What other things Jim Chalmers could tax as Aussies face big slugs - on top of booze, tobacco, property... (the list goes on!): PETER VAN ONSELEN
And with that certainty comes instant talk of new taxes, despite election commitments to the contrary.
Labor's climate and energy spokesman, Chris Bowen, has said that he's open to a carbon tariff on certain products to help Australia meet its 2030 emissions targets.
Labor backbencher and medical doctor Mike Freelander wants a sugar tax to help tackle obesity and diabetes.
Then there is the super tax set to be legislated when parliament returns at the end of July.
This new tax was at least part of Labor's election manifesto, even if it was hardly a central issue during the campaign.
And there is speculation that negative gearing concessions and perhaps even the capital gains tax (CGT) break too are up for discussion.
The problem with all of the above isn't that changes to the tax and spend system should be off limits.
It's not even that most of the options being looked at weren't flagged at the election, or that a number of them were specifically ruled out.
The real issue is that what is being looked at is piecemeal and not part of a proper tax reform package that balances tax increases with tax cuts, thereby improving the efficiency of the system at the same time as ensuring that government taxes and spending don't just keep increasing.
The pre-election budget already highlighted that the tax-to-GDP ratio is at near record levels, with spending as a percentage of GDP even higher.
The government uses the latter to justify more taxes, rather than as a reason to stop the record spending because it's unsustainable.
I have no problem in principle with sin taxes such as on sugary products. They mirror other sin taxes on tobacco, alcohol or on industry designed to push down emissons.
There is a logic to such a shake-up, as long as cutting other taxes forms part of the discussion.
But Australia has shied away from wholesale tax reform ever since Kevin Rudd ignored many of Ken Henry's recommendations in his 2009 tax reform paper, and when Malcolm Turnbull junked the tax and federation white papers Tony Abbott commissioned before losing the prime ministership in a coup.
Boomers with more than $3million in super are set to be slugged if the government can get its proposal past the Senate at the end of July
Instead these taxes are embraced not as part of a wider review to improve efficiencies and better target who and what to tax, but as a simple revenue grab to keep chasing growing spending which needs to be reined in.
The design of the superannuation tax will, in decades to come, turn it into a virtual inheritance tax, given that it's not indexed and will over time engulf many more Australians ' super savings than it will at the point of implementation.
The flagging of other taxes to be debated and likely introduced in coming budgets is a sign that Labor is confident in its victory.
The size of its victory will neuter the Coalition for years to come.
But that confidence should extend to emulating the reforming credentials of the Hawke and Howard administrations.
Reforming the GST is another area of tax that needs to be looked at, again with tax cuts in other areas (such as on income taxes for example) as part of the discussion.
Let's hope that the growing calls within Labor for higher taxes isn't just as a case of Labor's back - and so are the taxes.
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The Guardian
5 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Australia will recognise Palestinian statehood – but what will that mean for people in Gaza?
