Helen Heaney

Mostly here to check out news about politics, coercive control, and inclusive education.

[Aaron Smith @aaronsmith]

Thank you, Dave. I appreciate you reaching out to ask what you got wrong.

The clip we’re discussing is less than 90 seconds long. What I’m about to do demonstrates Brandolini's Law: where the amount of energy required to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude greater than that required to produce it. Or, in this case, it takes around 600 words to correct 90 seconds of your economic fan fiction.

1⃣ Between 0 and 30 seconds

You begin by confusing government debt with the Future Fund and appear to suggest that the Future Fund can't exist along side Govt debt.

They’re different things. One can exist without the other, and in Australia they do.

Australia's Future Fund was established in 2006 with an initial govt investment of about $60B. Its first annual report, in 2008, showed assets of around $64 billion - not the $100B you suggested.

Then, at around 27 seconds, you talk about the Future Fund as though it ceased to exist (you used the word 'had' as in past tense).

It still very much exists Dave. In fact, it's grown every single year since it was created. Today it's worth around $270 billion, or over $330 billion once the other funds under management are included (eg Medical Research / Housing Australia / Drought).

So before we're even 30 seconds into the clip you've managed to confuse government debt, the Future Fund, its size, and whether it still exists.

That’s a lot of economic history to get wrong in under 30 seconds.

2⃣ Around 32 seconds

You then claim Kevin Rudd used the Future Fund to "flush money through the economy".

Again, that’s simply false. The Future Fund wasn't used to fund the stimulus. It wasn't used to build school halls. It wasn’t used for any of the things you’re describing. In your defence, you do briefly flirt with the possibility that you don’t actually know what you’re talking about. Sadly, it was a very short-lived relationship.

The GFC stimulus was funded through government borrowing.

For context, construction approvals were collapsing, more than a million Australians worked in construction, and the objective was to stop unemployment exploding during the worst global financial crisis in generations.

You're welcome to argue that was the wrong policy (but you didn't). You’re not entitled to rewrite where the money came from.

3⃣ At about 44 seconds

You say, "I might be wrong".

I concede you were correct during this part of the video.

4⃣ From 44 seconds onwards

You make a series of broad claims about the GFC response.

Yes, government debt increased. That's true.

What you omit is that Australia's stimulus largely went directly to households rather than primarily rescuing financial institutions, as happened in many other countries.

The aim was simple: keep people spending, businesses operating and Australians employed while global demand collapsed. It's known as counter-cyclical fiscal policy.

Whether you agree with it politically is your business.

The specific outcome for Australia isn't contested though - Australia was one of only two economies in the OECD to avoid recession during the Global Financial Crisis. There's no reality where that wasn’t a comparatively impressive outcome.

The money didn’t need to "trickle down". The entire point was that it started at the bottom.

5⃣ Government debt

Throughout the clip (and in life generally) you repeatedly return to the theme Labor is responsible for Australia’s debt (which btw is comparatively low).

Here are the actual numbers of net debt added by each Govt since 2007.

> Rudd/Gillard: about $190 billion over six years.
> Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison: about $366 billion over nine years, around two-thirds of which pre-dated COVID.
> Albanese: about $75 billion over four years.

Those figures don’t support the story you've been telling people. And that’s really the issue.

This isn't about getting one date wrong or misremembering one statistic. Nearly every claim in your 90-second clip turns out to be either wrong or misleading.

If you're going to publicly lecture Australians about economic history, the bare minimum expectation is that you’ve first acquainted yourself with it.

Because once the errors have been pointed out, as they have been to you multiple times, every repetition stops looking like an accident and starts looking like a strategy.

Given your very public coffee with Angus Taylor last week, perhaps people are entitled to ask what that strategy might be.

[David Milner @DaveMilbo]

How are we to take seriously a religious movement that is furious about Trump’s blasphemous AI jesus post but totally chill with all the pedophilia, all the genocide, all the fascism, all the extra judicial murders, all the ecocide, all the rape and blackmail?

[David Milner @DaveMilbo]

Here's me. "What the fuck was that?!"
https://t.co/j39G4G3Aok

[WDI.Afghanistan @WDIAfghanistan1]

Afghanistan women secretly speak:

"We are not humans."

"We do not have feelings."

"We have nothing."

"We have to go out with a man."

"We can't talk outside."

"We can't talk loudly inside our home."

"Women and girls are banned from education rights."

"Save Afghan women."💔

[Jonathan Pie @JonathanPieNews]

A Royal Reckoning.

[Samantha Smith @SamanthaTaghoy]

Without Virginia Guiffre, the world’s most powerful sex ring may never have been exposed

Without Virginia, countless other victims may never have spoken out

Without Virginia, the Epstein Files may never have seen the light of day

God bless Virginia Guiffre.
God rest her soul.

[David Shoebridge @DavidShoebridge]

Kath and Jenny lost their sons following illegal robodebts, the ongoing secrecy of the NACC is compounding their trauma. They deserve answers and accountability.

[Helen Heaney @hghson]

@leisasalmons @RobertaFresque2 It’s the small pox vaccine not TB

[Helen Heaney @hghson]

@RobertaFresque2 Yes, it was part of the vaccination program in Australia when I was young. Thanks to the world’s scientists for helping us learn, keeping us informed and safe 💪🏼

[stranger @strangerous10]

Dr Monique Ryan calls out the Liberal Party’s use of “Brethrens” to win votes at prepolls saying people would be concerned about Liberals “aligning themselves with an organisation that doesn’t believe in evolution”
Suggests Sky reporter go over & ask Amelia Hamer about it🔥

[Cory Booker @CoryBooker]

Donald Trump is making a deliberate attempt to overwhelm the system, and to overwhelm you. It can be difficult to keep up. And that’s by design.

But we can keep up – and respond. Here’s what he’s doing, and what it means for you. Just the facts. 🧵⤵️

[Helen Heaney @hghson]

@MrMagoo92023 @Lyshrose @Richard_D_Boyle @GuyBarnett @felix_ellis @jeremyrockliff Ugh what a hideous human. I see him displaying ‘poor me syndrome’ with his crutches, now he’s being held accountable. That’s part of the playbook!

[Australian Femicide Watch @MapFemicide]

A terminally ill woman died in hospital on Monday evening, after she was assaulted by her male partner at her home in Currimundi on the Sunshine Coast, Qld. The male is charged and fronted a court on Monday.

[Kim Willsher @kimwillsher1]

Gisèle Pelicot has made a statement leaving the court:
Her voice did break at a couple of moments but she was clear and composed. Apologies for clumsy translation:
"It is with profound emotion that I speak to you today. It was a very difficult ordeal...

[Peter Fox 🦊 @Peter_Fox59]

Rebel Wilson awarded $4.7m for being called a liar, Geoffrey Rush $2.9m, now Moira Deeming $300k for being call a Nazi sympathiser. Damages based on words.
Why are survivors of years of actual child rape only awarded a fraction of these sort of damages? https://t.co/rlXONP570l

[YSL STANDARDS @YSLstandards]

Gisèle Pelicot graces the cover of vogue germany, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

[Helen Heaney @hghson]

@Matt_Pinner @DGLloyd5