Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Precarious, unsafe and socially inadequate

By John Tomlinson - posted Thursday, 23 February 2017


Having acknowledged this it is important to point out that is not the end of the matter. There are many things which could be done to find the extra money needed to pay for a real people's welfare state undergirded by a basic income.

I would start with the tax system:

  • reintroduce death duties on all estates over $2 million,
  • abolish the tax free area for income tax purposes,
  • remove negative gearing on all housing,
  • reinstate capital gains taxes to original levels,
  • abolish family trust tax scams,
  • ensure multinationals pay taxes at reasonable rates,
  • clamp down on rich Australian individuals and firms avoiding and evading taxes, and
  • sort out the superannuation system as will be detailed below.
Advertisement

The changes in capital gains and negative gearing would help take some of the excessive heat out of the private housing market and if we were to combine that with reinvigorating the social and public housing systems we might seriously address homelessness and its associated despair.

Subsidies

The next thing I would concentrate on is business and farm subsidies. Well over $25 billion is provided in subsidies to business annually. A lot of the money is disguised as employment promotion schemes which would be unnecessary once a basic income was in place. There are a multitude of subsidies to rural industries which would no longer have the same imperative once a basic income underpinned every permanent resident. The idea of propping up the development of northern Australia by subsidising those who want to open up marginal enterprises would be laughable if it did undermine much of the ecology of northern Australia. Such pipe dreams should be sole prerogative of people with enough money of their own to pursue such ecocide. There may well be good reasons to subsidise renewable energy schemes like the wave generator off Bunbury and thermal electricity generation. Solar and wind technology may also need continuing subsidisation. Emerging forms of renewable energy could also be helped by subsidies but no more money should be put into diesel subsidies for mining industries. Coal should not get another cent. The myths about clean coal should be sequestered in disused mine shafts.

There are many other taxes which could be tweaked; such as transaction taxes on money transfers. All these changes whist quite momentous are not so far out of the ball park as to be not worth considering. Clearly we could afford to introduce a basic income without impinging on the wellbeing of Australians receiving up to average weekly earnings. It needs to be remembered that two-thirds of Australians receive less than average weekly earnings.

The one-third of affluent Australians earning more than average weekly earnings would be required to pay more than they are currently paying to Treasury and yes some of them will whinge that their wealth is not continuing to increase at a far greater rate than ordinary workers. But even though they might not immediately recognise it, they too will benefit by residing in a more egalitarian society.

Superannuation

In 1991 the ACT Council of Social Services produced a monograph entitled The Super Tax Rort. At the time, Keating was foreshadowing the introduction of a privatised form of compulsory superannuation and the Council foresaw a number of potential pitfalls with his proposal arguing that low income earners, recently arrived migrants, casual workers, women and older workers would receive few benefits. The Council saw the potential for rich people to grab the bulk of the tax windfall.

Advertisement

Today we see that there are many rich people who receive, as a result of their superannuation investments, a greater financial benefit in foregone tax than do age pensioners. The superannuation schemes are riddled with inequities, risks, constant changes and contradictions.

There exists no clear equity argument to regard a dollar of superannuation any differently from a dollar of social security or a dollar of earned income or a dollar of unearned income received. Treating them in a different way in the tax and social security system is illogical and results in inequities.

Once a basic income was in place it would be important to tax monies received from superannuation in exactly the same way as money received from employment, investment, royalties and tax should be paid on each and every dollar received from any source. The basic income would not be taxed.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. 3
  5. All


Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

12 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Dr John Tomlison is a visiting scholar at QUT.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by John Tomlinson

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Photo of John Tomlinson
Article Tools
Comment 12 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy