What is the cost of Rudd and Gillards shameless self promotion over new school sheds and fences;

All up, the Government expects to supply 9,285 school plaques at $200 a pop. There will also be 6,000 roadside signs at $295 each. The total cost is $3.8 million.

Now there is a value spend.

Meet George Newhouse, he is the lawyer who is going to bleed the government as he "protects" the rights of Aboriginal people.

Indeed as Jenny Maklin is about to forcibly resume land from the recalcitrant Tangentyere Council who rejected a $100 million Government bid to lease camps for 40 years in exchange for new infrastructure development.

Thats right the council is standing in the way of the Governments goal to build new infrastructure on the land, hopefully replacing the 188 houses and 72 tin humpies that passes as accommodation for some 3000 people.

But George smells blood, he says the forced resumption of leases would go against the Government's commitments to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

In fact, Mr Newhouse has warned forced acquisition will have a massive impact on the Budget;

"This action is going to cost the Government hundreds of millions of dollars.

"The Government's been talking about paying rent to Indigenous land owners or lease owners, but since the Warrigal case, the Government's going to be required to pay just terms compensation.

"And that's more than just rent and it's more than just the unimproved land value."

Lindsay Tanner knows the truth, and lets it slip among the usual spin in a 7.30 report interview;

"Forecasting is difficult and it's particularly difficult at the moment and there's always going to be a margin for error," he said.

The truth is that treasury forecast figures are indeed crazily optimistic and if they are doing their job we will see them revised within 6 months.

But I fear that with Henry Labor love we wont see any shift in thinking until after the next federal election. Whenever that is?

Another Rudd pre-election promise to fix something has turned to dust;

HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon has effectively ruled out the Government's election threat to take over the state hospital systems to rectify poor performances.

Kevin Rudd warned before the 2007 election that if the Commonwealth and states had not begun putting in place a health reform plan by mid-2009, a Labor government would propose that the Commonwealth assume full funding responsibility for public hospitals.

but at least the blame game has stopped, what a relief;

While there were some positive signs, Ms Roxon said it did not mean that all parts of the public system were fixed.

The Government would examine the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission's recommendations due at the end of June, before deciding on the plan ahead.

The Government had always made it clear its preference was to work with the states rather than have a takeover, Ms Roxon said.

Same crap State Labor Health service, only now there is no federal government to take them to task.

Only people as thick as the left could not see the irony of Rudd making a concerted media effort to not appear like a spin merchant;

THE Federal Government has issued a list of "wartime-like" infrastructure projects now under way as the hard hat- and fluoro-wearing Prime Minister comes under fire for being more about spin than substance.

Parliament resumes today, with Kevin Rudd likely to face an Opposition tirade over his reluctance to spell out the $300 billion public debt figure and his habitual donning of labourer's gear for the cameras last week.

With Mr Rudd's rating in the polls taking a knock last week and the Government facing increasing criticism over debt and deficit, the Government yesterday sought to show it was for real, issuing a five-page list of infrastructure works already in train.

The document details where the first sods have been turned, railway track laid and houses built, as part of the third phase of the Government's stimulus strategy, the $22 billion infrastructure plan.

Senator Mark Arbib, Labor's fix-it man and parliamentary secretary for government service delivery, who released the list, declared that state governments were "pulling out all stops and allocating resources in a wartime-like effort to get stimulus projects up and running".

Hmmm... state Labor Governments, that reassuring, because they are renowned for project delivery on-time, on-budget... Ghaacckkk... I nearly choked on those words.

Tony Abbott can see the writing on the wall, and it spells disaster for the safety and development of Aboriginal communities of the NT;

BARRIE CASSIDY: The Government wants to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act clearly. Now once they do that, it's true isn't it that they will have to allow people to opt out of the compulsory income management scheme, otherwise it would contravene the act? That's the scheme that quarantines part of their welfare for essentials.

TONY ABBOTT: Well certainly they'll have human rights lawyers crawling all over the intervention and I don't think that's going to be very productive for anyone except the human rights lawyers.

I fear Barrie that having seen the introduction of Whitlamism in economic policy, we're now going to see the introduction of Whitlamism in Indigenous policy and that's the last thing that we need.

I fear that the left of the Labor Party has always hated the intervention, only ever supported it through gritted teeth and now we're going to see a concerted attempt to roll it back. 

Of course the introduction of "Human Rights" will mean the reestablishment of those factors that have led to the denigration of Aboriginal society over the years, Alcohol and Porn.  

