Julia
In Memoriam
- Joined
- 10 May 2005
- Posts
- 16,986
- Reactions
- 1,973
Unjustified and gratuitous personal assumption there.
Unjustified and gratuitous personal assumption there.How about we freeze your pension for a start?
The ABC didn't stop there,On "Insiders" today, when that photo was screened and mention made of the article in Harpers Bazaar, Fran Kelly still had to make it all about Julia Gillard, commenting that Ms Bishop's suggestion that women should just get on with it and stop whining was actually a barb directed at Gillard's misogyny speech.
It was a remark on a par with her support for those who booed Abbott and Howard at the Gough memorial.
What nonsense. Julie Bishop is not disposed to be part of the feminazi brigade and doesn't need to be precious or over-sensitive. She does exactly as she suggests, and just gets on with her job. Great role model imo.
ABC24 asks an odd and oddly negative - question:
If all the money raised was spent on roads etc then fuel excise could be considered as a means of paying for that infrastructure mostly by those who use it. But in practice, there's a very loose link between excise and road funding such that it is in practice and energy tax more than a road funding tax.
Politically, the fuel pain will arrive at some future time when oil prices go up and the AUD has dropped. That's when we'll hear the screams about excise. In the meantime, government is basically (in a political sense) taking advantage of falling oil prices to raise a tax at a time when petrol prices aren't much of an issue politically.
It really is hard to see where our growth is going to come from, we are a high taxing, high wages, high energy cost economy.
Add to that, the fact it is much more efficient to transport raw iron ore, than processed steel.
Then throw in the fact we are a very small market and it really is complicated.
Then supplying one of the best welfare, health and education systems in the world.
Also the highest priced housing, indexed pensions, tax free super, concesionally treated savings and tax deductable investment loans.
Then you have the Federal and State Government costs with the members and their staff, cars, perks and costs.
Add to that the unfunded cost of the Federal and State retired members and their tax free indexed super, plus perks.
Seems like the elastic band is stretched somewhat.lol
Even if taxes are increased in the select areas, the underlying problem of supplying welfare and low personal tax rates has to have some underlying growth to support it.
Where that first world economy is going to come from, to support our first world lifestyle, I certainly can't see it.
John Oliver had a memorable way of putting it when he was examining how US states use lottery taxes to fund education yesterday.
"Money in state budgets tends to move around a lot. Trying to add money for just one purpose is a bit like trying to piss in one corner of a swimming pool. It's going to go all over the place, no mater what you claim."
Pretty much the same when a Government tries to hypothecate revenue and spending to specific areas.
I think that would be news to Swan.
Yes, true.
A way around this problem is for the Federal government to take over some State responsibilities like Kevin Rudd proposed to do with the public hospitals, but on which Labor lost its bottle after they threw Rudd out.
No more blame game over the health system, the Feds are responsible for the lot, and the States have large amounts of revenue freed up that they could use for other things.
But of course, we won't see this under an Abbott government, because they are lazy and they don't want more responsibility in case they stuff up.
Using more efficient taxes would actually help the economy because you could reduce the headline tax rates and still achieve the revenue goals. Company and pay roll taxes lose around 40c in the dollar collected. Lower them and replace with land tax that has a 2c in the dollar loss and you could drop company taxes. Broaden the GST and reduce income taxes and kill off inefficient state taxes like stamp duty.
The promises made during the past election have hamstrung the Govt in their potential options to meet the challenges we're facing. No one forced themt o make so many rash promises. How does one increase spending, reduce the deficit, lower taxes all while the economy is slowing and the participation rate continues it's decline? I'd say either you're lying, or if you believe that's possible, then you shouldn't be responsible for the local raffle, let alone the Australian economy.
I believe those luxury lurks and perks are about to be cut and not before time.
We have stopped making things here because of the high cost of wages, increased annual leave, leave loading, penalty rates etc. etc. thanks to the unions dating back to the 50's..we are now paying the price......we would need a wage freeze for the next ten years and back to 40 hours a week and do a fair days work for a fair days pay if we were to become competitive again.......not that it is likely to happen.
The tax system is going to require a major make over, both sides need to get over the childish crap and address the problem.
The tax system is going to require a major make over, both sides need to get over the childish crap and address the problem.
Unless the polliticians and the media stop this current circus, consumer confidence is going to be non existent.
While they are all have fun with the argy bargy, the general public know the situation is worsening, they also know it isn't going to improve without changes.
Your last paragraph just highlights how important it is to have a shot at Abbott, rather than just getting on with repairing the issues. It basically undermines your first paragraph, if the tax system needs fixing, fix it, who cares if someone called it wrong, sack him. But that wouldn't be enough, everyone obviously wants him up on the cross, it borders on blood lust.IMO
I must admit I was surprised the mining and carbon taxes were repealed, when it could have added heaps of cash to treasury and the LNP could claim it was ALP legacy. Simply insulting Clive everytime it came up for repeal would have ensured it lasted forever and the ALP forever dogged by it.
We are actually a quite low energy cost country. Electricity wholesale prices have been on a downward trend for around a decade. We're very competitive in terms of wholesale electricity prices. We're not competitive in the distribution networks or the retail side.
Half the problem we have is the fact Abbott has backed himself into a corner in terms of tax reform and being able to take action NOW.
He either has to wait to the next election or he has to break promises.
So far he's wiggling around semantics with an excise not being a tax increase, or increasing costs in other ways.
I'd have more respect for Abbott if he'd do what's needed and take the flack for breaking his ill thought promises. The fact he's in a near holding pattern for 3 years doesn't bode well for us.
Genuine tax reform… requires more than an across the board cut in tax rates – it is about improving the structure of the tax system to reduce the cost that raising revenue imposes on the economy. In other words, it is as much about how much revenue is raised, as how it is raised.
The government was committed to “more realistic long-term assumptions on the economic and fiscal outlook
It is a matter of record that the previous government invariably overestimated revenue and underestimated expenditure. They kept promising surplus budgets and kept delivering more deficits. Our core commitment with this budget update is to draw a line in the sand as the Treasurer said and to provide a believable set of figures
Well if there had been a Coalition government for the last five years, Kieran, I think most people accept that we would have had continuing surpluses
It's all relative and then there's the senate.maybe Joe needs to take on board what Treasury Secretary Martin Parkinson said earlier in the year:
Though I doubt Joe will want to remember his own uttering as a newly minted treasurer
or Mathias Corman
or Christopher Pynes humdinger back in 2011
not quite so easy in Government as when you're a non responsibility opposition.
not quite so easy in Government as when you're a non responsibility opposition.
My guess, Abbott has to fall on his sword, he has made a target on his back with the no new taxes, Labor and the media have hung on it, like a dog on an ear.
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