Brendan blames flat retail sales on cost of living pressures

Plasma is still far superior for watching fast moving action such as sports, the 6 series Panasonic plasma is your friend.

Grail said :

Anyone who thinks electricity is expensive in Canberra need only step across the border. They pay 28c/kWh vs our 16.7c/kWh.

Encouraging Canberrans feeling financial pressure to eliminate unnecessary spending seems to me to be a great idea. Don’t spend beyond your means, isn’t that one of the basic lessons in balancing a home budget?

Spot on, both points. NSW power prices have been spiralling up for the past few years, and that’s not carbon pricing, that’s funding the building of more power lines and stations for increased demand (more people and more air conditioners).

And nowadays, people seem to start crying cost of living pressures while retaining luxuries which they evidently regard as essentials. I wish more politicians would start to grow some guts and tell people to stop expecting the government to fund their lifestyles. Hope springs eternal.

I didn’t even notice Brendan’s utterance. As soon as they say “families”, I tune out. They don’t mean me.

Tetranitrate said :

You’re showing your age gramps, it’s been a good half decade or so since Plasma Screens were actually particularly expensive.

You’re both showing your age. Everyone knows that LED TV’s are where it’s at. Plasma screens are surely only half a step above rear projection in this day and age!

GottaLoveCanberra said :

You can’t do that! It’ll infringe upon their right to spend stupidly and then blame everyone from in front of their massive plasma screen tv’s but themselves when times get tough.

You’re showing your age gramps, it’s been a good half decade or so since Plasma Screens were actually particularly expensive.
-as a quick goggle reveals
http://www.myshopping.com.au/PT–99_Television_TV_Plasma_TV__fs_564_e__

It’s amazing how long this stupid ‘dem young people spend all their money on plasmas!’ meme has lasted… I mean it’s classic projection of course, the people who were actually buying the 10+k early plasma screen TV’s in the early 00s were cashed up baby boomer property speculators, but a reasonable person would have expected it to have died a dignified death by now given that Plasma screen TV’s aren’t actually particularly expensive compared to other major household furnishings or appliances.

High rents (in Canberra, not so bad elsewhere) and absurd property prices(everywhere) mean a lot of people have bugger all to spend afterwards. Nobody much is buying into the scam anymore though, there’s no more ‘wealth effect’ on consumption spending now that property prices are falling. It’s over, retail is screwed nationwide and doubly so in Canberra.

BS Smyth. The cost of living and and those services you refer to, would be the same if not more under a Liberal Govt. Attempting to scare voters wont work for those with a memories of your parties performance when running the ACT Economy.

Please feel free to explain to the ACT residents, where you are going to reduce the charges for those services you refer to for example.

Grail said :

Anyone who thinks electricity is expensive in Canberra need only step across the border. They pay 28c/kWh vs our 16.7c/kWh.

Encouraging Canberrans feeling financial pressure to eliminate unnecessary spending seems to me to be a great idea. Don’t spend beyond your means, isn’t that one of the basic lessons in balancing a home budget?

You can’t do that! It’ll infringe upon their right to spend stupidly and then blame everyone from in front of their massive plasma screen tv’s but themselves when times get tough.

Anyone who thinks electricity is expensive in Canberra need only step across the border. They pay 28c/kWh vs our 16.7c/kWh.

Encouraging Canberrans feeling financial pressure to eliminate unnecessary spending seems to me to be a great idea. Don’t spend beyond your means, isn’t that one of the basic lessons in balancing a home budget?

I don’t think even the omnipowerful Gallagher can depress retail spending across the non-mining parts of the country, and possibly even large parts of the Western world.