In his first major speech on the economy since his Labor party swept John Howard's conservatives out of office in November, Rudd pledged to slash government spending to produce a huge budget surplus.
The target would be a surplus of 1.5 percent of gross domestic product in the financial year to June 2009 Cameron Sutton Steelers Jersey , he said -- about 18 billion dollars (15.8 billion US dollars).
At the same time, the government has vowed to honour election pledges for 31 billion dollars in tax cuts.
Rudd told business leaders at a breakfast meeting in Perth that Australia faced "conflicting economic currents."
These were: "A global economy (led by the United States) which appears to be slowing. An ongoing terms of trade boom driven by Asia Pacific economies. And significant domestic inflationary pressures at home."
Accusing the outgoing government of having allowed these pressures to build Joe Haden Steelers Jersey , Rudd said his five-point plan included incentives to encourage private savings while tackling skills shortages and infrastructure bottlenecks.
Rudd, who described himself as a fiscal conservative during the election campaign Javon Hargrave Steelers Jersey , said producing the budget surplus -- up from the 1.0 percent target of the previous government -- would require discipline.
"That will require a determined, disciplined approach to spending and a hardline-approach to savings Sean Davis Steelers Jersey ," adding that his "razor gang" would cut wasteful spending.
Inflation is expected to exceed the Reserve Bank of Australia's target range of 2-3 percent this year, raising the prospect of further interest rate rises by the central bank.
Rates are at an 11-year high of 6.75 percent after two 25 basis point increases last year Artie Burns Steelers Jersey , and the effect on mortgage-belt voters is believed to have played a part in the ouster of the previous government.
Rudd noted that the downturn in the economic outlook in the US, Europe and Japan comes as strong growth in the Asia-Pacific region is continuing to drive demand for Australia's rich mineral and energy resources.
"Over coming years Maurkice Pouncey Steelers Jersey , developments in China will increasingly shape both global and Australian economic conditions," he said.
"The Indian economy has become one of our fastest growing export markets and is expected to continue to post impressive rates of economic growth.
"Combined Cameron Heyward Steelers Jersey , China and India accounted for around 40 percent of Australia's export value growth in 2006-07."
This economic expansion in the region had heightened the need for careful management of the domestic economy, he said.
"And the most pressing economic challenge domestically is inflation."
Source: http:afp.googlearticleALeqM5hiE_OyQf0kugnDjywo0gVUEnQc9Q
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SAN FRANCISCO， March 2 (Xinhua) -- Uber CEO Travis Kalanick apologized to all Uber employees in a note Tuesday evening after he was caught on a dashboard camera in a heated argument with a Uber driver.
"By now I'm sure you've seen the video where I treated an Uber driver disrespectfully. To say that I am ashamed is an extreme understatement，" said Kalanick in the note shortly after Bloomberg published the six-minute video obtained from Fawzi Kamel， driver of the company's high-end service Uber Black.
The video caught the verbal altercation in San Francisco between Kalanick and Kamel， who was angry like many other Uber drivers about plunging fares and lower pay.
The quarrel started when Kamel argued with Kalanick for "raising the standards" while "dropping the prices."
"I lost 97，000 (U.S.) dollars because of you. I'm bankrupt because of you，" Kamel complained， "You changed the whole business. You dropped the prices."
Kalanick answered back， "You know what? Some people don't like to take responsibility for their owns. They blame everything in their life on somebody else."
Kalanick climbed out of the car， spitting "good luck" behind him.
The video quickly sparked social media outrage and revived the campaign of #DeleteUber on Twitter.
Softened from his pugnacious mood in the video， Kalanick wrote in the note that the incident "cannot be explained away."
"It's clear this video is a reflection of me -- and the criticism we've received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up，" he wrote.
"This is the first time I've been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it，" he continued. "I want to profoundly apologize to Fawzi， as well as the driver and rider community， and to the Uber team."
Changes in Uber's business model have hurt the income of many Uber drivers， as the company lowered fares to remain competitive against other ride-sharing companies.
As Bloomberg noted， an Uber Black ride cost 4.90 dollars per mile in 2012， while it now costs 3.75 per mile.
"We started high-end. We didn't go low-end because we wanted to. We went low-end because we had to because we'd be out of business，" Kalanick said in the video.
ROCKY START OF YEAR
This is just the latest embarrassing story for Kalanick and Uber. The ride-hailing giant has been exposed in a string of negative press coverage over the past three months that all pointed the finger at its toxic corporate culture and dysfunctional management structure.
On Monday， Uber asked its new senior vice president of engineering to resign for failing to disclose a sexual harassment allegation against him at his former post at Google.
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