Little Johnny’s List O’ Lies

This list is courtesy of beloved net identity, pusssycat, who in turn purrrloined it from a site now oddly defunct.

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

“I can promise you that we will follow policies which will, over a period of time, bring down the foreign debt . . . our first priority in Government economically will be to tackle the current account deficit.”
John Howard, Doorstop interview, Debt Truck Launch, 20 September 1995

The Truth:
Foreign debt was $361 billion at the end of September 2003, an increase of 90 per cent on the September 1995 level. The current account deficit was $11.9 billion at the end of September 2003, an increase of 112.5 per cent on the September 1995 level.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, ABS@, Time Series Spreadsheets (Balance of Payments and Investment Position, Australia 5302.0, Reserve Bank of Australia (H) Bulletin, Current Account)

And now:

Current account deficit soars to over $15b. Australia’s current account deficit has widened by 20 per cent in the December quarter. The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show the current account deficit has climbed to just over $15 billion. Imports of plant, transport equipment and machinery contributed heavily to the rise.

There was also a big surge in imports of consumer goods.

The ABS says the deficit on goods and services will detract 1.3 percentage points from GDP in the fourth-quarter.

Australia’s net foreign debt now stands at $521 billion.

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

Labor MP question to the Prime Minister: “Prime Minister, was the government contacted by the major Australian producer of ethanol or by any representative
of his company or the Industry Association before its decision to impose fuel excise on ethanol?”

John Howard: “Speaking for myself, I did not personally have any discussions, from recollection, with any of them.”
John Howard, Question Time, 17 September 2002

The Truth:
John Howard had met on 1 August the head of Manildra Group [Dick Honan], which makes 87 per cent of our ethanol, and they discussed how to help the Australian ethanol industry.
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Official Record of Meeting, 1 August 2002

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

Interviewer: “Well, if the Budget’s in such good shape why persist with things like
the pension claw back …”
John Howard: “No, no … because Glenn there is no clawback. And what happened with those things is that they were paid in advance and we’re not taking them back, we’re just avoiding paying them twice …”
John Howard, interview with Glenn Milne, Sunday Sunrise, 4 March 2001

“There has been no clawback, there has been no deduction and there has
been no deceit”.
John Howard, Parliament, 5 March 2001

The Truth:
“The indexation adjustments to pensions and adult allowance rates for 20 March
2001 will have the additional issue of clawback … Two per cent of the existing rate
will be deducted from the normal CPI adjustment …”
Department of Family and Community Services, internal briefing paper, quoted in Parliament,
5 March 2001

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

“It is our policy, without qualification, to retain Medicare . . . Not only does
Medicare stay but so does bulk billing . . . They are the fundamentals, the
underpinnings of the policy.”
John Howard, Health Policy launch of “A Healthy Future”, 12 February 1996

The Truth:
“No-one can guarantee bulk billing. No-one can guarantee bulk billing without
conscripting the medical profession. Medicare has never been universal bulk
billing—never . . .”
Tony Abbott, Minister for Health and Ageing, Meet the Press, 23 November 2003

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

“Medicare will be retained in its entirety.”
John Howard, February 1996

The Truth:
The Howard Government abolished the dental plan and bulk billing rates have
declined by more than 12 percentage points since the Coalition took office in 1996.

We have a growing nation with rotting teeth because they can’t afford dental care – talk about third world standards! shame Howard shame!

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

During the 2001 Federal election campaign John Howard promised that his
Government’s policies would “lead to reduced premiums” for health insurance.
“Heading in the Right Direction”, p151

The Truth:
Since the election in 2001, the Government has approved increases in premiums
totalling 21 per cent.

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

“I can guarantee we’re not going to have $100,000 university degree courses.”
John Howard, interview with Neil Mitchell on Radio 3AW, 15 October 1999

The Truth:
16 different degrees now cost at least $100,000.

