Unconvinced by the promises
Is it just my age, or do others find that a federal budget is nothing more than platitudes? This is an election year; we all know it. What the media presented this afternoon is the government equivalent of a quick paint job before selling the house.
I am not their target. I’m not a first time home buyer, wanting to get an “equity partner” in my new house. What is this, an episode from Dragon’s Den? And any time a government offers things that will be stretched out over a five year period, you know the reality train has left the station. This next time around, we will (according to the pundits) get a minority in power, counting the months until the non-confidence vote. In other words, don’t buy your bungalow based on this promise.
To entice any senior with a diminished capability to understand economics, the deal is that less money will be clawed back from your pension, if you keep on working. Hold on here: this sounds like a promise to pay me with my own money. I get those phone calls, all the time. No thanks.
And should your internet bandwidth be on the slow side, more money to upgrade infrastructure. Again, I’ve heard this promise before. Several times. Yes, I’m one small step above dial-up, but I already pay in consequence. Want to get my attention? Hold the feet of the big net services to the fire. And keep them warming until the speed increases. Throwing more money at them will only make them happier, at my expense.
One other small detail: students will now get interest-free repayment of their student loans, for six months after graduation. I had that deal, back in the late ‘70s.
