Who won the People’s forum… The Starts at 60 Worm said…

It was a long debate tonight on SKY News Channel 601, and the clear winner of the debate was the Australian public.

Watching this event it was clear our political system has not gone the way of the Americans in their recent campaigning and that ours may be destined for a little while longer to remain civil and tasteful.  It is something we can all be a little proud of.  No Trump here.  This was not even the ugly politics of the last five years.  Our politicians were both remarkably dignified.

The questions were fought over civilly and we’re looking for your feedback on where we sit our worm tonight. Which issues do you think were won by Shorten and which by Turnbull?

Why can’t the government allowed people to use their Superannuation to enter the housing market? 

The questioner posed that those earning under $80,ooo would like to be able to access their Superannuation Funds to buy a family home or pay off their home earlier than at Superannuation age.

Both parties said they had no plans to allow super to be used for housing deposits.

Turnbull said super is designed to provide greater dignity and comfort in retirement and early access would undermine that system.

“The purpose of superannuation is to provide for people in retirement… The whole purpose of it,” said Turnbull.

Will Labor’s Policy to change negative gearing push up rents?

The housing affordability crisis was Shorten’s response during which he confidently stated that he would change the negative gearing, not “cancel it”.  He said that only

Turnbull says Shorten’s threat to ban negative gearing will remove up to 30 percent of the buyers from the market, and that rents would go up and home values will go down.  He called it a reckless experiment with the biggest asset class in Australia.

Why are banks are able to raise interest rates independent of the official cash rate set by the RBA?

“We are very,very focused on ensuring our banks remain strong, they are highly regulated, and they provide a good service to Australia,” said Turnbull.

But Shorten disagreed saying “it is long overdue to have a Royal Commission into Australia’s banks.”

Mr Turnbull accused Bill Shorten of wanting  to “line up the banks as if they’re all criminals” but deplored that we need to be very careful what we wish for here. “We have a strong economy, but it needs clear, disciplined economic leadership.”

Is there anything you can do to help Families deal with the cost of childcare?

Shorten, who admitted he has not yet released his funding package on childcare, but said Labor has decided to adopt the same funding envelope as the Government, but they plan to offer it to people who earn up to 60/70-80k

Turn the two childcare benefits into one, and increase the subsidy on people under

Make sure that families on lower incomes so that more women can stay engaged with the workforce right throughout their lives.  Turnbull and Shorten debated over the timing of the childcare packages and both recognised that the lower end of the market were where their support would be

When are we going to pay off the debt? 

Shorten chose to list a few ways the Labor would save money in the budget.

Turnbull instead chose to accentuate his desire to drive economic growth faster than spending.  This question played into a strong close.

There was certainly other issues, and the onflowing social media we have given you a taste of below too.  But what really matters is your opinion.  Who do you think won the people’s forum tonight?