I was reminded of the Rudd Government and its approach to the economy at a celebratory lunch recently.

One of the guests was a very charming and very happy 18-month-old. Very happy, that is, until the young waitress took his juice bottle in order to refill it and then proceeded to take the drinks orders of the 10 adults present, ignoring his ever-increasing sobs.

It wasn’t until one of parents present suggested that we’d all be a lot happier if she focused on meeting the baby’s needs first, that she reacted.

The Rudd Government and its response to Australia’s economic problems remind me of that waitress—quite pleasant, quite well-intentioned and completely clueless about how to rectify the situation because of inexperience.

But unlike the young waitress, Prime Minister Rudd and Treasurer Swan won’t listen to the grown-ups.

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull’s suggestion that bank deposits be guaranteed up to $100,000 came from experience. The ridiculous unlimited guarantee offered by Rudd and Swan had led to a seemingly endless game of “unintended consequences and catch-up”.

Financial institutions such as mortgage trusts, property trusts and other investment vehicles aren’t covered by the guarantee, so money has flooded out of those investments into the banks forcing a freeze on redemptions in these institutions.

This is one of the few times when you wish the Government had decided to have a review and an inquiry … and had hastened slowly. Even the timing of the unwinding of the guarantee is causing controversy. It can't remain in place forever but any change by the Rudd Labor government to the guarantee will be seen as a serious negative signal by the market.

Recently I opened the National Conference of Australian Independent Retirees. The Conference title – “The Great Years Ahead” – was obviously selected well before the conference and many were personally affected by, and angry about, the Rudd government’s decisions. Some spoke of a feeling of helplessness as their long-term financial planning was eaten away.

The $10.4 billion Government spending package will be delivered in the first part of December, and I hope it will contribute to minimising the recession projected for the first half of next year.

GOOD OL' QLD

Congratulations to all SES volunteers, Energex staff, police and fire personnel who have done such an amazing job in disaster recovery in Southeast Queensland, time and time again, in the past week and are now having to start again in central Queensland.

Congratulations to the thousands of volunteers who have pitched in to help neighbours and complete strangers.

I drove the length of Samford Rd (apart from a couple of detours enforced by downed power lines and trees) on Sunday night (16 November) after the first storm had hit and the damage in the Keperra, Ferny Grove and Ferny Hills area was beyond imagination. To then hear that this was not worst hit area beggared belief.

Congratulations also to 4BC for their live coverage of the storm damage and recovery efforts since the beginning. It was amusing to hear ABC Radio scrabbling to catch up, but at least they demonstrated that they had listened to the disbelief, anger and hurt of their listeners about broadcasting southern sport whilst large parts of Brisbane were destroyed.

People who were hurt or whose homes were substantially damaged are entitled to $1,000 per adult and $400 per child from the Australian Government Disaster Assistance scheme at www.disasterassist.gov.au.

The State Government has established the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal. Donations are tax deductible and can be made at any major bank or by phone, online or cheque. Details are on the Queensland Government website at www.thepremier.qld.gov.au/initiatives/seq_storm/index.aspx.

I really have difficulty understanding why our society and our media find it necessary to “canonise” popular heroes.

First it was the late Princess of Wales, Diana. I think this was the only time in my life I’ve been in agreement with left-wing columnist Philip Adams who shared my puzzlement at the extraordinary depth of emotion generated by her death.

The hysteria appears to develop from a cycle of reinforcing elevations - firstly a public response, which is exaggerated and approved of by the media, which causes a heightened public response, which is then exaggerated by the media … and so on.

Recently we’ve witnessed a similar level of popular hysterical “devotion” following the election of Democrat Barack Obama to the US Presidency. Given the particularly difficult economic times in which he has been elected, I hope President-elect Obama can be a miracle worker, but he is handicapped from the beginning by the unrealistic expectations of his presidency.

As the 2008 year ends for year 12's, it was interesting to receive a report from Independent Schools Queensland setting out the contribution that Independent schools make to Queensland education.

Independent schools make up 14 per cent of Queensland's schools, compared to 70 per cent government schools.

We have 185 independent schools operating on 210 campuses. These schools educate 103,000 students and have 13,000 staff. This doesn't include Catholic schools which have a separate organisation.

On average, independent schools receive only 35 per cent of their funding from the Federal Government, and save government about $2.6 billion a year.