So it seems that none of us workers are really not that bad off. The unions have raised concerns that its members are going to be badly affected by the governments Share scheme tax;

Assistant Treasurer Chris Bowen said yesterday the Government had listened to concerns that the income cap for access to the $1000 tax exemption was too low.

Unions warned shares were often part of a remuneration package for workers and if they were penalised under the system then there would be a call for greater wages – at a time when the Federal Government has called for wage restraint.

"Given the community concerns with the proposed changes and the possible unintended adverse impacts on employee share scheme arrangements for ordinary employees, the Government will be fast-tracking the consultation process," Mr Bowen said.

Bowen of course meant to say "Opps... we didn't realise that so many of our voters were so well off, damn those bastered bosses and their incentive schemes. How dare they share the wealth... Thats our job!!".

Like it or not.. this government has a strong word association with the term "Unintended", and its just getting stronger with every new policy.

Finally the media seems to be waking up to Rudd and his endless spin.

Paul kelly is certanly changing his tune;

Transcript from the Insiders 10/12/2006

BARRIE CASSIDY: What sort of a leader do you think he'll make?

PAUL KELLY: Personal qualities kick in at this point, Barrie. I think Kevin Rudd is measured, methodical, and he does have a commitment to policy development. It's most interesting this week that there were no fireworks, there were no extravagances, and I think Kevin Rudd sees himself as a leader for the long haul. If one looks at his performance over a period of years as shadow foreign minister, one sees that he operates with tenacity. He's got a great sense of discipline, very high energy levels, and a deep commitment as a media operative. In fact, those qualities are all very similar to John Howard, and I think Rudd and Howard have a lot of overlap when it comes to their political style and qualities.

Rudd, I think, has got a reasonable chance of projecting Labor as a competent party on the economy and national security, and that's where it counts. He's an economic conservative. He's very pro-US and he has got a deep understanding of Asia. He is also a conservative and I think Rudd is comfortable and relaxed at making a pitch to conservatives. I think he will challenge Howard here front on, in terms of pitching to family values, to conservative and to Christian values. That, I think, will make him a most interesting Labor leader, and different from previous Labor leaders.

But that was before he really got to know Rudd and experiance him in government, what does Kelly think now?

 Transcript from the Insiders 24/05/2009

BARRIE CASSIDY: Now Paul, you wrote on spin as I mentioned earlier in the inquiry. And clearly you think it's reached a certain level?

PAUL KELLY: Well obviously it has Barrie. I mean if you look at the Rudd Government its got two defining features. It's a policy wonk Government and it's a political spin Government. And there's always a degree of tension between the two.

I think what happened this week was that the political spin became far too pronounced. The main example of this was clearly the Prime Minister's interview on Lateline when he was too evasive and was reluctant to put numbers on the debt and deficit figures. This looked childish; it looked demeaning; it looked as though he had something to hide. It was very much counterproductive.

And I think, you know, you can't have a serious debate about debt and deficits unless you talk about the numbers. Quite elementary I would have thought.

I think modern Labor needs to have a think about this because modern Labor's political management techniques came from state Labor governments. The requirements of a national government are different.

And I think one of the dangers here that Kevin Rudd needs to be careful of is that his Government is not branded and seen to be branded by the public as a political spin Government. That's not what Rudd wants and frankly I think he's better than that.

Bad new for you Paul, Rudds not better than that... not by a long shot.

The Rudd governments cash splash not only failed to deliver any economic stimulus as over 80% of the money handed out was stashed by recipients, but it seems that the low proportion of money actually spent was very detrimental to society at large;

The Reverend Tim Costello said poker machine venues had been "advertising furiously" while the stimulus payments were flowing. "What this has stimulated is more marriage breakdowns and lost businesses and crime committed, because when (poker machine) income jumps as dramatically as this, addiction jumps, and that just tears communities apart."

He said the stimulus spending on pokies was a "sad, missed opportunity to create jobs".

More unintended consciouses from the bumbling Rudd Government.

Yet another boat load of Passengers is escorted to Christmas Island for processing.

The Navy has intercepted another boatload of asylum seekers near Ashmore Island off the north-west coast of Australia.

Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus says it is believed there are 73 passengers and four crew on board.

Notice the official numbers being pushed down by the use of the "Crew" classification... Can this government help but run some line of spin?

