He says we must all tighten our belts. Does that include himself and all politicians who are amongst the highest paid in the world? When they agree to cuts in their wages and conditions we can start to believe he is genuine.

The fair and practical way to get the budget back to surplus is to get the money from those who both have it and can afford it.

Tax those earning high incomes up to 60¢ in the dollar as was done in the years of the Hawke and Keating Labor governments.

Joe Hockey’s statement that blames old age pensioners for putting serious stress on future budgets reminds me of an old saying. ‘‘It’s the rich that get the pleasure and it’s the poor that get the blame.’’