Canterbury College at Waterford is a member of the Independent Schools Association and I was delighted to officiate at their graduation ceremony recently. The range of student achievements in academic, personal and community areas certainly left me confident of our next generation of leaders.

SHORT SELLING AND ASIC

The Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, of which I’m a member, will hold an inquiry into ASIC’s current activities next week and the handling of new short selling requirements will be a priority.

ASIC has announced that it expects to lift the ban on covered short selling for non-financial securities on 19 November 2008, pending any changes to market conditions. As part of the process of lifting the ban on non-financials, ASIC has been working with the ASX on disclosure and reporting arrangements that will apply once the ban is lifted.

The ban on financials will continue until 27 January 2009. For the purposes of the Australian market, ASIC has taken a pragmatic approach to the definition of financials as entities in the S&P/ASX 200 Financial Index (which will include property trusts and five other APRA supervised listed entities not in this index).

Existing exemptions and arrangements that have been granted by ASIC will continue.

FINANCIAL LITERACY UPDATE

On 8 October ANZ released their 2008 Survey of Financial Literacy, with the results showing

• Financial literacy is strongly related to demographic and socio-economic characteristics;
• Those with below average Financial Literacy Scores include: 18-24-year-olds; people aged 70 years and over; women, particularly those aged 70 and over; those whose formal education finished at Year 10; those who are unemployed; and those living on Government benefits or allowances;
• There is a pronounced difference in financial literacy levels between the most financially literate (top 20 per cent) of the Australian population and the least financially literate (bottom 20 per cent). Most of those in the lowest financial literacy group are responsible for the financial management of their household yet their behaviour shows:
  • greater exposure to risk through less use of insurance and lower levels of understanding of the relationship between risk and return;
  • less use of cost-effective ways of transacting;
  • less shopping around to get the best deals on mortgages;
  • fewer people taking steps to minimise their everyday banking fees; and
  • lower awareness that the primary credit card holder is responsible for all debt on the card.

The results highlight the crucial need for better financial education in Australia.

I started ShopSmart six months ago using volunteer ‘shoppers’, so Queenslanders could get a sense of prices in their local areas.

The Rudd Government has spent $13 million on Grocery Choice without offering any useful information to people. ShopSmart gives local prices and the website includes other tips and advice on saving money.

This month, an independent retailer again came out on top, with the IGA at Rochedale the cheapest for the second month in a row. Overall prices have remained steady. The average basket price for November was $64.54.

An inquiry will be held into the cost of living pressures in the Torres Strait following my appeal to the Senate Select Committee on Regional and Remote Indigenous Communities.

After visiting the Torres Strait islands in August, I understood the frustration of Torres Strait people who feel like the forgotten Australians.

The cost of living in the Torres Strait is almost 50 per cent higher than in Brisbane or even Cairns. The ShopSmart basket of goods in the Torres Strait cost $91, with the same basket costing $64 in Cairns.

I spoke about some of the cost-of-living issues in the Senate and wrote to the Senate Select Committee on Regional and Remote Indigenous Communities seeking an inquiry into the Torres Strait.

The Committee has agreed and the inquiry will be held about July next year. There is a strong argument for a freight subsidy system similar to Tasmania’s.

Centrelink have just released their payment arrangements for the holiday period. All Centrelink offices and call centres will be closed on 25 and 26 December and 1 and 26 January.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY

The Coalition Spokesman for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector, Senator Cory Bernardi, and I will host a morning tea at Parliament House to mark International Day Of People With Disability on 3 December.

I’m always stunned by the resilience of the disability community who have very little to celebrate and whose advocacy is so often ignored.

I’m intending to write at length about the issues surrounding disability and the Labor Government’s attempts at Social Inclusion in the next issue of my hard copy newsletter, The Queensland Line, due out on 7 December. Please visit my website at www.sueboyce.com.au to leave your mailing details or to update them.

Thanks once again for your feedback. It's important to know what your thoughts are on the various issues, and I believe it is important to have these discussions.

"Thanks Sue always enjoy reading your newsletters. You give us a better insight and commentary on the key issues than we get from the rag tag journos in the Australian and others. Keep it up."  JG

"This is the best newsletter yet!"  CH

"I am very disappointed that you and the other coalition senators voted against the luxury car tax. If you did so to make a political point, you have failed badly, as the Government successfully portrayed the opposition as the ones supporting the privileged in society."  BS

"Thanks Sue  - good stuff as always. Your story on industrial action is interesting - I think that will be a bigger and bigger story." IW