The Hip-pocket Nervous
THE SUNDAY AGE
Sunday January 28, 1996
You say the economy is the most important issue of the election.
Three families explain why. Darren Gray reports.
THE HAWKINS FAMILY, BUNDOORA.
Barry, 40, Rita, 39, Cerise, 10, Monet, 8, Marlee, 6.
BARRY AND RITA HAWKINS, for the first time, intend to vote Liberal in a federal election. Mr Hawkins says it is because of stale policies. Mrs Hawkins says the Coalition deserves a chance.
The Hawkinses, whose three daughters attend a Government primary school, say they are concerned about the girls' employment prospects and whether or not they will be able to afford private health insurance as adults.
Mr Hawkins describes the family's financial position as sound and they are not repaying a home loan. He says 13 years of ALP rule have not left the family any worse off and Mrs Hawkins says the child endowment they receive has been a ``wonderful" help but expects it to cut out soon as their joint income rises.
Mr Hawkins is a project manager with Telstra and Mrs Hawkins teaches secretarial studies part time at a Tafe college.
Mr Hawkins is worried by the Coalition's plan to privatise a third of Telstra.
He fears that a foreign enterprise could buy Telstra and restrain the national carrier's growth in Asia because of its own competing interests.
He has reservations about some people who would be key ministers in a Coalition Government but says that Mr Howard has always impressed him. He has more doubts about members of the present Government.
Although he did not vote for him, Mr Hawkins says he supported Dr John Hewson's GST and now believes the ALP has a de facto GST via a broad indirect tax base. He notes that Mr Keating, when he was Treasurer, favored a consumption tax.
The couple applaud the Coalition's indications that it would introduce incentives for people to take up private health insurance.
Mrs Hawkins says she believes the Prime Minister has ``botched a lot of things up, like the deficit" and she thinks Mr Howard might be ready to assume the leadership mantle.
THE SNOWSILL FAMILY, CAMBERWELL.
Tony, 50, Margaret, 50, Angelique, 19, Ben, 14.
TONY SNOWSILL is the archetypal swinging voter. He has voted ALP, Liberal, Australian Democrats, Democratic Labor Party and informal.
With the election campaign one day old, he remains true to character, saying he will not decide how he will vote until the last minute.
The Snowsills are in the blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Kooyong.
Mrs Snowsill is engaged in home duties and Mr Snowsill is an accountant with the Australian Taxation Office.
The Snowsills, who are in a ``comfortable" financial situation, have three vehicles in the family. After 30 years, there is not much left to pay on their home loan but, Mr Snowsill says, it is still sometimes a struggle to meet a repayment.
Mr Snowsill says the Keating Government has done reasonably well at managing the economy. He blames many of the country's economic problems on the widespread corporate greed of the 1980s and is critical of large corporations that go to great length to minimise tax bills.
The recession was not the Government's fault, he argues.
``Of course, everyone blames the Government, but I don't think the Government could do much about it at all." Mr Snowsill says that the unemployment rate is the economic concern that most worries him as a father of two. Although he believes unemployment is ``destroying" too many lives, he says the Keating Government has done the best it could in managing it.
The Keating Government has also done ``fairly well" in restraining inflation.
Mrs Snowsill voted for Mr Keating in 1993 but this year, she says, she will vote for Mr Howard. The Keating Government, she says, is ``not doing too much for the country" and ``it doesn't hurt to have a change of government".
THE WALKER FAMILY, EAST BENTLEIGH.
Ross, 34, Jackie, 28, Emily 19 months.
ROSS AND JACKIE WALKER say they will be voting for the Coalition.
They have both voted ALP before but now believe a change is required.
They have a 19-month-old daughter, Emily, and Mrs Walker is 41/2-months pregnant. Mr Walker manages a factory trading in plastic-manufacturing machinery. Mrs Walker is home with Emily.
The Walkers, who have no child care or creche expenses, say it is often a battle to meet bills because they receive only one wage. ``Some weeks the wage is gone as soon as I get it," Mr Walker says. He has been considering the possibility of taking a second job. However, the Walkers do enjoy the benefits of a company vehicle, which they are free to use on weekends.
Mr Walker, who believes that the Coalition would be better for big and small business, is considering opening his own business with a friend. It is a move he would be less likely to make under another Keating Government.
``Tax relief and provisional tax, that sort of thing, would be better under a Liberal Government than a Labor Government, " he says. ``It's just bloody impossible at the moment."
Mr Walker says his family should be given an allowance because they have decided that Mrs Walker should stay at home to rear children. He also wants a personal income tax reduction.
On inflation, Mr Walker says the Keating Government has performed well but believes world economic circumstances have helped Australia maintain a low inflation rate. Mr Walker is disappointed with the Keating Government's efforts to reduce unemployment.
If the Coalition is elected, Mr Walker expects Mr Howard to ``tighten the purse strings" in the short term in the way the Kennett Government did in Victoria.
He does expect confrontation between unions and the Coalition.
© 1996 THE SUNDAY AGE