Howard's Ten Years

10 Years.  John Howard has been around leading this country for 10 years and I have read a fair amount this week on the man John Howard and how amazing a feat it has been to remain at the helm of Australia for such a long time with perhaps another term achievable at the next election.

Yes, 10 years has been a feat and I do acknowledge that John Howard is a “master of politics”.  The man has survived crisis after crisis throughout his tenure and has always come up smelling like roses.  Even as I type this, the government is undergoing scrutiny over the AWB kickbacks and illegal payments to Saddam Hussein and it looks like if anyone was to fall over this, it will be Alexander Downer.  And if anyone does, you can bet the entire budget surplus it wont be John Howard.

But all this praise over the man makes me sick because being a “master of politics” does not make you a “Great Prime Minister” and I would have to say that this country has taken huge backward steps on a number of social and international issues as a direct result of Howards “vision”.  The country is now racially intolerant, is disrespectful to our Asian neighbours, is highly taxed with the funds of those taxes going into non-social projects.  We have an ever increasing reduction in medical services, Medicare is heading south and the Government would like nothing more than scrap it and let the rich pay for it and let the poor have none.  We have record employment levels, yet we are facing a reduction in services to the elderly and reductions and future abolishment of old age pensions that will mean we will have to work longer.  Howard sees nothing wrong with making people work into their 70’s even though the population growth will see jobs to people ratio reducing.

Housing is becoming scarcer and the ability to own ones own home is becoming virtually impossible.  I have a mortgage, I can’t see myself ever getting ahead of it as the cost of living rises and the requirement to refinance and use home equity to fund lifestyle items (pools, cars and holidays for example) become the norm.  The nation is addicted to credit and this is principally driven by the fact we have less disposable income due to tax rates.

Yes, we are a country of indebted racists with a prospect of working to pay the bills (and more taxes) until we retire from our menial jobs feet first on a stretcher in our 70’s.  Well done John.  Glad you’ve enjoyed your time as PM.  Was it worth it??

Listening:  Queens of the Stone Age:  “R”