Labor has trashed its own brand by itself with no help from anyone. The PM who said she never wanted to be PM sits in Canberra. The Keanelly still gang runs loose in NSW raiding whats left in the public purse. Backflip Bartlett has gone home to look after the kids in Tassie ten months after being elected premier. Even Anna the heroine of the floods in Queensland has only recently finished selling off the family silver after a calling a sneaky election. The list of failures, backflips and looney schemes goes on and on. And yet we're meant to believe throwing away all of this political capital is Mr. Abbott's fault. Give us a break Ross.
SteveH. - February 02, 2011, 7:23AM
My 'pathological objection to paying more tax' is because our governments seem to have a pathological need to waste more money.
Child care rebates, first home buyer grants, BER, insulation schemes, paid maternity leave for $150K per year mums, failed submarine programs, useless secondhand US helicopters for the navy, funding programs for whatever vocal minority takes the news of the day.
Both sides do it, and we're sick of it. Get your hands out of my pockets nannies. When you've stopped wasting what you have, THEN and only THEN do you get to ask for more.
Perhaps to reason we are reluctant to accept a mandated Gillard Government levy is that we have seen the waste that occured under the Rudd Government of which Gillard was an integeral part.
The Home Insulation scheme, the BER , the various Green loans and schemes and while not directly related to the Federal Govt there is now news coming out about the poor administration of the Victorian Bushfire Recovery Fund.
Perhaps Australians would follow the leader if we trusted the leader.
To gain that trust the leader needs to at least appear to be competent.
Allan | Monaro - February 02, 2011, 7:29AM
I think that Ross overlooks the impact of modern technology and a more sophisticated population. People these days know far more about the quality of government decision making, and governments are often found wanting. I suspect the trend to question the quality of government spending really gained widespread public awareness in 1991, with the publicity given to Kerry Packer's appearance before a Senate Sub Committee where he said that "anyone in this country" who did not minimise their tax "wants his head read" because governments did not spend wisely enough to warrant taxpayers "donating extra".
FAIR GO | Queensland - February 02, 2011, 7:30AM
I donated, money that is and I want to give more. My issue is not so much a Government levy, it is that the bureaucracy will not change and a levy is to mop up much of their negligence. It is public servants who made the effect of the floods so much worse. They ignored warnings and legislated to build on flood plains. They are back to work now, doing it all over again so that it will be worse next time and the time after that. I would prefer a levy to fund a Royal Commission into planning so that bureaucrats will be forced to admit their negligence and so that we can rebuild to reduce the destruction caused by flooding rather than building to increase the destruction.
Sean | Sydney - February 02, 2011, 7:34AM
You simply do not get it. It is not about the money, it's the method and the questionable delivery if any Firstly you have the greatest mob of serial liars and economic incompetents wasting billions on bull**** feel good projects to appease the Greens and any other drongo that thinks they have a cause eg. Insulation schools cash for clunkers the NBN etc Then you have the 8 Plus Billion dollars in aid given for example in this case to Indonesia since christmas 2004/5 and all without a levy/tax why a levy/tax now. It boils down to this given of your own free will it is a gift or an act of charity taken by mandate by way of levy.tax with no option and then selectively and discriminatingly applied it is theft ...IT IS REALLY THAT SIMPLE having been forced by the Government to contribute I will now not lift a finger or donate a zac. It is me who works for and pays excessive taxes on my money and me who decides where it will go not some illegitimate Government led by an equally illegitimate Prime Minister trying to justify their position with no real claim to it all the while trying to buy votes to strengthen a very weak electoral position