Former prime minister John Howard has delivered a guarded rebuke to Tony Abbott, saying today's politicians rely too heavily on slogans and declaring Australians will support change and reform so long as they are satisfied it is ''fundamentally fair''.

Describing politics today as less ideological than in his time, the country's second longest-serving prime minister has observed: ''We sometimes lose the capacity to argue the case - we think that it sufficient that we utter slogans.''

Treasurer Joe Hockey has suggested the wives of senior government ministers may have kept their husbands in the dark about whether or not they "double-dipped" with their paid parental leave entitlements.

And in an extraordinary interview, Mr Hockey has suggested his own wife doesn't always tell him about their household finances but did not say why.

read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/maybe-their-wives-didnt-tell-them-joe-hockey-defends-ministers-doubledipping-on-paid-parental-leave-payments-20150518-gh3wdc

Bad excuses from Joe: "their wives did not tell them"... What a lot of rot. These are the sort of excuses used when one confess sins at the confessional. the game is to find a way to mitigate the importance of the sin not so much to minimise the "penalty" — usually worth a penance of two Hail-Marys — but mostly to minimise the size of our trespass in our own eyes. 

It's likely that Joe's wife does not tell Joe about the household finances because big Joe is too busy screwing the household finances for everyone else, though I would be prepared to accept that Joe's wife knows that Joe is not good with economics since he's not an economist, thus would screw things up should he fiddle with the household economy... Makes sense?

Some chosen views in the smh...

Joe Hockey opines that a booming economy where everyone has high-paying jobs will make housing affordable. The worrying implication is that he doesn't grasp elementary economics. What does he think would happen to house prices and interest rates?

Derek Bolton Birchgrove

Your reporters and editorial writers blame Treasurer Hockey's silly statements on "arrogance and disconnect from reality" ("Hockey's housing affordability horrors", June 10). They are wrong. Joe Hockey is on a deliberate mission to overtake former US vice-president Dan Quayle as the world's greatest gaffer.

Alan Slade Dover Heights

Good on Joe Hockey. In a show of great bipartisanship, Hockey performed an excellent encore to Paul Keating's "Go and get a job". I for one have tapped Hockey's deep vein of wisdom by advising my daughters to dress well, learn to cook and brush up on their Stepford wives in the hope of snaring a fine husband who can buy them a lovely house in Sydney.

Chris Andrew Turramurra

I must agree with Joe Hockey that people wishing to buy a house in Sydney should get a good job with a good salary. For instance you could become federal Treasurer, a role with no academic prerequisites that pays $365,870 a year, or just north of $7000 a week.

David Markham Flynn (ACT)

First, poor people don't drive cars, and now look for better jobs. Joe Hockey is a doppelclanger

It's good to see Joe Hockey shoring up the first home buyer vote for the party.

Bill Carpenter Bowral

It was refreshing to hear Joe Hockey enunciating the government's philosophy so clearly.

John Truman Stanmore

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-letters/joe-hockey-doesnt-grasp-simple-economics-20150610-ghkl9v.html

See toon at top... Then you know why...