Taxation
The Rise of Citizen Journalism and Independent Media
Shortly after 4pm on the 27th of March, the X account @churPanic commenced a live broadcast on a mobile phone from the streets of Gisborne, New Zealand. Against a backdrop of community outrage at taxpayer-funded Rainbow Storytime in the local library, a pedestrian crossing had been whitewashed. Residents of this small North Island town were protesting at the repainting of...
Too Much Government
Expectations of the role of the government have been rising steadily over the last decade. They rose substantially during the eastern states’ bushfires in late 2019 and early 2020, and again in response to the floods that followed in NSW and Queensland. And they reached stratospheric levels during the Covid panic. Judged by the number of lives lost, those bushfires...
The Tax Power
The Commissioner of Taxation has too much power. Libertarians consider tax to be either theft or, at best, should be low and flat to cover bare necessities. It certainly shouldn’t be as complex as it is or run to thousands of pages. Most mainstream tax reform proponents have grandiose visions that would only add complexity and likely raise the overall tax...
Hate income tax? You shouldn’t
Some taxes are more damaging than others. But when working out which taxes are more damaging than others, you should not judge a tax by its name. The impacts of income tax and GST can be much the same, because income tax and GST largely tax the same thing. So a special hatred for the idea of income tax relative to...
The Myth of Speed
We are constantly told that Australia has a huge road toll. Every holiday break and long weekend there are reports of how many people were killed, amid inferences that this is a major and growing tragedy. Equally constant is the assertion that the underlying cause is speeding. There is a never-ending campaign, complete with gory advertisements warning of lifelong injuries,...
GST is Better than Income Tax
In my last article I argued that a flat and broad-based income tax is much the same as a broad-based GST, so we have little reason to hate the concept of income tax more than the concept of GST. I argued this by setting out an imaginary scenario with five citizens, one business, and no government. But there is an...
Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em
For those of us who still occasionally like to check in on what the mainstream media is doing, there has been a topic that has got chins wagging and jowls flapping lately: “the tobacco wars”. While the mainstream media, in typical fashion, has sensationalised the story, it is true that black and grey market tobacco is abundant in the community. BLACK,...
Childcare – Why should you pay for it?
Starting before they are born, our governments spend a lot of money on children. The Commonwealth budget for education alone is $67 billion, and in NSW $24 billion. Add the other states and territories, plus health care, and as the saying goes, pretty soon you’re talking real money. While our society obviously values children highly, it is rare that anyone questions...
More Political Competition
According to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, increasing competition among supermarket giants will help deliver lower grocery prices: "If it is more competitive, more transparent and people are getting a fair go, better outcomes will be seen at the supermarket checkout". The ACCC also notes that competition encourages innovation. But where enhanced market competition can lead to improved consumer outcomes, enhanced political competition...
Olympic Dam’s Gold Medal Performance
It is exactly 50 years since Western Mining first discovered the massive gold, silver, copper and uranium ore body at the aptly-named Olympic Dam in South Australia. A golden anniversary indeed! But discovering the ore was just the beginning. The fight to allow uranium mining at Olympic Dam was brutal. The ruling Labor Party, under then Premier Don Dunstan, was vehemently opposed...
