A couple of years ago, the government changed the rules so that families on $150 000 a year or more wouldn’t be eligible to receive family payments. There were the predictable cries of ‘class warfare’, but there were also claims that $150 000 in Australia leaves you struggling to make ends meet. The Daily Telegraph found a couple on $150k who said “you can survive on $150,000 but you definitely aren’t doing well,” while in The Australian, a couple on $200 000 said “the government are making it bloody hard.”
A discussion of Australian political and economic issues and ideas, by Matt Cowgill.
Archives for posts with tag: budget
I can understand why libertarians might favour a flat tax on superannuation contributions and on ordinary income. I disagree vehemently with that position, but it’s logically coherent to me. Personally, I favour a progressive tax on both of those things, and I think that position also makes sense. What isn’t coherent to me is the idea that we should tax ordinary income in a progressive way, with higher income earners paying a greater proportion of their income in tax, but we should tax super contributions with a flat tax. How does that make sense?
The Australian editorial, 11 January 2013:
Australia’s welfare system is crying out for comprehensive reform… Is it fair that a couple with one child and a household income of $160,000 a year receives a family tax benefit, or that a young couple buying, for their first home, a $700,000 apartment in Toorak are paid the first-home owners grant? The old principle that welfare should exist only for those who genuinely need it appears no longer to hold.
