivals,
most of whom are genuine refugees," said the paper's editorial.

It said the flood of 13,000 or more boat arrivals in a decade was a trickle compared
to the three to four times as many asylum seekers who fly in.

"The point is not that they present any great border security threat," The Age said.

"Instead, their largely unremarked presence shows how little impact the release of
boat arrivals will have."

Brisbane's Courier Mail says politicians should pause to think about the disrespectful
way many have treated the institution of parliament this year.

The paper highlighted Tuesday's events in state parliament which saw not one Liberal
National Party (LNP) MP in the House while the Queensland government passed three laws.

"The 31 opposition seats in parliament sat empty for at least 15 minutes, something
that has happened only once before in the past 20 years.

"Premier Anna Bligh seized the opportunity not only to pass the three laws in less
than 10 minutes, but also to accuse the LNP of one of the most `embarrassing parliamentary
performances' in Westminster history.

"The (Queensland) government, however, has little right to claim the moral high ground.

Earlier this year it colluded with the LNP to emasculate the power and independence of
the Speaker in his role as the administrator of parliamentary resources.

"Politicians of all stripes need to recover their respect for the institution of parliament
by, at very least, treating Question Time seriously. Until they do they can expect little
respect from voters."

AAP jxt/jel

KEYWORD: EDITORIALS

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