Today's new wealth tax

Like you said bluestorm, nobody's whinging about donating./ helping, just the mis mangement of money !!

I'm whining because it annoys me how many govt's solution to this sort of thing (and yes Liberal as well as Labor) is to whack everyone with another levy. I especially like it when it's called "temporary" a la our River Murray Levy. A one off few $B isn't a huge amount in the bigger picture of Australian govt.'s budget and revenues and shouldn't necessitate the imposing of yet another levy.
 
I agree with Gordon and sasha and Mark etc

BUT

I keep remembering

that complaining about politicians is pretty important a past time for the masses....


then of course, I remember how different we are from the masses.... and realise that could possibly be case here... knee jerk complaining... of course not..... bloody politicians....

As said, on deeper reflection I love the tax as it delays the much more deadly - here it is - interest rate hike !!!! :eek::eek::eek:

Not sure why property investors would complain. Other people though, should be really worried about subsidising me and other geared investors.
 
It isn't about whinging & it isn't about spending the $, it is about holding the government to account on economic management or the lack thereof... are we that blind around here??? :rolleyes:
I think this point may have been heard if it had been made in a thread called "Government economic mismanagement", initiated prior to the announcement of the flood levy. ;)
 
The difference is, that even with the tax concessions, many of us pay more in household combined tax than the average yearly income of the majority of the population. So we still pay more than our fair share.

But I agree with FormerLurker. Have a flat rate of tax (like Singapore at 15%), and get rid of deductions. That way everyone pays the same.

Sickens me listening to Gillard's go on about the "mates" tax. If we are all "mates" of QLD, why aren't the low income earners "mates" as well?

Canada is a flat 25% for nonresidents on rental properties...or you can do the extra paperwork,filing as any other taxpayer.(in case anyone decides to invest there)
 
Awesome isn't it?

I pay an absolute BUCKET LOAD on many different types of insurances every year to make sure I'm covered in pretty much every way possible. Now I get to kick in to a levy for those who don't pay insurance.

Whilst the $ figure isn't that big a deal, the principle really irks me. Maybe I should just cancel all my policies and put my hand out if anything ever happens. :confused:

Unless you think the government should insure all its infrastructure (which insurance company were you thin of them going to?), then you're talking out your ***.
The levy is to rebuild government infrastructure, donations are for directly helping affected people survive and rebuild.
 
Think if you look at history that most, if not all of the levies were during the early period of the Howard Govt' whilst they were paying off the debt inherited from the Hawke/Keating years.........

Ahh...the John Howard as "small government, fiscal conservative myth".

Regrettably the facts are that Howard almost completely squandered (what then looked like) a once in a lifetime opportunity to leverage the boom into long-term structural change in Australia. This was to be expected from an indvidual who was a disaster as Treasurer in the Fraser government and a life long politician who understood that politics is about staying in government first, and the long-term interests ofthe nation second.

He was profligacy made flesh.

But for the competence and discipline of Costello and the hard-heads in Treaasury, he would have pissed it all up against the wall.

Let's rememebr that over the period more than $50B in assets we sold off, the bureaucracy FTE grew by 60%, and government p.a. spending in real terms grew 20%.

Frankly, from a fiscal perspective, from about 2002 he lost the plot. As the fear of losing his grip on the top job kicked in, he resorted to type. A mining boom kicks off and he starts shovelling money out the door to all and sundry. I mean, industry assistance spending accelerated up when the boom was in full swing!

Costello could see it coming and had he manned up and challenged the worst excesses of Howard might have been curtailed.
 
Last edited:
Ahh...the John Howard as "small government, fiscal conservative myth".

Regreattably the facts are that Howard almost completely squandered (what then looked like) a once in a lifetime opportunity to leverage the boom into long-term structral change in Australia. This was to be expected from an indvidual who was a disaster as Treasurer in the Fraser government and a life long politician who understood that politics is about staying in government first, and the long-term interests ofthe nation second.

He was profligacy made flesh.

