Money, Money, Money, Must be Funny, in a Rich Man’s World...

The political right has called upon Australian citizens to stand up and share the burden of government expenses, in a move they call the "debt levy". It is true however, that we are entering a crisis, following countries like the US, Greece, and Italy with our massive debt. That is, debt that is less than 30% of our G.D.P. whereas debts for the U.S. are over 80% of their G.D.P. and Greece and Italy had their debts over 120% of their G.D.P.. Yeah, sure, we are in a very big crisis. This so called "crisis" has been exaggerated by misinformed federal politicians who would rather see their pockets being filled after an agreed upon raise in their income by over $195,130, instead of supporting cuts. These cuts could be in the form of cuts towards paying the ever growing list of ex-prime ministers and ex-premiers, the superannuation fund for politicians or even a change in the Paid Parental Scheme. I'm not saying that the debt should not being reduced, but a direct tax, yes it’s a tax Tony, is not the answer.

A simple system that was proved successful in raising revenue for the government has been indirect taxes by the Labor government. The introduction of the mining tax and later onwards the carbon tax, saw revenue being raised through means of taxing those who could afford to share this "burden". Yet, only recently we saw both of these effective taxes removed and instead this debt tax, aimed towards the general population, was introduced. Not only was revenue raised through these logical means but the environment was put at the forefront of Australia's mindset. Christina Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, spoke out about the Abbott governments view on global warming and climate change "Australia was very much at the forefront, Australia was pioneering in this field and I would hope that it continues to be a pioneer," Ms Lagarde said in an interview in Paris before the G20 summit. Yes Brandis, the head of the IMF knows that climate change is real, the science shows it so too, so why do you keep suggesting that there needs to be debate on the existence of climate change?

Instead of investing in the future and making sure that alternative energy receives the funding it needs, the Abbott government found importance in the luxurious renovations at Kirribilli house. It was reported by news.com.au in January that hitherto over $120,000 was spent on the renovation job. This included $13,000 on a rug, $24,343 on floor coverings and $19,443 was spent on the roof! All this money was sourced from taxpayer’s dollars. It seems that the government is no stranger from dipping into our money for their luxurious improvements. Labor in their time in government power did no better. Remember the stream of politicians found to be using public dollars for things such as hiring escorts? Or more recently from the Liberals, the spending of taxpayers money on tickets to fly politicians to and from their colleagues weddings? 

The Liberal government still has some time before the release of the budget to alter some things here and there. Brave as they may be to introduce this tax, the implications would be far worse than they see. Their aim is to return to a budget surplus and mind you, I don’t think anyone would disagree with this aim. But if its' target is a 1% surplus in 2023-4 they might as well reduce spending first on idiotic things such as carpets for a house that has been left unused. Instead of cutting funding to the ABC, SBS or our very important education system, they might want to buy less toy planes for the PM. Even removing the so called direct action plan for climate change - that sees the government paying large companies as a suggesting to reduce pollution (honestly, they are just going to take the money and pollute more) - would see decreases in spending. The Liberal government has in the past been the party that has had a very good grip on fiscal policy, a reputation that was in its flourish under the Howard government, but this new liberal party is not living up to its reputation. Maybe it’s because the public want more collective goods or maybe it’s because the 1% aren’t nearly being taxed enough. I guess it’s what you were left with when the other party left office? You poor, poor, things. 

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