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Tammy Franks ten-year time out on tax

By Malcolm King - posted Wednesday, 17 October 2012


We live in a time when privileges are confused with rights and urban myths rule. Unprincipled action and sheer stupidity are undermining probity and commonsense in public life.

A recent example was the conviction of South Australian Greens MP, Tammy Franks, for failing to lodge ten tax returns from 2000-2010.

The Adelaide Magistrates Court rejected the argument by the 43-year-old member of the state's upper house, that she was incapable of lodging tax returns from 2001 to 2010 because of the breakdown of her marriage.

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Whether she will keep her seat in parliament is unknown.

The Court had previously heard Franks had also failed to lodge tax returns from 1994-2000 but was not facing any additional charges.

Last year Franks had initially pleaded guilty, apologized to the Greens and her supporters for her behaviour but then, at a later date, changed her plea to not guilty. This did not endear her to the Prosecution.

Readers may remember that Franks was the recipient of a Paul Keating broadside when she was a member of a protest at Adelaide University back in the mid 1990s. Keating told her to "Get a job!" He should have also added "and pay tax."

Franks has worked as a policy officer for the South Australian Mental Health Coalition, which survives on Commonwealth and state government grants sourced from taxation.

She also worked as a researcher for the Australian Democrats in Adelaide, a political party whose staff were paid by the Australian taxpayer. In 2004 Franks ran as a Democrat Senate candidate in South Australia. At the time she released this statement:

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"The Australian Democrats believe that young people are not just the future of the nation … they deserve the same freedoms and opportunities as other Australians," Franks said.

She should also have added "as long as they pay tax". Franks is a bullet the old Democrats dodged. They ran headlong in to most of them.

In Court, Franks said she believed an "urban myth" that she didn't have to lodge a tax return because, she alleged, the ATO owed her money. How did she know that if she didn't lodge a tax return?

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About the Author

Malcolm King is a journalist and professional writer. He was an associate director at DEEWR Labour Market Strategy in Canberra and the senior communications strategist at Carnegie Mellon University in Adelaide. He runs a writing business called Republic.

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