above: Scott Morrison will likely bring down an Austerity Federal Budget in May ; But he is taking a harder line on Superannuation Concessions than Labor. Labor needs to 'up the Ante' on Superannuation Concessions to maintain as much credibility as it can on Distributive Justice.
Dear readers;
The following letters have been written over the past month ; Most have not been published (except here). But I hope that here (at my blogs) they will promote reflection and debate. This time we’re looking at the following:
·
Superannuation
Concessions
·
liberal rights
and the trashing of Cory Bernadi’s Office
·
Labor and
Negative Gearing
·
Life Expectancy
for the Mentally Ill
·
Aged Care
·
The Threat
of Austerity in the Upcoming Morrison Federal Budget.
Dr Tristan
Ewins
Labor needs to up the ante on
Superannuation Concessions
Turnbull’s tougher
stance on Superannuation Concessions raises the prospect of it ‘outflanking’
Labor on one front pertaining to distributive justice. The tax concessions threshold stands to be
cut back from incomes of under $300,000/year to those under $180,000/year – compared with Labor’s
current target of under $250,000/year. (‘The Age’, 20/4) Malcolm Turnbull has wasted much of the
‘small l liberal kudos’ and political capital he had won after deposing Tony
Abbott. To win the Federal Election,
Bill Shorten and Labor cannot afford for him to ‘claw it back’. As a minimum Shorten must now match
Turnbull’s policy. Even better: he must
outbid Turnbull on distributive justice ; and the related theme of Budget
repair without Austerity. Indeed Labor should welcome the opportunity for a degree
of bipartisanship on an issue where its ‘distributive justice instincts’ were
already demanding a stronger policy. Richard Denniss of The Australia Institute
has projected that Superannuation Concessions will soon cost taxpayers $50 billion every year : mainly in the form
of an effective subsidy for the unambiguously well-off. (paid by the rest of us) A responsible policy would aim to cut this
expense by half as a minimum; targeting the well-off specifically; and done as
soon as is humanly possible.
Andrew Bolt was wrong on liberal
rights re: trashing of Cori Bernadi’s Office
Andrew Bolt (Herald-Sun, 21/3) condemns “leftists” and “socialists” for the trashing of Liberal MP Cory Bernadi’s office. And indeed the tactics of those people were questionable at best. In a picket line there is a clear physical objective – which can interfere with the profits of a private business – and thus deliver leverage to workers over wages and conditions. Similarly boycotts of the goods of a country or a specific company can achieve leverage in a comparable way. But the protestors against Bernadi achieved no leverage over government policy through their actions. And while Andrew Bolt often agitates for free speech, he appears to have nothing to say about Mike Baird’s repressive anti-protest laws. The problem with mistaken protest strategies can be that they play into the hands of the illiberal forces (ironically in the Liberal Party) who are now threatening our civil liberties. A truly liberal and democratic society not only supports free speech – but also defends the right to protest, and even the right to engage in civil disobedience. Those rights are now under threat – and whereas Bernadi abhors ‘Leftist totalitarians’ the real threat to our rights comes from within his own party.
Andrew Bolt (Herald-Sun, 21/3) condemns “leftists” and “socialists” for the trashing of Liberal MP Cory Bernadi’s office. And indeed the tactics of those people were questionable at best. In a picket line there is a clear physical objective – which can interfere with the profits of a private business – and thus deliver leverage to workers over wages and conditions. Similarly boycotts of the goods of a country or a specific company can achieve leverage in a comparable way. But the protestors against Bernadi achieved no leverage over government policy through their actions. And while Andrew Bolt often agitates for free speech, he appears to have nothing to say about Mike Baird’s repressive anti-protest laws. The problem with mistaken protest strategies can be that they play into the hands of the illiberal forces (ironically in the Liberal Party) who are now threatening our civil liberties. A truly liberal and democratic society not only supports free speech – but also defends the right to protest, and even the right to engage in civil disobedience. Those rights are now under threat – and whereas Bernadi abhors ‘Leftist totalitarians’ the real threat to our rights comes from within his own party.
Negative Gearing Changes Just the First Step in Restoring the Australian Dream
Labor MP
Andrew Leigh (21/3) rightly argued that increasing supply is the
key to making housing affordable for more Australians. Labor’s anti-Negative Gearing policies should
encourage a shift to building new properties – hence helping to facilitate that
crucial objective. But if we really want to increase supply we need to look at
many billions invested in non-clustered public and social housing. To provide for those people thus enabled to
enter the housing market we also need to invest in the amenities and
infrastructure provided in emerging suburbs. Young families need transport and
communications infrastructure, hospitals and schools, parks and gardens – to
achieve the living standards they need and deserve. But this is only possible via a significant
public investment . That goes against
the grain of the Turnbull Government’s emphasis on cutting expenditure – which
sabotages the Commonwealth’s revenue base - and hence its ability to provide
for these things. Company Tax cuts
(read: corporate welfare) are the last
thing this country needs to provide for skills, infrastructure, social capital
– all necessary for a successful economy and society.
