Remember the amazing smoke and mirrors wafer thin budget surplus we were promised this year? It was never going to happen and this looks more realistic.
Standard and Poor’s confirms the Government is spending money it no longer has:
One of the world’s major ratings agencies, Standard & Poor’s, believes Australia will record a budget deficit of $20-25 billion this year.
The agency has slashed its earlier estimate of a $1 billion surplus.
S&P’s senior director of sovereign ratings Tan Kim Eng says the cut is mainly due to global economic problems.
“Firstly the export sector is not doing as well as initially expected, commodities exports have not been as strong, on the other hand expenditures are rising,” he said.
A bit charitable to say the surplus was lost due to global economic problems.
They are white boarding the retreat as we speak.
Expect some kind of press release on grand final day
Rousie
19 Sep 12 at 9:13 pm
This will be the excuse Swannie needs to cry “It wasn’t my fault!”
Response – Yes, it was, you fucking dingbat – if you’d been competent enough to bring in the regular surpluses your predecessors did, there wouldn’t be an issue.
perturbed
19 Sep 12 at 9:20 pm
In the coming months we are going to witness some creative accounting from Swanny that would make a mafia run casino blush.
Our defence force will reduced to a guy with a shovel and a loud haler.
Infidel Tiger
19 Sep 12 at 9:27 pm
A minute ago this post was about the budget. Now I’m making weird comments on a Patrick White thread.
Infidel Tiger
19 Sep 12 at 9:39 pm
Unreal. These are the comments on the previous post.
This is the Botanical Gardens.
Rafe
19 Sep 12 at 9:40 pm
How odd. Each time I try to create another post about the Patrick White show the previous one disappears but when I try to edit the White show it has gone and the budget post is still there.
Same thing happened on Saturday.
I will try Patrick White again tomorrow.
Poor Old Rafe
19 Sep 12 at 9:47 pm
Treasury got it wrong? Again?
That’s a surprise.
H B Bear
19 Sep 12 at 10:11 pm
More than a bit, Swan said all this was taken into account. Also several commentators warned that commodity prices could come off. Maybe he was lying and just hoped it wouldn’t happen.
kelly liddle
19 Sep 12 at 10:13 pm
Of course it will be because of the ‘thug’ Abbott and the hate media, and the fiendish capitalists Rheinhart and Forrest, and and..
Because I am an idiot..
Lazlo
19 Sep 12 at 10:21 pm
Swan lying? How dare you. Abusive telephone calls from Tucker coming right up..
Lazlo
19 Sep 12 at 10:23 pm
You’ll know the retreat’s coming when the media shills start framing the ‘projected’ surplus as purely political objective. And Swanny will fall in behind with that ol’ chestnut that the rivers of gold have dried up & it’s not his fault.
And then back to AbbottAbbottAbbott.
Rousie
19 Sep 12 at 10:25 pm
Wayne Swan is an idiot, I cannot add anything else apart from we are fucked.
Zipper
19 Sep 12 at 10:30 pm
I blame Tony Abbott and his relentless negativity and punching the wall 150,000 years ago. The man is just a menace to the civilized world. All that is wrong in the world is his fault!
Johno
19 Sep 12 at 10:36 pm
Oh damn… seems S&P were using the wrong figures.
Cranto
19 Sep 12 at 10:49 pm
Looks like S&P got one of those telephone calls from the PM’s office that normally go to the editor of The Australian.
H B Bear
19 Sep 12 at 10:57 pm
S&P doesn’t seem certain about a surplus though otherwise why say it can be delayed. Maybe we can say they haven’t estimated it in a while.
kelly liddle
19 Sep 12 at 11:01 pm
LOL, thread fail.
m0nty
19 Sep 12 at 11:04 pm
Oh thank goodness! Instead of a massive deficit, it will be a ridiculously thin surplus. A total success on the government’s part!
I can’t see anything going wrong with this!
wreckage
20 Sep 12 at 1:09 am
I stand by my prediction of two days ago that the MYEFO will reveal a deficit of at least $20 billion.
$1.5 billion surplus my arse.
Rabz
20 Sep 12 at 6:35 am
The surplus was fraudulent from the start, even without taking account the off-budget items that are piling up the burden of debt and the almost daily announcement of unafordable schemes. As conditions deteriorate the only question is how large the deficit will be, given the problem of getting a true picture out of the smoke and mirros of the politicized Treasury.
Poor Old Rafe
20 Sep 12 at 7:05 am
it took them this long to figure out the budget will not be in surplus?!?!?!?!
adrian
20 Sep 12 at 9:08 am
Face it Rafe, your thread is full of fail.
m0nty
20 Sep 12 at 10:21 am
WTF monty?
.
20 Sep 12 at 10:29 am
Face it mUttley, you’re going to be wrong yet again.
I have a long memory. You will be namechecked when the MYEFO is released.
Rabz
20 Sep 12 at 10:30 am
Always, always check the leftoids comments when no links are attached.
That was released to the meeja 3 hours ago. How could S&P make such a dimwitted error? Their first prognosis is closer to reality.
Gab
20 Sep 12 at 10:34 am
I was quoting from Cranto’s link upthread.
m0nty
20 Sep 12 at 11:21 am
Swan may slash and burn expenditure to get there given the weakness of revenue, but he’ll get there.
m0nty
20 Sep 12 at 11:26 am
Bullshit Monster.
m0nty
20 Sep 12 at 11:29 am
Bring it on. I’m looking forward to even more public servants becoming centrelink clients.
m0nty
20 Sep 12 at 11:37 am
WTF???
I’m now posting as mUttley!
Rabz
m0nty
20 Sep 12 at 11:39 am
test
Gab
20 Sep 12 at 11:40 am
Jacques!
Bring this nightmare to an end.
People’s email addresses have been compromised.
Rabz
m0nty
20 Sep 12 at 11:40 am
This is dot posting as monty.
Another thread had Alfonso’s email.
“Will not be published”
Poor bastards
m0nty
20 Sep 12 at 11:45 am
Hey Rabz, stop posting as me!
Now – I have some confessions to make.
I am a capitalist and I greatly admire Mittens Romney and Tonee Yabbott.
I also think the Ozdraylian Lobodomee Pardee and the greenies are a fucking joke.
Oh and Gab is the hottest woman to have ever graced this planet.
SfB is also a sad, obsessive, sexually repressed loser.
JC is a modern day legend who has only cared about what is best for me.
If you’d like to hear any more confessions, please make a request.
m0nty
20 Sep 12 at 11:54 am