[jamhan]

I always find it amusing when people compare pork barrelling amounts as "only" or "mere". "It was only 5 billion". I wonder how many companies, schools, hospitals etc would like an extra 500 million dollars per year just for doing the job they should be already doing in a democratic capitalist society. How many people cried for IT workers in Australia when the 457s were imported en masse or Telstra, IBM etc out-sourced their IT to India? How much subsidy or compensation did the IT workers of Australia get for that? Australians complain about all the scams they get from Indian callers and conveniently forget that they only happen because Telstra gave overseas scammers a free trove of Australian consumer data and very little was done to stop it. Globalisation and cheaper prices come with huge hidden costs.

[jussij]

> I always find it amusing when people compare pork barrelling amounts as "only" or "mere". "It was only 5 billion".

It was 5 billion over ten years compared with nearly 5 billion each year.

When you do that comparisons it is a mere 5 billion.

Now I'm not arguing that governments should be propping up sectors with pork barrelling. That is something for the electorate to decide.

However, the current government always claimed they had to stop propping up the car industry, because governments should not be in the business of handing out subsidies.

That government statement is disingenuous and total hypocrisy, since they will not be removing those coal, oil and mining subsides any time soon.

[jamhan]

Let's then not forget the 1 billion per year spent on keeping mothballed desalination plants operational, plants that talking heads like Tim Flannery got us into thanks to clueless Labor premiers.

Also: "Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar will receive subsidies of up to $2.8 billion a year up to 2030 to ensure Australia reaches its Renewable Energy Target, according to new research." [1]

1. http://www.afr.com/news/politics/renewable-energy-subsidies-...