Kevin 747 was on his way to Thailand to try and convince the Asean nations to set up an Asia-Pacific EU style common market. That's all we need. With our fragile environment, to open up our borders to all of Asia could swamp the place. To open our economy to the lowest of Asian wages could bankrupt the country (that is if he hasn't done it already!)
Meanwhile John Roskam has written an article that should be read by all Australian who have given our jet-setting PM his very high popularity.
Rudd can now mix it with the best of them. He's just resided over a government that's got 20 per cent bigger. According to the Treasury's own calculations, spending by the federal government will have gone from just over 23 per cent of gross domestic product in 2007-08 to about 28 per cent in this financial year. Saying this growth is of Whitlamesque proportions is not hyperbole. It's a statement that's literally true. Indeed, depending on how you measure it, government is now growing faster than it did in 1972-75 (under arguably our worst PM - E Gough Whitlam)
Perhaps our PM could stay in Austrlia for the greater proportion of the next year and, like his plane, do an about-turn on his empire-building..
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