The tragic floods across Australia have triggered an enormous response from all Australians. With the worst of the floods over, the debate has moved onto repair and recovery in flood affected areas. While we do not yet know the exact bill, the recovery effort is likely to cost billions.
The Coalition has always argued for a strong fiscal and budgetary situation to give government the ability to respond quickly and effectively to such tragedies.
Rudd and Gillard Labor have taken a different path. As well as running up tens of billions of dollars of debt, Labor has reverted to form and is imposing yet another new tax on Australians – a tax that will collect $1.8 billion. Julia Gillard has increased taxes for millions of Australians – a so-called “mateship” tax – because her government will not reprioritise its own spending to meet its responsibilities.
The Prime Minister also restated her commitment to introduce a carbon tax, breaking her explicit promise only days before the election not to do so. It is hard to keep up with all the promises, broken promises and promises to break promises!
This tax is a direct consequence of Labor’s obscene waste – on the rorted school halls program, the tragic home insulation disaster and the green loans debacle, to name just a few.
Why is it that all Australians must cut back their spending to cover for Labor’s waste, but Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan get to slug people with a new tax?
Labor have sought to introduce or increase the following taxes in their first three and a half years in office:
- The Alcopops Tax
- The Luxury Car Tax
- The Tobacco Tax
- Resources Super Profits Tax and Minerals Resource Rent Tax
- The Emissions Trading Scheme
- Julia Gillard’s and Bob Brown’s Carbon Tax
The numbers below show just how much extra tax Labor is collecting. Have a look at the increase in tax revenue the Government has budgeted for:
And the burden on individual taxpayers has continued to increase as well:
The truth is that Julia Gillard, with Kevin Rudd as PM before her, and Wayne Swan have been spending like drunken sailors since they took office and have budgeted to spend tens of billions more over the coming years. Look at the projected growth in government spending even before this new tax:
There is no need for this new tax. Assistance for recovery from disaster is one of the reasons we have governments – but it is also one of the reasons we already pay our taxes. Governments should not levy extra taxes to cover its most basic functions.