Labor willing to force an election

The more I consider this budget the worse it gets. Something that I only realised yesterday was more doctor taxes, namely a $7 fee just to get a blood test. I dunno if there'd be any way to avoid that fee. So that means every three months when I get my quarterly bloods done I'd be caught with that fee. So a visit to the doc, quarterly bloods taken, couple of prescriptions, and I'll be up for nearly $30. WTF? Do they think I'm made of money?

In any case Labor has come out strongly opposed to just about everything in the budget, including changes to Medicare and pensions, in Bill Shorten's budget reply speech last night. He leaves no doubt. 

Mr Shorten said modelling from NATSEM (National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling) showed a couple with a single income of $65,000 and two children in school would have more than $1700 cut from their annual budget. 

By 2016, the cuts will be more than $6000 a year. 

Arguing that not one dollar of the $7 Medicare co-payment will go to recurrent funding for health, he said Labor would fight this measure to its ultimate end. 

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"If you want an election try us ... bring it on." Read more  

The battle lines are drawn. 

Will Abbott endure the humiliation of having much of his budget ripped apart and blocked in the senate, or will he go to an election? 

Bludgertrack