Flood levy (2 Viewers)

[davidbarnes]

David Barnes is our Barnaby.

Hah, no thanks lol. I know my millions from my billions

 

[cosmo kramer]

do u????

 

[Chemical Ali]

I agree with bob brown on all of this

why not pay for it via the mining super profits tax, they can afford it

and also that cutting climate change programs in response is fucking stupid
between that and the failed ETS last year, it's obvious that Labor HATES the environment

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I also agree with everything Tony Abbott has said, Labor have been so incredibly wasteful with OUR money so far, how can we trust them when they keep bringing in more tax?
If a real business suffers tough times, the first thing it does is cut back on luxury or non-essential items so it can survive until times are better again. If the Labor government had any sense of responsibility it could easily find an equivalent amount to the levy in spending cuts. The fact that they have no shame in slapping an extra tax on us shows they have no respect for the work people do to earn the money they are taxing.

 

[davidbarnes]

do u????

Yes.

 

[cosmo kramer]

between that and the failed ETS last year, it's obvious that Labor HATES the environment

more like doesnt care about it

 

[Chemical Ali]

more like not care about it

if a politician doesn't care about something, they hate it
kanye told me ok

 

[cosmo kramer]

new orleans was like a class 5 chimpout

way worse than the hurricane itself

 

[Lentern]

Hah, no thanks lol. I know my millions from my billions

I'm sure Barnaby thinks so too.

 

[funkshen]

and also that cutting climate change programs in response is fucking stupid
between that and the failed ETS last year, it's obvious that Labor HATES the environment

Afaik the biggest cut was to the green car fund. The only company that has really benefited from that is Toyota, building the Camry Hybrid at the Altona plant in Melbourne. Toyota is notorious for adding the least value to their cars when producing in Australia, and the godawful Camry Hybrid is no exception. The significance of this cut is negligble.

If a real business suffers tough times, the first thing it does is cut back on luxury or non-essential items so it can survive until times are better again. If the Labor government had any sense of responsibility it could easily find an equivalent amount to the levy in spending cuts. The fact that they have no shame in slapping an extra tax on us shows they have no respect for the work people do to earn the money they are taxing.

A government is not a business, and this is one of the most ignorant, fallacious and common analogies you ever see in international and domestic media and other circles. It's bewildering, really. The point is moot, anyways; a business is legally obliged to cut costs, as not doing so would be a clear violation of managements obligations to its shareholders.

I have the sneaking suspicion that your statements were a bit tongue in cheek though, mister Ali. Not even your creamy and subtle brand of wit can escape my Poirot-esque skills of observation.

 

[Chemical Ali]

the tony abbott thing was more or less exactly verbatim what he said in the paper the other day

 

[Lolsmith]

Western society functions with on income based tax system. The more you earn, the more tax you pay. That is how it should be.

I think it is ridiculous with regards to what you propose where the checkout assistant at Woolworths should pay the same tax as the executives earning millions of dollars a week. You would simply bring back the class structure (working class and gentry) of the 19th century and modern, western society would fall apart under a regime like that.

"Western society would fall apart if we don't tax the shit out of the wealthy"

you're fucking kidding me right

 

[Jaundice]

I got taxed 200 for two weeks worth of work and I'm a poor uni student =[ I have to wait until the EFY to get it back. =[

 

[kaz1]

"Western society would fall apart if we don't tax the shit out of the wealthy"

you're fucking kidding me right

The wealthy don't even get taxed enough, fucken politicians make gay loopholes.

 

[vikraman]

To claim that the employment of skilled labour for the flood reconstruction effort will have a significant impact on wage inflation is dubious. This flood levy is to raise revenue to (mostly) replace or repair public infrastructure and assets. Most of the engineering and construction labour required for this effort will be from firms not employed by the mining sector. Wage inflation could only thus be observed for skilled labour commonly employed in mining (electricians, mechanics, industrial plumbing/HVAC, other engineers etc). However, because of the floods this labour faces reduced employment due to infrastructure damage (rail and road damage etc) so the reconstruction effort will fill in for their reduced demand. I've actually recently returned from being between Rockhampton, Blackwater and Gladstone for the past few weeks for work, and I'm led to believe that most of the reconstruction effort will mostly be carried out by civil construction firms unaffiliated with the mining sector. This is mostly due to the nature of the work: road, rail and bridge reconstruction, civilian energy transmission infrastructure etc means a lot of skilled labour with non-mining skillsets are required. So my conclusion is that combined with the dampening effect of the levy, the impact on wage inflation will be minimal. This flood is a huge bonus for GDP growth for the next few quarters though, assuming access from mines to ports returns to normal asap (I have no doubt this is a Government priority).

