Stimulus Payment FAQ

[Rosco]

"This year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment. This is a very exciting new program that I will explain using the Q and A format:


"Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
"A. It is money that the federal government will send to Taxpayers.


"Q. Where will the government get this money?
"A. From taxpayers.


"Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
"A. Only a smidgen.


"Q. What is the purpose of this payment?

"A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a
high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.


"Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China?
"A. Shut up."

_____________________________________________

Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the Economy by spending
your stimulus check wisely:

If you spend that money at K-Mart, all the money will go to China.

If you spend it on petrol it will go to the Arabs.

If you purchase a computer it will go to India.

If you purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to South East Asia or
New Zealand (unless you buy organic).

If you buy a car it will go to Japan.

If you purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan.

And none of it will help the economy.


We need to keep that money here. You can keep the money here by
spending it at garage sales, going to a football game, or spending it on
prostitutes, beer or tattoos, since those are the only businesses still here.

[mudmouse]

:D

Maybe some decent roads, tax rebates, school and hospital infrastructure might be a better idea - as long as they're in Australia that is...

Matt

[wardy1]

:D

Maybe some decent roads, tax rebates, school and hospital infrastructure might be a better idea - as long as they're in Australia that is...

Matt
:BigThumb:
I'm with mudmouse

[101RRS]

"Q. What is the purpose of this payment?

"A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a
high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.



Bummer - bought my HD Plama before Christmas with my own money:mad:

Actually - the money going to boost the Chinese economy is exactly what should happen - a good Chinese economy has a multiplied positive impact on the Australian Economy through a new resources boom. So the money will find its way back to Aust.

Though I personnally prefer that the money be spend on infrastructure and things like health (but only after the waste has been cut out of the system).

GArry

[mike 90 RR]

Tiss my thoughts also

Not enough money to "Reno the house" or employ the trades

Should be used for major projects which = employment

Hang on! .... they have our Superfunds for that .... What did Rudd want to do with this again????

[Chucaro]

We cannot win :(
If the buggers invest the money in the roads they will give the business of maintenance to their mates, so we will end with another few dozen of tollways :(
Some times I would love to go back to the later 60's and early 70's :angel:

Sorry to be sarcastic :(

[landy63]

Pity we couldnt do something usefull like build a couple of pipe lines from the north to the dry south and fill the murry .

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Pity we couldnt do something usefull like build a couple of pipe lines from the north to the dry south and fill the murry .


now THERE's an idea!
;)

[Chucaro]

Pity we couldnt do something usefull like build a couple of pipe lines from the north to the dry south and fill the murry .

I believe that the fellow that designed the Syd Harbour Bridge have done some work on that idea. I do not know if I am correct on that

[Rosco]

I believe that the fellow that designed the Syd Harbour Bridge have done some work on that idea. I do not know if I am correct on that


Forsooth .... The Bradfield Scheme ;)

[Chucaro]

Forsooth .... The Bradfield Scheme ;)

Thank you for your reply.
I managed to get some info about it HERE (http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21252688-5005340,00.html)

He was years ahead of his time :)

[mike 90 RR]

Pity we couldn't do something useful like build a couple of pipe lines from the North to the dry South and fill the Murray .

Excellent Idea ...
Mines for the steel
Steel manufacture for the pipe
Truckie's for the delivery
Surveyors for the path
Crews to work and lay pipe
Engineers for the design
Manufacturers for the infrastructure (pump stations)
Food manufactures to feed the crews
Country towns receive water = green growth = tourism = more jobs in the country
More earth for growing food = export = more jobs in the country

And all Australian workers & companies get a direct shot at the monies .... No china / booze / Imports / etc

[Chucaro]

The only problem that I can see is the possibilities of upsetting the ecosystem because with the water we can bring to the south plants and pest that do not exsist at the present time.
For sure have to be a way to avoid this problem among others that can affect the enviroment

[mike 90 RR]

The only problem that I can see is the possibilities of upsetting the ecosystem because with the water we can bring to the south plants and pest that do not exsist at the present time.
For sure have to be a way to avoid this problem among others that can affect the enviroment

True .... But you can see the methodology on how it benefits & creates jobs which spreads the money in the right areas ... cause right now, everyone is looking up for the best deal on a plasma

:)

[mudmouse]

That's right! Investing in infrastructure for the benefit of all, not crap for the individual!!!!

Matt.

[whitakerb]

instead of just handing out the cash, why dont they make people work for it. More precisely the poor bastards who have already lost their jobs?
Just my 2 cents

[Disco95]

Even better, $950 for the year amounts to a tax cut for me of approximately $18.80 or something similar, add that to the extra $20 I'd have recieved if the last cash throw away was done this way, Id be nearly $40 better off a week now (as would every other working Aussie, that $40 would e spent every week. Multiply that by all us middle class workers, THERE'S SOME NICE STIMULATION, EVERY WEEK. Not just once a year to give our foriegn minister, captain catch phrase, Mr Rudd a good quater every so often to JUST keep us out of recession without really doing much else.
Now the rest of the 42 billion, infrastructure.

[F4Phantom]

I have also been banging on about infastructure too. I am set to get a couple of k but would hand it back instantly for say a fast train from perth to melb to syd to brissy. Or anything else worth while cause then once the money is spent, we have a cool bit of kit we can use for a long time. It seems a lot of people are on the same page so perhaps K'Rudd should actually listen to the people.

[Captain_Rightfoot]

Hmmmm... well here's what Steve Ballmer said about the GFC...

“We’re certainly in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime set of economic conditions. The perspective I would bring is not one of recession. Rather, the economy is resetting to lower level of business and consumer spending based largely on the reduced leverage in economy”.

IMHO that statement is one of the biggest contributions that man has made to the world. Anyway, the bottom line is that Australia and it's banks have not been model citizens, and we've done bad bad things and partied as hard or harder than most. Now we have nearly 2 trillion in private sector debt. And the banks have stopped making money ouch.....

So, as far as I can see the main value of this stimulation :) is that hopefully we'll learn that it is completely ineffective and we actually try and fix the actual problem (debt) but I doubt it will... Hopefully we might get out of it in 5 ... rather than 18 like Japan who handled things like it looks like we are intending to handle them.

Compared to the other debt we're about to incur the 50 bill will be the least of our problems. :)

Anyway, sorry if I've bummed anyone out :) :wasntme:

[hook]

I hope my last lot of money stayed in Oz.
I Brought MDE stuff.


China has now completed the Olypic games
and don't want to build anything any more.
So no more steel from Oz.

[hook]

Thank you for your reply.
I managed to get some info about it HERE (http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21252688-5005340,00.html)

He was years ahead of his time :)

That Paper was two years old now.
SA & Vic would not be in a drought?


I can tell you now,
there is a lot of water up here (NQLD) that is going to WASTE.
TC Ellie

[p38arover]

I suspect we'll be saddled with this $42 billion debt for a long time. I think it is a waste giving it to the masses as a hand out.

One could suggest spending it on infrastructure but can you see the Greens letting us build another major infrastructure development like the Snowy or even a pipeline from N. Qld? How long would that take to get under way. It would be in the courts for yonks!

A fast train? A lot of (most?) of the money would go to overseas companies.

Me? I'm gunna spend my $950 on my Rangie. I have a Haltech Interceptor ready for Graham Cooper's to install and I want them to tune the engine on the dyno. What's left over will pay local labour for something else - maybe towards fitting larger LPG tanks into the Rangie.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Some times I would love to go back to the later 60's and early 70's :angelYou can't get a coil sprung Land Rover turbo diesel or EFI petrol back then and the waiting list for a new (read 2 door) Range Rover was 2 years and only at the end of your time-frame.

