Summary: Something Wonky has a second course this week JEREMY GETS HIS RANT ON That thing when defenders of the rich argue that they pay most of the tax, or - in a line imported from the US - that “48 per cent of Australia’s 12.2 million ‘income units’ pay no net tax.” or “more than 60% of net income tax is paid by individuals earning over $80,000 a year” (That IPA figure is amusing, because they then go on to say how it’s not even the rich, which is of course the point - hell, if they lowered it to $50,000, they could have argued that the percentage was even higher, up to almost 100%, and those people are even less rich!) Or in 2011 the top 1% paid slightly more than 17% of tax!. Which neatly ignores the reality of how wealth is distributed in Australia. For example, that top 1% - has as much accumulated wealth as the bottom 50% - 15.7% of all household wealth, according to BRW. It’s difficult getting figures, bc it’s not something the ABS is encouraged to do. They divide the country into quintiles - in 2012 the top 20% had 62% of the total wealth. Pyne reckons university fees will somehow drop when the govt stops limiting what universities will charge. Even if that makes sense to you - in the deregulated US university sector since 1981, tertiary fees have increased by more than 1200%. Why? Because as the gap widens between rich and poor, you can charge the middle class anything you like and they either cop it or their children end up working two jobs to barely subsist. Also - remember we were talking the other week about how even the Fair Work Act is ludicrously slanted to employers? Great Greg Jericho article on the drum showing just how skewed it is, and how disconnected from reality the demands for IR “reform” are. Doesn’t matter how much wages actually remain stable or fall, the rich and their enablers will always demand they drop further. THE FOCUS GROUP Medical scans to require $1,000 upfront and leave a gap of $160, forcing poor people, and encouraging other Australians, not to have recommended scans and probably die from undiagnosed cancers, for example. Jobless rate plummets - giving the Australian and the employer lobby another excuse to suggest that we solve young people’s difficulties by paying them less and making it harder for them to stay alive. Budget cuts to the very agencies that let us know what’s going on and let us deal with it - the ABS, ASIC and the ATO. Which reminds me - here’s a budget suggestion - what if we were to slam down on employers who offer cash in hand? Scare them out of it. Like this jerk paying his workers in pizza and soft drink - or just employers exploiting a desperate labor force with “cash in hand” jobs they can keep off the books to avoid their own taxes. Even at below minimum wage. Concentrate on those running the businesses based on cash-in-hand: the exploitative employers, the tradies. Make them scared to offer it. Tony impresses the Canadians with his “schoolboy French”. Harper charmed by Tony’s revelations about the location of his aunty’s pen and his ability to ask for directions to the information bureau. “Ha Ha Ha” [AUDIO OF TONY’S AWKWARD LAUGH] Tony and his new Canadian mate vs the atmosphere. “Australia can’t make a huge difference to the world climate if we act alone, so the carbon price is flawed, and because it’s flawed, we should discourage other countries from acting, even though that kind of undermines our main criticism of reducing carbon emissions.” Rest of the world pretty surprised that Australia’s suddenly lurched backwards. Meanwhile, the IPA is producing a book with the oxymoronic, probably in breach of the Trade Practices Act, title “Climate Change The Facts 2014”. Obama presses Tony for Australia to play “Asia cop”, which sounds like a pretty racist role in CSI, but act
