Taxation
The Everyday Libertarian
In today's politically charged atmosphere, evangelical libertarians often stray into polarising debates around topics like firearms or drug legalisation. Is there a subtler, more effective approach? I suggest the “everyday libertarian mindset”. It involves reframing common complaints and concerns through the lens of smaller government and individual liberty. I often hear myself responding to complaints about government by saying “that’s why...
The Missing Ingredient – Assimilation
When Al Grassby was Immigration Minister in the Whitlam government in the early 1970s, he announced that multiculturalism was to be Australia’s future policy. Assimilation was over. There was a time when Australia actively promoted assimilation. It was the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and applied to Aborigines, varied by state and location, involved the removal of vulnerable children...
Forum Shopping for Native Title rights
The Rolling Stones were wrong: you can always get what you want if you are patient and the taxpayer foots the bill. And if you forum shop. So it was with a recent native title ‘victory’ at the High Court of Australia. The Court overturned a decision of the full court of the Federal Court of Australia. Native title holders at...
The New UAE Corporate Tax
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is famous for, among other things, zero tax. That ended this year. The UAE now has a 9% tax rate for all but a very few exempted industries. The implementation of a corporate tax is not because the UAE needs the money to build new roads, hospitals, schools or public facilities. The UAE is home...
The Misguided Quest for “Fair Share”
“Grab your torch and pitch-fork” was the rallying cry of the left in the recent debate over stage three tax cuts. And so the mob was led to follow a trail of sprinkled money to the door of high income earners to rob them of tax relief. In the debate over Australia's tax system, the concept of "fair share" has...
The Nation State
As another Australia Day passes, it gives us the opportunity to reflect on our national identity and what it truly means to be Australian with the number purporting to opt out of celebrating our national day increasing. CHANGE THE DATE 26 January 1788 marks the landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Union Jack in Sydney Harbour. While it...
What should the Australian Defence Force do?
Hint: the answer is in the name The Australian Defence Force (ADF) does lots of things it shouldn’t. Restrict the trading of others The Australian Defence Force (ADF) helps to enforce sanctions. It contributes in varying degrees to efforts to enforce sanctions endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, like sanctions against North Korea, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and various countries in Africa,...
Don’t Pay the Pied Piper
More than anything, government is incompetent. It is staffed by people who, by and large, have been or would be unsuccessful in the private sector – whether the receptionist at your local motor registration office or the Prime Minister of Australia. Ultimately, we are aware of this. However, thanks in part to television programs such as The West Wing and...
The Lure of Government Benevolence
Why is it that in many countries, including Australia, governments consistently spend more than they collect in taxes, thus increasing the national debt? Most governments understand that budgets should be balanced. They have seen what happens in countries that accumulate too much debt and cannot service it. And yet, the debt keeps growing. The explanation is rather uncomfortable for many of...
It Takes Two To Tango
Australia’s centrally planned economy is failing - intergenerational wealth gaps are widening, economic prospects are waning, and the side effects from the Reserve Bank’s (RBA) medicine are becoming worse than the disease. Inflation is a scourge, insidiously stealing wealth from those least able to protect themselves, and it benefits the least needy. We hear all sorts of explanations as to why...
