# "Nothing but bush"? I think you're talking about what's between your ears, Tony Abbott. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 14, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-but-bush-i-think-youre-talking-about-whats-between-your-ears-tony-abbott/704639 "2014-11-14T19:53:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-but-bush-i-think-youre-talking-about-whats-between-your-ears-tony-abbott/704639/61 "2014-12-08T06:02:02Z")
I want Gough back. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-but-bush-i-think-youre-talking-about-whats-between-your-ears-tony-abbott/704639/62 "2014-12-08T07:41:24Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > I’m no expert on the Australian economy but I do know that both NZ and Australia had a soft landing during the GFC. Australia was insulated by mineral resource revenue and NZ had low debt. > > Which suggests that our respective governments are correct in restraining spending and being austere. IANAEconomist, but I honestly don’t see how you get from para 1 to para 2 - could you explain? The most obvious thing about the Australian government’s response to the GFC from a local perspective was that they immediately started spreading stimulus money out to an incredibly wide range of people - and the fact that our economy didn’t tank when the majority of the rest of the world’s did suggests to _me_ that austerity would have been quite the wrong response, since they did the exact opposite and it worked. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-but-bush-i-think-youre-talking-about-whats-between-your-ears-tony-abbott/704639/63 "2014-12-08T12:10:53Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > IANAEconomist, but I honestly don’t see how you get from para 1 to para 2 - could you explain? > > The most obvious thing about the Australian government’s response to the GFC from a local perspective was that they immediately started spreading stimulus money out to an incredibly wide range of people - and the fact that our economy didn’t tank when the majority of the rest of the world’s did suggests to _me_ that austerity would have been quite the wrong response, since they did the exact opposite and it worked. Yes and I agree - government spending in hard times is Keysian economics. The US, UK, and every European country have done this. However where Oz and NZ differ from the OECD is both countries had low borrowings which meant they had room to manoeuvre. To borrow but not too much. Other nations such as the PIGS were and still are in desperate straits. Imagine being an ordinary bloke in Spain or Greece - you could literally be living on the street. Google the unemployment rates there. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-but-bush-i-think-youre-talking-about-whats-between-your-ears-tony-abbott/704639/64 "2014-12-08T12:18:59Z")
So basically what your saying is not so much that austerity would have been good during the GFC, but that having weathered the storm it’s a good idea now to get that cushion back so we have it to use if things go haywire again? I can get behind that. Though I’ll continue to be suspicious of a government that talks about austerity out of one side of its mouth while continuing to spend up big on its own pet projects. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-but-bush-i-think-youre-talking-about-whats-between-your-ears-tony-abbott/704639/65 "2014-12-08T12:52:25Z")
Yes understood lol. We all get annoyed when governments spend money on stuff we don’t value. But I’m sure Labor did the same in other ways. Incidentally Julia Gillard is loved in NZ even by our conservative government. Bit of a loss for you guys. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-but-bush-i-think-youre-talking-about-whats-between-your-ears-tony-abbott/704639/66 "2014-12-08T13:13:33Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > Yes and I agree - government spending in hard times is Keysian economics. Keynesian. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-but-bush-i-think-youre-talking-about-whats-between-your-ears-tony-abbott/704639/67 "2014-12-08T14:22:53Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Keynesian. Doh! but ya know whut ah mean bro. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-but-bush-i-think-youre-talking-about-whats-between-your-ears-tony-abbott/704639/68 "2014-12-09T00:51:54Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > Yes understood lol. We all get annoyed when governments spend money on stuff we don’t value. But I’m sure Labor did the same in other ways. > > Incidentally Julia Gillard is loved in NZ even by our conservative government. Bit of a loss for you guys. Gillard through her own inability to manage the party drew a lot of ire from the public. She was also seen unfairly as aggressive, not a trait people want (particularly from a female). I was proud to say we had a red headed, atheist, single, female, with no kids living with her boyfriend as our PM, it was a watershed in Australian politics and one day will be recognised as such. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-but-bush-i-think-youre-talking-about-whats-between-your-ears-tony-abbott/704639.md?page=3)