Just Say it Rudd!!... Say; "I put Australia in 300 Billion Dollars worth of debt"!!!;

TONY JONES: OK. Let’s move on. What’s the peak figure of the projected public debt in terms of tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming years? What’s the peak figure?

KEVIN RUDD: Well, these are clearly outlined in the Budget papers and they’re usually expressed in terms of a percentage of GDP. We peak, in around about 2013, at about 13.8 per cent of GDP.

TONY JONES: How much of that is in tens of billions or hundreds of billions of dollars; how much is that?

KEVIN RUDD: Well, let me step back in terms of the elements of this. First of all, 70 per cent of our overall position here is determined by a $214-billion collapse in tax revenue. That’s one slice of it.

TONY JONES: OK. I understand - we understand that. So what is the figure of peak debt in hundreds of billions of dollars? What is the actual figure?

KEVIN RUDD: Well, Tony, I’m about to come to that when I go to constituent parts. About $214-billion comes from a collapse in tax revenue and that is happening right across all the advanced economies across the world. That’s about two thirds of it. Then you go to the remaining third of it, which is made up of what we’re investing in infrastructure and other forms of temporary stimulus. And of that remaining one third of our total borrowings, the largest proportion is made up through infrastructure investment and the smallest proportion is made up through other forms of temporary stimulus. Put that altogether…

TONY JONES: But all I’m asking for is one figure.

KEVIN RUDD: Well, I’m about to come to that, Tony. I’m taking you to the constituent parts. Put all that together and you’ll see clearly outlined in the Budge papers, that we’re aiming to a gross figure of 13.8, which comes out at about $300-billio). The Liberals have said about $275-billion and then they’ve failed to nominate or to support $22-billion of savings in the Budget, which makes our positions virtually identical. That’s the point I was making.

TONY JONES: That figure is $300-billion, is that right?

KEVIN RUDD: As I said before, 13.8 per cent of GDP as described accurately in the Budget papers. There’s nothing new about that.

TONY JONES: Is there a political spin rule which says the Prime Minister must not say that figure? Because it seems very hard to get you to say $300-billion.

KEVIN RUDD: Well, Tony, there seems to be a political spin rule on your part to go back to this time and time again. The Treasurer made this absolutely plain in the Budget papers. I said before the figure was 300 as the Liberals’ was 275

Hmmmm.. unless there was to be an early election this tender seems a bit soon to be required;

ATM ID: AEC RFT 09 009
ATM Title: For the provision of the Construction and Dismantling of the Tally Board and Ancillary Structures within the National Tally Room (NTR) for the 2010 Federal Election.
Category: Building and Construction and Maintenance Services

https://www.tenders.gov.au/?event=public.atm.show&ATMUUID=42D47D04-E896-CE7E-1EE250509EF57093

From afar it looks like madness, from the Wall Street journal;

Australia entered the global financial crisis with one of the soundest fiscal positions among developed nations. Now, thanks to the Labor government of Kevin Rudd, that's no longer the case.

Treasurer Wayne Swan announced Tuesday a 32.1 billion Australian dollar ($24.3 billion) fiscal deficit this year and forecast that it would rise to A$57.6 billion in 2009-10 -- the largest in the country's history. Canberra plans to borrow money to fund the shortfall. Outstanding debt will rise to A$300.8 billion over the next four years from around A$111.9 billion.

This is an extraordinary fiscal turnaround from only a year ago, when Australia turned in a budget surplus of A$19.7 billion. The country entered the global economic downturn with historically low unemployment, muted inflation and very little debt, thanks to an uplift from strong global growth -- especially from China -- and prudent fiscal management by the former Liberal government and its treasurer, Peter Costello

This Keynesian revival comes at a particularly bad time, given that tax revenues are falling as the economy slows, a normal feature of economic downturns. Tuesday's budget wrote down A$23 billion in projected tax revenues this year, the biggest downward revision since the 1930-31 fiscal year. Still, without all that spending, Canberra would have announced a small budget surplus Tuesday.

yet so many of our own Media still pick at the edges and fear to call the Rudd government on thier incompitence.

Whats to hide;

The Federal Government is refusing to comply with a Senate order to reveal documents relating to its national broadband plan.

...The Senate has passed a motion calling on the Government to produce documents relating to the tender.

The motion says any debate on the new plan will be suspended until Communications Minister Stephen Conroy complies.

Senator Conroy has refused, saying the material is commercially sensitive and can not be released.

What rubbish. Conroy is just scared of having his incompetence exposed.