Diana

[UncleHo]

G'day Folks :)

Infrastructure would be the sensable way to go, and the Bradfield Scheme would need to be seriously looked at, it would drought proof the southern states, and would revitalise the Murray/Darling system, at the moment Nth Qld is getting in the region of a metre of rain per week, if that were turned west, it would inject trillions of megalitres in these systems of FRESH WATER, which in turn would start to dilute the saline conditions currently existing from over farming/stocking, if my memory serves me correctly the Hoover Dam and other major infrastructure works were undertaken in the US at the height of the last great depression 1929-1932, and our own Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme was undertaken just post WW11 to stimulate the workforce and to employ the in flow of "Displaced Persons" (migrants) which led to the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Scheme of the 1950's :)

It would then give Australia a more developed mainland:)


rant over.

[mike 90 RR]

G'day Folks :)

Infrastructure would be the sensable way to go, a

the last great depression 1929-1932,

and our own Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme was undertaken just post WW11 to stimulate the workforce and to employ the in flow of "Displaced Persons" (migrants) which led to the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Scheme of the 1950's :)


And that is the Point .... A project that results in opportunities for new towns and industries to be opened up = Export

More export is what saves this country every time
I don't know if you are aware but Australia survives on the back of 2 industries ..... Farming & Mining .... that's it !!

The world doesn't want our ore ..... :(
But the world needs more food .... so feed the world :)


Mike

[Rosco]

G'day Folks :)

..... and the Bradfield Scheme would need to be seriously looked at.....



I don't wish to appear totally negative here, and I'm by no means sure of my facts, however I recall reading somewhere that if this scheme was implemented it may have disastrous effects on the Great Barrier Reef by significantly impacting on its ecosystem. As I say, I'm not sure, but I am sure we would need to seriously research this aspect before making any moves in that direction.

[p38arover]

But the world needs more food .... so feed the world :)

It seems to me that we are buying a lot of food from overseas and farmers/orchardists are shutting up shop. When we shop we deliberately look for Australian products. Once upon a time, Woolworths used to mark the shelves with a map of Australia for Australian-made products. They no longer do so and this really annoys me.

I can't say I'm happy with cotton farming and the massive water usage that ensues.

Re infrastructure projects, one problem with any large infrastructure program are the very long lead times to fully research and plan.

[ivery819]

It's great to hear you guys talking about our future food production when the current Government and the Greens are taking away over 80 million acres of productive food growing country and planting it down to trees. This is the proposal for carbon sink legislation. Over the next 40 years Australia will convert a staggering 84 million acres of productive food producing agricultural land into tree plantations to fight climate change. That’s over 6,000 acres a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, every year for the next 40 years. What is particularly stupid is that a viable alternative is not being considered because it will send money to non labor voting farmers SEE HERE (http://www.agmates.com/blog/2009/02/02/allan-yeomans-writes-global-warming-trees-or-soil/)
We seem hell bent on destroying our capacity to support ourselves in the name of either big business, CO2 mitigation or just plain "I don't care".
Many of us have been asking for some time:
Is Australia the stupidest nation on earth ?
You can read some more here (http://www.agmates.com/blog/2009/01/20/australia-the-stupidest-nation-on-earth-who-cares-if-we-cant-feed-ourselves/)

[Rosco]

It's great to hear you guys talking about our future food production when the current Government and the Greens are taking away over 80 million hectares of productive food growing country and planting it down to trees. This is the proposal for carbon sink legislation. Over the next 40 years Australia will convert a staggering 84 million acres of productive food producing agricultural land into tree plantations to fight climate change. That’s over 6,000 acres a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, every year for the next 40 years. What is particularly stupid is that a viable alternative is not being considered because it will send money to non labor voting farmers SEE HERE (http://www.agmates.com/blog/2009/02/02/allan-yeomans-writes-global-warming-trees-or-soil/)
We seem hell bent on destroying our capacity to support ourselves in the name of either big business, CO2 mitigation or just plain "I don't care".
Many of us have been asking for some time:
Is Australia the stupidest nation on earth ?
You can read some more here (http://www.agmates.com/blog/2009/01/20/australia-the-stupidest-nation-on-earth-who-cares-if-we-cant-feed-ourselves/)

I couldn't agree more ... bunch of bloody ******* the lot of em

[numpty]

I couldn't agree more ... bunch of bloody ******* the lot of em

Not a great deal different to what's been happening under everyones nose for the last 20 to 30 years. I refer to the even more stupid act of converting productive farm land, especially dairy farms, into housing estates.