Absolutely spot on - the wasted years. And not unlike his hero Menzies who failed to further develop Australian industry during the 1950s boom but preferred to continue to ride on the sheep's back.

As the years pass since his removal, the false aura around Howard will undoubtedly dissipate and he will be justly remembered as the blight upon the prime minister-ship that he was.
 
Ahh...the John Howard as "small government, fiscal conservative myth".

Regreattably the facts are that Howard almost completely squandered (what then looked like) a once in a lifetime opportunity to leverage the boom into long-term structral change in Australia. This was to be expected from an indvidual who was a disaster as Treasurer in the Fraser government and a life long politician who understood that politics is about staying in government first, and the long-term interests ofthe nation second.

He was profligacy made flesh.

But for the competence and discipline of Costello and the hard-heads in Treaasury, he would have pissed it all up against the wall.

Let's rememebr that over the period more than $50B in assets we sold off, the bureaucracy FTE grew by 60%, and government p.a. spending in real terms grew 20%.

Frankly, from a fiscal perspective, from about 2002 he lost the plot. As the fear of losing his grip on the top job kicked in, he resorted to type. A mining boom kicks off and he starts shovelling money out the door to all and sundry. I mean, industry assistance spending accelerated up when the boom was in full swing!

Costello could see it coming and had he manned up and challenged the worst excesses of Howard might have been curtailed.

Yes that's about it,. but that's not what the news reports say, so not what people want to hear cause it means that there is no straighht easy obvious answer and solution to everything like people obviously want to beleive. We just want to complain and blame someone else and you're making it too hard with all your logic and truth......

Bascially, can I assume that like me, a lot of the whinging is due to 1 important fact:

I dont have enough money and I've not made enough money and I'm not sure if I'm going to make enough money & other people are making it even harder !!!

The multi millionaire statesemn whose intention is to altruistically fix the country up for a better future are exempted of course, but somehow...;)
 
and whilst I don't necessarily have a problem with a one off levy, as others have indicated, this is not likely to be removed after the one year period elapses.

hmmm - reminds me of some reading i did a few years back where the land tax levy was supposed to be only a one year levy (waaaaay back in the 1800's) to pay for some british war ... that levy is still going 150 years later.

or the levy on hunter residences to pay for a dam that was neither required or wanted - or even approved by government at the time the levy went on - and now that building the dam has been quash, the levy will remain as an "infrustructure levy" to build local road etc ... so ... not only those in the hunter pay massive coal royalties and get back way less than the state average per person of government spending ... and already pay a levy thru our green slip insurance to pay for road construction in sydney ... we now also have to pay again for our own construction.

i'm not against paying a levy to fix queensland infrastructure ... if there was some sort of guarantee that all the money would be spent on such, at a resonable cost (unlike the schools ripoff) instead of going into "general coffers".
 
hmmm - reminds me of some reading i did a few years back where the land tax levy was supposed to be only a one year levy (waaaaay back in the 1800's) to pay for some british war ... that levy is still going 150 years later.
This levy will be limited to one year. There is however a strong push for a permanent disaster fund to be set up.

i'm not against paying a levy to fix queensland infrastructure ... if there was some sort of guarantee that all the money would be spent on such,
They are promising full accountability of the money. We will see.

at a resonable cost (unlike the schools ripoff) instead of going into "general coffers".
At least we got something for the BER money. Try the Sea Sprites for a complete ****-up.
 
I have wondered so many times just how so few, especially in these places, manage to see those things about Howard yrs being financial people, so thanks for reminding people .
And, not to mention the amount of pensions that were cut , cut backs on hospitals and schools yet fees tripling, just watch our so called skilled shortage over the next few yrs now , and invalids being forced to work . war veteran pensions being chopped , just to name a few .
To only have 20 billion left over last term yet with the massive windfalls and stolen cash he had was pretty bloody pathetic I thought.
He was also sprung keeping the petrol excites ,for years , huge extra bucks there alone.

Ahwell
 
Last edited:
Back
Top