FED:Editorials Thursday Feb 2, 2012

AAP General News (Australia)
02-02-2012
FED:Editorials Thursday Feb 2, 2012

SYDNEY, Feb 2 AAP - The Australian on Thursday says in her speech yesterday to the
Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, billed as one that would outline the "building of
a new Australian economy", Julia Gillard wasted no time contrasting "the problems of Europe"

with Australia's "position of strength in the world economy".

It is true that the economy is comparatively strong, with stable growth, low unemployment
and inflation, and supported by a pipeline of business investment. It is equally true
that the government's overall economic management has benefited from a commodities boom,
fuelled by the rapid growth of China and India, and the Reserve Bank's generally sound
management of monetary policy.

But that is not the full story. There is much more the government should be doing to
reduce spending and debt, address the structural budget deficit and lay the foundations
for building a new economy based on productivity, competition and innovation.



The Sydney Morning Herald says today surpluses are next to saintliness, or so the current
politics of federal budget management suggest. In her first major economic speech of the
year, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, reaffirmed her government's commitment to delivering
a budget surplus next financial year. And the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, vowed to
eschew big spending items, such as dental care and a national disability insurance scheme,
until the budget is back in the black.

Successive governments have maintained a firm commitment to balancing the budget over
the long term and this has helped give investors confidence in Australia as a place to
invest. This provides a solid foundation for any government to use its resources to fund
policies that matter to the community.

The current fetish with surpluses should not be a barrier to important reforms, such
as better dental care or a national insurance scheme which, with a hefty $6 billion price
tag, promises increased certainty, funding and better services for people living with
a disability. It is not good enough to tell these people they must wait for an elusive
budget surplus.



Yesterday's Federal Court decision could completely restructure how Australians watch
televised sporting events, and possibly events beyond the sporting sphere.

In dispute was Optus' right to air live (or slightly delayed) events via the company's
new mobile phone TV service.

The court ruled in Optus's favour. In essence, the court found that modern methods
of recording television via digital means was essentially the same, at least as the far
as law is concerned, as old-school VCR recording.

Many were quick to describe Optus's win as a triumph for consumers.

But it must be remembered that elite sports are funded by organisations that pay hundreds
of millions of dollars for broadcast rights. Without that funding, there would be no elite
sport to broadcast, regardless of legal copyright decisions.

And without funding to elite sport, there is little or no incentive to invest in sports
at the grassroots suburban level.



A Federal Court decision allowing Optus to show AFL games to its mobile phone customers
has far-reaching consequences, the Herald Sun says.

The paper says while the decision threatens the AFL's broadcast rights deal with Telstra,
it is a case of the law catching up with technology.

The editorial says that whole Telstra is unlikely to immediately tear up its $153 million
digital rights contract with the AFL, all sports broadcasting contracts are likely to
be looked at again because of this ruling.

"Not only are AFL football and rugby league contracts affected, this year's broadcast
rights for the London Olympics may also be in question," said the Herald Sun.

"Billion-dollar deals can be overturned by technology that provides electronic products
unimaginable when copyright laws were drawn up."

It said that with the growth of technology comes the need for fairness as well as internet
freedom to download whatever you read, see or hear.



Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition leader Tony Abbott have given their first
major speeches of the year in the past two days and neither have managed to explain how
they will pay for their promises, The Age said.

The paper said Australians are no clearer about how a government led by Tony Abbott
would manage to subsidise dental care while simultaneously reducing taxes.

And the public is now wiser about how Julia Gillard's new portfolio of
industry and innovation will work with her manufacturing taskforce to ensure the survival
of the car industry as well as lift productivity and build the new economy.

The speeches are all about webs of oratory and political
point-scoring but do not inspire genuine confidence that the bright future each promises
can be realised, sais The Age.

The paper said it was cheered by Mr Abbott's plan to extend Medicare to cover dentistry
but to offer it as an aspiration is to offer nothing.

"Being fixated on a surplus means neither leader has been a able to articulate what
fundamental economic changes would be in Australia's longterm-best interests," The Age
said.

"Both leaders need clearer plans for the long term, regardless of which party is in
power after the next election."



AAP jxt/jfm

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