It also seems that a lot of people are pointlessly lambasting the 'idiots' who lived in the Rockhampton swamps etc. This flood levy isn't to help individuals - that's what the private donation effort is for. Most of the affected people in Rockhampton have flood insurance and the current private donations are to meet the immediate needs of those affected. The individuals that really got fucked over were those in the Brisbane-Ipswich area who didn't have flood insurance and aren't covered. Many people are going to face real hardship for a long time.

edit: come to think of it the flood levy will probably provide for repair efforts for civilian recreation infrastructure like the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens and shit. eh, deal w/ it

If the mining sector goes back to normal ASAP as you predict it will, then those skilled individuals would not face reduced demand for their services due to infrastructure damage. Also, the flood levy, no matter how well structured it is (ie. taking money from people who are less likely to spend it anyway), is bad for the local retail and manufacturing industries because it is essentially reducing disposable income among people affected by it. Money that they would spend otherwise and keep a couple more australian retailers and manufacturers in business. I do agree we need a flood levy and on a long term macro scale, a national disaster relief fund. However, we should take that money from the mining sector to reduce the effects of the two-speed economy.

All this macro-tweaking is for political reasons though. Xenophobic australians like cosmo kramer would prefer his bag of chips manufactured in Box Hill, VIC instead of Indonesia despite them being able to make it, pack it and transport it for a lot less than we can. IF the concerns on the economy were purely economic, then we needn't worry about the impact of the flood or mining boom on local retailers and manufacturers. We'd just export the stuff we're best at making (iron ore, coal, gas, higher education, meat and poultry, potatoes etc.) and import the stuff we're not good at making (packaged food, vegetables, fruit etc.) Labour would then reallocate automatically due to market pressures and we'll all live happily ever after.

 

[boris]

Did you ever think that those places were some of the only places available to live, and also that these floods have affected way more than those near the river, and even those away from flood plains are getting inundated with water (by the actual definition).

herp derp you dont understand the mechanics of a flood stop talking

 

[Rothbard]

How, in your opinion, is it 'stupid from an economics perspective'?

Taking more people's money away to fund repairs when we're coming out of a recession is stupid

So do you pay tax personally on more than $50,000 of income a year ay? I too support pro choice and women's rights.

yes

Considering it is to help rebuild key infrastructure, then I'd say it is clearly doing its job as you concur to there.

Yes that is the primary point of it, but it could be funded through cuts in other areas so it's not doubly inflationary.

As for the dangerous trend, it could potentially well be. However lets not forget the Howard government introduced a levy for the gun buyback scheme after the Port Arthur incident, and they also introduced a levy to pay for the peacekeeping mission in Australia. Even thoguh a levy was introduced for the peackeeping mission in East Timor, no levy was introduced for the Afghanistan/Iraq wars so the East Timor levy did not set a precedent. There is no reason to thus assume this flood levy will set a precedent for future levys either.

Oh wow well now that *HoWARd* did it I guess I should support it right. Dude I'll bet you a box of chocolate paddle pops that this levy continues but mutates into some other 'infrastructure fund' or 'disaster fund'.

The point is that the default setting of the labor govt is to soak those who are already being taxed because they pissed away billions on 'stimulus' when there is conclusive proof that the size of the stimulus didn't affect the nature of the recession. Treasury even begrudgingly admitted this. They shot their wad and now they're hitting up the aus public for more.

 

[Lolsmith]

The wealthy don't even get taxed enough, fucken politicians make gay loopholes.

I own a charity (TAX CUT OFFICE)