Neglect of the Mentally Ill “A kind
of Creeping euthanasia”; a Response to ‘The Age’
Catherine
Armitage of ‘The Age’(‘A kind of creeping euthanasia’, 11/4/16) is to be commended on her article exposing the
rate at which mentally-ill Australians are dying well before their time. That is, that the mentally ill (almost half a
million Australians with a serious mental illness) are on average dying 30 per cent earlier than
other Australians – not just because of suicide, but mainly because of
preventable physical illness. That is,
9000 Australians dying as a consequence every year. This far outstrips the road toll and
suicide rate combined several times over. With the Federal
Election now looming it is to be hoped that this will develop into an ongoing
campaign in the Australian media, including in ‘The Age’: a campaign which will
not relent until there are comprehensive and fully-funded government programs
to ‘Close the Gap’ on life expectancy for the mentally ill, much as there are
programs to ‘Close the Gap’ for Indigenous Australia.
Responding to Morrison: Austerity not the Answer!
Apparently
Scott Morrison is under pressure to cut spending in the upcoming Federal Budget
rather than raise taxes. (Herald-Sun, 17/4, ‘p 11) What some people don’t understand, though, it
that there is no ‘magic pudding’, and that cuts to health, education,
infrastructure and welfare will have enormous ramifications. Without increasing progressive taxation –
which takes more from the rich than the poor – then there are two possible
consequences. Either the quality of
services and infrastructure: like broadband, roads, health, education, aged
care – will suffer. Or there will be privatisation and/or user
pays. There will be more $100,000
degrees. State schools will suffer – as
will our skilled workforce and economy. And Australia will continue to lag behind in
the quality of its broadband. The
problem with this is that ‘collective consumption’ through taxes can actually
give voters a ‘better deal’ in their capacity as tax payers than as isolated
private consumers. Medicare demonstrates
this. But the Liberals have an
Ideological fixation on ‘ever smaller government’ which defies practicality and
common sense. Supposed Christians like
Abbott and Bernadi also ignore an older tradition of Christian Democracy which
had no issue with a mixed economy and a ‘fair welfare state’.
We need a strong response on Aged
Care ; This needs to be made a top issue in the impending Federal Election
Sarah Russell (The Age, ‘We’re ignoring the needs of our ageing population’, 17/4) draws attention to the under-funding of Aged Care : quality of training, staff pay, conditions, morale, and numbers of staff on premises. The result is poor service regarding turning in beds, assistance with eating, dressing and showering. But the problems with Aged Care and Rights go deeper. Those in residential care often simply don’t have anything to do but stare at TV and walls all day. Similarly those ‘ageing in place’ (at home) can be lonely, socially isolated, and bereft of meaning in life. Hence appallingly high levels of suicide amongst the aged. (especially men) A common response is for policy makers to throw their hands in the air at ‘the ageing of our population’. But the current Aged Care budget is $17 billion out of a $1.6 Billion economy – or approximately one per cent. An indexed annual $5 billion/year boost could make a big difference: providing programs for social engagement, purpose, entertainment and mental stimulation, moving away from ‘user pays’, increasing pensions, and providing skilled staff numbers which are desperately needed. – We need an ongoing campaign to make this a top priority in the upcoming Federal election.
Sarah Russell (The Age, ‘We’re ignoring the needs of our ageing population’, 17/4) draws attention to the under-funding of Aged Care : quality of training, staff pay, conditions, morale, and numbers of staff on premises. The result is poor service regarding turning in beds, assistance with eating, dressing and showering. But the problems with Aged Care and Rights go deeper. Those in residential care often simply don’t have anything to do but stare at TV and walls all day. Similarly those ‘ageing in place’ (at home) can be lonely, socially isolated, and bereft of meaning in life. Hence appallingly high levels of suicide amongst the aged. (especially men) A common response is for policy makers to throw their hands in the air at ‘the ageing of our population’. But the current Aged Care budget is $17 billion out of a $1.6 Billion economy – or approximately one per cent. An indexed annual $5 billion/year boost could make a big difference: providing programs for social engagement, purpose, entertainment and mental stimulation, moving away from ‘user pays’, increasing pensions, and providing skilled staff numbers which are desperately needed. – We need an ongoing campaign to make this a top priority in the upcoming Federal election.
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