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

“We have no intention of introducing a loans scheme with a real or indeed any
other rate of interest.”
John Howard, in Parliament, 18 October 1999

The Truth:
“Debts accrued under FEE-HELP will be indexed to the consumer price index . . .
A loan fee of 20 per cent will apply to FEE-HELP loans for undergraduate courses
of study only.”
Higher Education Loan Programme, Department of Education, Science and Training Update,
March 2004

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

“œWell, it means that we’ll not have deregulated fees. In other words, the
Government will always maintain a control over what the level of the fee is.”
John Howard, interview on Radio 3AW, 15 October 1999

The Truth:
“We do need more money in our universities . . . and some of it should come
outside the budget through a managed and sensible deregulation of the system.”
John Howard in Parliament, 16 September 2003

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

“There’s no way that a GST will ever be part of our policy. Never ever. It’s dead. It was killed by the voters in the last election.

Any suggestion that I left the door open is absolute nonsense. I didn’t. I never will. The last election killed the GST. It’s not part of our policy and it won’t be part of our policy at any time in the future. ”

John Howard, May 1995

The Truth:
The Howard Government introduced the GST just three years later.

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

“My Government will not introduce any new taxes, and will not increase existing taxes.”

John Howard, 1996

The Truth:
Since 1996, the Howard Government has introduced or increased taxes 144 times.

Total tax collected has risen from $124 billion in 1996 to over $200 billion in 2003-04 and is projected to rise a further $33 billion over the next three years.

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

“We’re not going to increase any taxes.”

“We do not intend to increase any taxes in our term, full stop.”

John Howard, May 2001

The Truth:
Since 2001, the Howard Government has introduced or increased taxes 32 times.

Total income tax collected has risen from $90.6 billion in 1996 to $136.5 billion in 2003-04 and is projected to rise a further $26.5 billion over the next three years.

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

“The GST will not increase the price of petrol for the ordinary motorist . . .”
John Howard, Address to the Nation on the Tax Plan, 13 August 1998

The Truth:
The price of automotive fuel rose 10.4 per cent in the September quarter following the introduction of the GSTon 1 July 2000, and was 23.6 per cent higher than at the same time the previous year.

Australian Bureau of Statistics, ABS@, Time Series Spreadsheets, Consumer Price Index 6401.0

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

“The days of easily operating in the black economy are coming to an end.”
Peter Costello, July 2000

The Truth:
The Australian Tax Office has said: “There are no documents indicating the impact the GST has had on cutting the size of the black economy.”

And the Audit Office said: “At the time of the audit, we were not in a position to comment on whether the compliance dividend had been met or even partially met. Since the audit (in March 2002) the ANAO has not undertaken further work relating to this issue.”

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

“There’ll be no more than a 1.9% rise in ordinary beer.”

John Howard, John Laws Program, 23 September 1998

The Truth:
The price of beer rose 4.8 per cent in the September quarter following the introduction of the GST on 1 July 2000, and was 8.5 per cent higher than the same time the previous year.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, ABS@, Time Series Spreadsheets, Consumer Price Index 6401.0

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

Journalist: “Will the number of pages in the Tax Act be reduced by the introduction of a GST? ”
Prime Minister: “Yes it will”.
John Howard, interview Alan Jones Radio 2UE, 14 August 1998

The Truth:
“. . . the Tax Act has grown from 3,000 to over 9,000 pages and an additional 2.5 million words have been inserted into the Tax Act, since 1 July 2000. Apart from these overwhelming changes foisted onto small businesses, we now have over 2 million businesses registered under the GST, compared to less than 17,000 under the former sales tax regime.”
National Tax & Accountants’ Association, 15 August 2002

JOHN HOWARD LIE:

Kerry O’Brien: “Okay. the pledge of no new taxes, no increase in existing taxes for the life of the next parliament. So for the next three years, not even a one cent increase on cigarettes or beer or wine or petrol, no other indirect tax increase, no tax increase of any kind?” John Howard: “That promise is quite explicit”.
John Howard, ABC 7:30 Report, 1 February 1996

The Truth:
By 30 September 2002, John Howard’s Government had introduced legislation for 130 new taxes or tax increases during its terms of office.

“Bills which imposed a new tax or increased an existing tax introduced during the 38th to 40th Parliaments”, Clerk of the Senate, 30 October 2002