The Australian politics thread

[vic_orthdox]

Originally Posted by Burgey

News Ltd are to the ALP here as Fox News is to the Democratic Party where you are.

At the moment, it's a bit like that.

To be fair, there have been times that they've supported ALP leaders. Might've thrown their support behind Rudd in 07?

[morgieb]

Originally Posted by vic_orthdox

At the moment, it's a bit like that.

To be fair, there have been times that they've supported ALP leaders. Might've thrown their support behind Rudd in 07?

Not doubting they are pro-Coalition though. Although I suppose most newspapers are right-wing, and the Coalition aren't anywhere near as right-wing as the Republicans, apart from their leader.

[Spark]

The only reason most newspapers seem right wing is because most newspapers are, shock horror, owned by News Limited.

Abbott's not even close to GOP wingnut territory. Let's not get silly here. He's not even that right wing nowadays, based on the somewhat thin policy platform he's putting up (no hard ring-winger would even dream of the anti-dumping policy he's currently proposing)

[Burgey]

Australian police investigate local News Corp arm - report

[Redbacks]

The 'Hate Media'

Mining tax outcomes: everyone's a loser - ABC

And then, to make the whole exercise completely pointless she tied it to an increase in the superannuation guarantee levy from 9 per cent to 12 per cent.
That increases manufacturing costs instead of reducing them, and vastly increases the cost of the exercise to the Federal Budget.
.
.
It is, in short, a joke. Everybody loses. It was an idea designed to help Australia deal with the terms of trade boom that has been bastardised by politics into a complicated impost on mining that achieves nothing at all and in fact worsens the position of everyone involved

[Burgey]

Originally Posted by Redbacks

The 'Hate Media'

Mining tax outcomes: everyone's a loser - ABC

They're so outraged they'll no doubt give back their company tax cut from July 1 next year.

[Redbacks]

Or take this tax cut:

[Burgey]

And to whom does that graph apply?

[howardj]

Last day of Parliament tomorrow

Tone has won the political year by keeping Labor's primary vote at 30%.

Kevin has also emerged well (public support is back, and hasn't publically undermined Gillard). Still can't see the party getting behind him though. I think they'd rather lose or draft a compromise candidate if things are this bad in the polls next year.

Gillard has at least laid some foundations this year (carbon tax, mining tax) which may blow Abbott up economically when he promises to repeal them.

[howardj]

This is the first year since 2002 when the LOTO and the PM have been the same people at the start and end of the year.

[Redbacks]

The big miners. Could there be a massive revenue hole? I'd wait for treasury modelling before making a conclusion but the independents have certainly weakened the tax.

Twiggy reckons he won't pay a cent.

[Burgey]

Originally Posted by Redbacks

The big miners. Could there be a massive revenue hole? I'd wait for treasury modelling before making a conclusion but the independents have certainly weakened the tax.

Twiggy reckons he won't pay a cent.

I think Treasury may have modelled it before it was put to the parliament mate.

Twiggy pays no tax now. He admitted as much. Not a cent. Outrageous.

I thought you meant the graph applied to manufcturers, sorry.

[Redbacks]

Originally Posted by Burgey

I think Treasury may have modelled it before it was put to the parliament mate.

Twiggy pays no tax now. He admitted as much. Not a cent. Outrageous.

True about the treasury, but I understand the dashed line is a compromise taken with the indys this week which puts the thick black line (the MRRT as Treasury modelled it) in a worse position than our current situation. Thus I will await a proper analysis before trusting that graph.

Twiggy said he takes a small salary, so I gather his private jet etc. are funded as a business expense. Still - all his employees pay marginal tax rates, and they also pay a payroll tax on too which bumps them upto 40-50% tax on what Fortescue earns to pay them (wages are a business expense). Then they buy goods and pay GST taking them up to 50-55%, plus taxes on booze and smokes, fuel excise, land taxes etc. etc.

We need to protect manufacturing as the high dollar is killing us. Mad Dog Brown and co. want the Government to build the new Jerusalem, rather than letting small business and manufacturing (earth killers) have some breathing space from the high dollar.

[howardj]

The flow through benefits of the mining tax are in my very objective view overstated. First, most businesses in particular small businesses are not company structures (rather they operate through partnerships, trusts or are sole traders). So, they won't get this much hyped company tax cut. Second, as was the case when superannuation guarantee was introduced by the Keating Govt, workers won't get an extra 3% in the overall remuneration package. Rather, employers will just take 3% out of their pay, and pop that into the employee's nominated superannuation fund. Put simply, you'll just be forced to save 3% more.

[stephen]

I wondered why the mining tax wasn't causing a big stink. I guess I know now.