By all accounts we weren't to expect as much as Wayne Swan hoped we would expect from the Ken Henry Tax Review which was (finally) released today, round about 2:30pm. You know, ish.
And we didn't get what we were expected to expect (but didn't really expect) either.
Ms Katherine Murphy of SMH fame has framed the outcome for the mining sector quite beautifully today, so I think you should read it.
Or to paraphrase:
They've had a poop flung on them.
A great-big-new-forty-per-cent-tax-on-everything-in-the-mining-sector-poop.
Effective as of July 1 2012.
BHP is disappointed in the government for being such gigantic doodi heads. A snippet from CEO Marius Kloppers:
"The stability and competitiveness of the tax system have been central to the investment in resources in Australia. If implemented, these proposals seriously threaten Australia's competitiveness, jeopardise future investments and will adversely impact the future wealth and standard of living of all Australians."
Bummer. And potentially partially true. A little wordy though, nes cest pa?
The funny thing about this morbidly drawn out process is that the government is not going to introduce or try to implement about 136.25 of the 140 recommendations handed down by Henry, if Alan Kholer got his sums right (which I suspect he might have).
Suggestion: Give old people less money to live on. They eat too much and we spend all our loose change keeping them alive for longer than they should be anyway.
Denied: Hello! Election year! Grey haired Australians living on trusty Chum would never make it to the ol' voting booth you know.
Suggestion: Ditch not-for-profit fringe benefits! An obvious way to make a great saving!
Denied: Mostly because Rudd's been looking like a real bastard in the news lately and he was trying to reinvigorate the gimme-a-hug-I'm-really-neat-and-totally-nonthreatening angle he was working so well in the lead up to the 2007 election. Plus the non profit sector is densely populated with the sort of nasal, vocal, amped-up-on-soy-latte gimme, gimme, gimmes you just don't want to mess with man.
Suggestion: Market based rent for community housing.
Denied: On a whim, really. It's not like welfare recipients already live below the poverty line. And it's not like one per cent overall availability on rental properties in most major cities has jammed rental prices up the arseholes of most middle income happy people anyway. What a joker! That Kevin!
Suggestion: Raise the tax-free threshold to $25 000 pa, and have a base rate of 35 per cent tax on income for 97 per cent of the rest of the population.
Denied: Darn be daft! That would leave me with way too much spare change. I pride myself on sacrificing a portion of my $12 000 pa income in tax. Imagine the luxuries otherwise! Not in keeping with the collective mentality of a country that has just side stepped a recession at all. Home Brand will do fine for me! I don't need any of that fancy SPC baked bean nonsense!
Meanwhile, K-Rudd has pu' on 'is 'appy 'at, in celebration. Malcolm's hanging about! Which means Kevin won't begin to appear to be quite so distastefully rich after all. I mean, Malcolm might have had a devastating childhood with no mum an' all, but he's bloody spanking it now. Plus Lucy is a heavy weight, which gives Therese someone to talk to at all those sandwich munching affairs they seem to have been having on the hill lately.
Here's what he said:
"I think it's terrific that Malcolm's going to be back in the thick of it, because if and when he returns to the Liberal leadership, there's a prospect then of returning to some bipartisan consensus on key elements of emissions trading," he said.
Sensitively veiled in climate change talk. Some people are just class acts is all I'm saying.
So there you have it. The review is out. Not much to begin with, and only half of that at the end of the day. Lucky Malcolm's re-contesting next year. We'll have something to talk about for the next three years at least.
And we didn't get what we were expected to expect (but didn't really expect) either.
Ms Katherine Murphy of SMH fame has framed the outcome for the mining sector quite beautifully today, so I think you should read it.
Or to paraphrase:
They've had a poop flung on them.
A great-big-new-forty-per-cent-tax-on-everything-in-the-mining-sector-poop.
Effective as of July 1 2012.
BHP is disappointed in the government for being such gigantic doodi heads. A snippet from CEO Marius Kloppers:
"The stability and competitiveness of the tax system have been central to the investment in resources in Australia. If implemented, these proposals seriously threaten Australia's competitiveness, jeopardise future investments and will adversely impact the future wealth and standard of living of all Australians."
Bummer. And potentially partially true. A little wordy though, nes cest pa?
The funny thing about this morbidly drawn out process is that the government is not going to introduce or try to implement about 136.25 of the 140 recommendations handed down by Henry, if Alan Kholer got his sums right (which I suspect he might have).
Suggestion: Give old people less money to live on. They eat too much and we spend all our loose change keeping them alive for longer than they should be anyway.
Denied: Hello! Election year! Grey haired Australians living on trusty Chum would never make it to the ol' voting booth you know.
Suggestion: Ditch not-for-profit fringe benefits! An obvious way to make a great saving!
Denied: Mostly because Rudd's been looking like a real bastard in the news lately and he was trying to reinvigorate the gimme-a-hug-I'm-really-neat-and-totally-nonthreatening angle he was working so well in the lead up to the 2007 election. Plus the non profit sector is densely populated with the sort of nasal, vocal, amped-up-on-soy-latte gimme, gimme, gimmes you just don't want to mess with man.
Suggestion: Market based rent for community housing.
Denied: On a whim, really. It's not like welfare recipients already live below the poverty line. And it's not like one per cent overall availability on rental properties in most major cities has jammed rental prices up the arseholes of most middle income happy people anyway. What a joker! That Kevin!
Suggestion: Raise the tax-free threshold to $25 000 pa, and have a base rate of 35 per cent tax on income for 97 per cent of the rest of the population.
Denied: Darn be daft! That would leave me with way too much spare change. I pride myself on sacrificing a portion of my $12 000 pa income in tax. Imagine the luxuries otherwise! Not in keeping with the collective mentality of a country that has just side stepped a recession at all. Home Brand will do fine for me! I don't need any of that fancy SPC baked bean nonsense!
Meanwhile, K-Rudd has pu' on 'is 'appy 'at, in celebration. Malcolm's hanging about! Which means Kevin won't begin to appear to be quite so distastefully rich after all. I mean, Malcolm might have had a devastating childhood with no mum an' all, but he's bloody spanking it now. Plus Lucy is a heavy weight, which gives Therese someone to talk to at all those sandwich munching affairs they seem to have been having on the hill lately.
Here's what he said:
"I think it's terrific that Malcolm's going to be back in the thick of it, because if and when he returns to the Liberal leadership, there's a prospect then of returning to some bipartisan consensus on key elements of emissions trading," he said.
Sensitively veiled in climate change talk. Some people are just class acts is all I'm saying.
So there you have it. The review is out. Not much to begin with, and only half of that at the end of the day. Lucky Malcolm's re-contesting next year. We'll have something to talk about for the next three years at least.
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