The descendants of Macarthur and his cronies are laughing in their beards to see the Campelltown and western Sydney regions these days. These were lands which were virtually given to these families to farm and now they're housing lots. And don't get me started on the NSW south coast.

Governments of all persuasions have been a part of this.

[abaddonxi]

Interesting article in SMH by Ross Gittins -
Stimulus is Three T's and sympathy (http://business.smh.com.au/business/stimulus-is-three-ts-and-sympathy-20090206-801i.html)

I think he describes the whys of a stimulus package rather well.

Simon

[mike 90 RR]

It seems to me that we are buying a lot of food from overseas and farmers/orchardists are shutting up shop. When we shop we deliberately look for Australian products. Once upon a time, Woolworths used to mark the shelves with a map of Australia for Australian-made products. They no longer do so and this really annoys me.

I can't say I'm happy with cotton farming and the massive water usage that ensues.

Re infrastructure projects, one problem with any large infrastructure program are the very long lead times to fully research and plan.

The only reason for the fruit & vege imports is because of the Policies of the 2 Food stores in OZ .... Coles & Woolies

It's not that our local producers are too expensive ... It's because The big 2 make more from imports .... for their profit

These 2 don't give a stuff about Australia .... Just have a look in the store and notice how many "Home brands" have replaced the "regular brands" ... It is so bad now that I do not shop at the "Big 2" .... I believe that if they could get away with it .. They would stock only "Home Brands", and I believe that their agender is to send all "Known Brands" to the wall

This will give them the monopoly that they so desperately seek

I now shop at a "independent grocery store" that only stocks "Regular brands"


So if you want to do "Your bit" .... Shop at the local fruit & veg shop ... The Local butcher ... The local hardware ... The independent grocery store ... as these are your community members

The rest are just share holders from cyberspace that have screw all to do with your community

Rudd recons a $1000 will stimulate and save your community ... Add your $$ that you already have to spend on food & such .. & spend this at your local stores /// Cause giving it to the "Majors" is like giving it to overseas

Sorry for the rant // But it just bugs me

:(

[slug_burner]

Infrastucture spending is great and has long lasting benefits for the community. The problem is that it takes a while to get them going and we need to stop the recession from happening now not in a couple of years.

By giving the money to the lower income earners you are asurred that they will inject it back into the economy straight away. The low income earners do not have a great history of saving and are sure to spend it whether it be due to lack of a culture of saving for something in the future or simply because they are having trouble making ends meet. While most see the cost of the imported plasma as the having all the money go to China or wherever they are made; there is also the commission for the sales person, their wage which comes out of the store operating costs, the profit to the store owner/shareholder, the whole logistics associatted with getting the plasma to the shop, delivery driver, wharehouse operators, warf workers and import/export agents, shipping company etc. The costs of a plasma are made up of many components over half of which will be costs incurred in country. So even the purchase of a plasma tv contributes to the economy as we need to keep the truckies, warfies and sales people off the dole and they in turn will spend as they still have jobs. Money goes round and round.

It would have been great if we already had some nation building projects in place contributing to the economy; but we have not been real big on spending Peter Costello's and John Howard's nest egg. Then again it maybe just as well otherwise we would not have something in the bank to stimulate the economy with.

Unfortunately the economy is predomanately governed by human activity and confidence and is extremely difficult to predict. Economists have a great ability to explain what has happened in the past, 20-20 hindsight is great. The use of history is one of our best ways to predict the future but with 6.5 billion variables contributing to the problem I know that I could not do any better job of predicting what is going to happen.

I know one thing, I am greatful that I live in Australia where we are in a better position than many to see out this current crisis.