I just came accros the following statement by the Carbon Sense :

The Carbon Sense Coalition today called on the Australian federal government and the opposition to abolish all renewable energy targets, certificates and subsidies.

The Chairman of Carbon Sense, Mr Viv Forbes, said that it was time for those who worship wind turbines to pay their full cost, and not force other electricity consumers and tax payers to pay for a costly, unreliable and obsolete method of generating electricity.

“Wind power has been around since Don Quixote and it belongs in an industrial museum not in a modern economy.

“For too much of the time, the wind just sucks subsidies when it should be turning turbines.

“The 20% renewable energy target is unachievable without perpetual government mandates and subsidies and should be abolished,” Mr Forbes said.

This makes perfect sense to me, and both political parties are to blame. If a consumer wishes to purchase wind power, then that’s fine, but why should those who don’t have to foot the bill? This is morally unconscionable, pure and simple.

I havn’t seen any reporting on this as of yet, but I was struck by a line uttered in Wayne Swan’s Budget Speech yesterday:

From 1 July 2014 the Medicare levy will increase by ½ a percentage point. The money raised will be placed in a special Fund for 10 years and only used for the additional costs of DisabilityCare Australia.

The Australian Constitution states:

81. All revenues or moneys raised or received by the Executive Government of the Commonwealth shall form one Consolidated Revenue Fund, to be appropriated for the purposes of the Commonwealth in the manner and subject to the charges and liabilities imposed by this Constitution

It seems to me that the money raised by hiking the Medicare Levy thus would have to go to Consolidated Revenue, and can not be placed into any sort of special fund whatsoever. Meaning Wayne Swan’s plan is unconstitutional and can never take place…

With the release of the Federal Budget, marginal tax rates changed for Australians.

But not in the way the media would report.  Our Deputy Director, Queensland economist John Humphreys, has crunched the numbers and the results are surprising:

Once you start  factoring in the Low Income Earner Tax Offset, the result shows that in two places our marginal tax rates are regressive.

This means is that people with lower incomes pay a higher marginal tax rate. 

In fact, the increase in the Medicare Levy is a 8.5% marginal tax increase for some of the poorest people in the country

So here are the REAL Marginal Tax Rates for 2014/15 after the Medicare Levy Increases:

Up to $20,542 = 0%
$20,543-$25,667 = 29%
$25,668-$37,000 = 21%
$37,001-$66,666 = 36%
$66,667-$80,000 = 34.5%
$80,001-$180,000 = 39%
over $180,000 = 47%

The Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance, a non-partisan grassroots advocacy body representing the interests of Australian taxpayers, today condemned the 2013 Federal Budget for failing to make the tough decisions needed to restart our economy and give relief to struggling Australians.

“Wayne Swan has taken the coward’s way out said Tim Andrews, Executive Director of the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance. “He has failed to make the tough decisions we desperately need to cut waste, cut overspending, and get our economy back on track

“Under this budget, gross debt will reach a staggering $300 billion by 2015. This will mean a whopping $35 million in interest payments every single day – even more if we lose our credit rating. This is not only an economic disaster, it is a morally reprehensible betrayal of future generations who will bear the brunt of this policy failure.

“Taxes have increased by $25 billion in the last year. For Wayne Swan’s budget to put us on the path for another increase in the debt ceiling is unforgivable. Australia is on the highway headed to a European-style fiscal collapse, and Mr Swan just has put his foot flat on the accelerator.

“Mr Swan was right to axe the baby bonus and trim carbon funds and the public service – but it is too little, too late. Overspending remains rife, our bureaucracy is out of control and rampant crony capitalist corporate welfare – from subsidies to General Motors to make cars no-one wants to buy, to $4million for Vodafone to expand a call centre in Tasmania – remains unchecked.

“Since coming to power in 2007, the Australian Labor Party has hiked taxes a staggering 29 times to pay for wasteful spending. To now hike the Medicare Levy –a dishonest, regressive increase in the income tax – to pay for even more overspending will hurt lower income earners hardest, slow economic growth and kill jobs.

“In pretending a surplus will appear in the future, Wayne Swan is trying to play Australians for mugs. The projected ‘surplus’ is based on dodgy methodology and flawed assumptions no-one with any understanding of economics could say with a straight face. The mining tax won’t somehow magically increase from $200m to $2.2b, the terms of trade won’t increase 20%, and the world carbon price won’t double overnight. We won’t be fooled again.

“If the government was serious about jobs and growth, they would cut spending, cut taxes, and cut regulation. Mr Swan has shown the only thing he is serious about is his addiction to debt.

Earlier this morning, Wayne Swan revealed his “$100bn nation building plan” in the budget.

We wondered where he got the idea from… and here it is!