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More than 60,000 civilians have been killed during Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza, local health authorities report, following the 7 October 2023 terror attack by Hamas where 1,200 Israelis were killed and dozens taken hostage. Australian allies including the United Kingdom, Canada and France have recently announced pledges to recognise Palestine. Albanese and foreign minister Penny Wong pointed to reforms promised by the Palestinian Authority, which administers part of the West Bank territory, and demands from the Arab League of Middle Eastern nations, for Hamas to end its rule in Gaza. Albanese and Wong said 'these factors mean that this is the best opportunity Australia may ever have to support moderate voices for peace in the region, to undermine extremism and to further isolate Hamas. This is the movement to which Australia and so many countries are seeking to add momentum.' At a press conference, Albanese said: 'The international community's vision for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East always encompassed two states living side by side with internationally recognised borders, a State of Israel and a State of Palestine with security for the people of both nations.' Anne Aly, the minister for multicultural affairs and Australia's first Muslim woman in cabinet, said a 'circuit breaker' was required to end the war in Gaza and protect civilians, and believed the global push toward Palestinian statehood would have an impact on Israel's conduct. Lots. The United Nations said in June 2024 that a Palestinian state was recognised by 146 UN member states at the time – around three-quarters of UN membership. That list has grown in recent weeks as key Australian allies including the United Kingdom, Canada and France announced their own pledges to recognise Palestine. At the moment, it's not clear what immediate changes will follow. Wong on Monday said practical steps, such as an Australian embassy presence or conferring full embassy status to the Palestinian delegation to Australia, would be tied to commitments from the Palestinian Authority. She conceded there was 'much more work to do in building a Palestinian state', and that the international community would 'help build the capacity of the Palestinian Authority'. Wong said the growing global push toward a Palestinian state was a 'chance to forge hope from despair'. Albanese said it was 'an opportunity to isolate Hamas'. Albanese has had discussions with Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority. While that group has influence in the West Bank, the other Palestinian territory, Hamas has been the governing body in Gaza. Albanese said Abbas had made pledges about the future of a Palestinian state, including: a demilitarised Palestine; recognising Israel's right to exist in peace and security; holding elections and undertaking governance reforms; no role for terror group Hamas in a future Palestinian state. He also said the government wanted Israeli hostages released. However critics of the decision, including Jewish-Australian groups and the Coalition, said the government had not outlined what it would do if those conditions weren't met. Wong wouldn't specifically answer on that point, but said the international community would hold the Palestinian Authority to account, and that there was a focus on 'progress' on the commitments. The General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, the equivalent of the Palestinian embassy, welcomed the announcement, calling it a 'principled decision' which would contribute to peace in the region. The delegation added that while it was a 'vital starting point', recognition alone 'will do nothing to change or alleviate the unbearable human suffering of our people on the ground in Gaza unless accompanied by concrete actions to protect Palestinian civilians and human dignity, and to ensure the full and equal application of international law'. The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network called it a 'political fig leaf' which would do little to stop the war in Gaza or address Israel's military campaign. 'Palestinian rights are not to be gifted by western states. They are not dependent on negotiation with or behaviour or approval of their colonial oppressors. Nor are they the crumbs to be thrown to Palestinians by Western states in lieu of taking the real action they are legally bound to take,' said APAN's Nasser Mashni. Mashni also called on Australia to impose country-level sanctions on Israel and extend existing sanctions on two Israeli ministers to all members of Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet. Labor Friends of Palestine, the internal campaign group of rank-and-file members, welcomed the decision but said the Australian public were still 'demanding more than words'. They urged the government to impose sanctions on more members of Netanyahu's government, put more aid and mobile hospitals into Gaza, and a humanitarian visa pathway for Palestinians. Hours before the decision, Netanyahu branded Australia and European nations 'shameful' for considering recognising a Palestinian state. He called such moves a 'rabbit hole' and 'canard'. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) called the government's decision a 'betrayal' and a 'disappointment'. Its president Daniel Aghion said the government had not confirmed what it would do if Israeli hostages were not returned, and that Israel 'will feel wronged and abandoned by a longstanding ally'. 'This commitment removes any incentive or diplomatic pressure for the Palestinians to do the things that have always stood in the way of ending the conflict,' he said. The Coalition said it had 'serious concerns' about the decision. Opposition leader Sussan Ley was critical that Australia was 'at odds with the United States'. 'Despite his words today the reality is Anthony Albanese has committed Australia to recognising Palestine while hostages remain in tunnels under Gaza and with Hamas still in control of the population of Gaza. Nothing he has said today changes that fact,' Ley and foreign affairs spokesperson Michaelia Cash said. 'As it stands today the decision by the Albanese Government does not appear to make the world a safer place, expedite the end of the conflict, deliver a two-state solution, see the free flow of aid, support the release of hostages or put an end to the terrorist group Hamas.'
Daily Mail
35 minutes ago
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How 2.6 million can avoid paying tax on their savings
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Reuters
35 minutes ago
- Reuters
FOREX Dollar slips before inflation report, US-China tariff deadline
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