Editorial: Nation can’t afford to cut and run from debt

WE NEED to not just get back to surplus, but also keep our eye on the ball of paying back national debt, which is sitting at a staggering $500 billion.

NO ONE can argue against giving hard-working Australians a long-overdue personal income tax cut in tonight’s Budget. In fact, if we weren’t to get one, we could readily claim to have been robbed.

Much of any tax cut that Treasurer Scott Morrison is likely to include in his third set of national accounts is actually the repayment of money that has been taken from taxpayers because of the pernicious impact of bracket creep.

This has seen the tax grab for individuals climb to higher rates as their personal income improves.

This could be solved by indexing tax thresholds and rates, but no Treasurer has had the courage or honesty to do that. If the impact of bracket creep were not fixed in tonight’s Budget, the Commonwealth would rake in an additional $52 billion over the coming four years – something that explains why governments are so reluctant to let go of this nice earner.

It would be very cynical to highlight the fact we are getting back the money owed to us from bracket creep just as we edge closer to an election, but the facts are there to see.

Tonight’s Budget will not just be about tax cuts, and neither should it be.

There will also be an infrastructure package aimed at easing one of the personal and economic bugbears of modern life – congestion in and around our cities.

Queensland is set to get billions for much-needed road projects, such as fixing the Bruce Highway and the new inner-city rail initiative, the Brisbane Metro.

These are crucial investments that will provide a boost to the economies of our capital cities and take some of the stress out of daily life.

The other key aspect of tonight’s Budget that has not gained the attention it deserves is whether we will see any meaningful progress on repairing the balance sheet that has been deeply in the red for more than a decade.

We do have a debt and deficit problem, which should not be sacrificed because our politicians want to play Santa Claus in May by filling up voters’ stockings with handouts.

Australia’s economic future depends on strengthening the Budget bottom line as much as possible and clearly defining the pathway back to a surplus.

It was reported yesterday that the Budget would forecast a surplus for 2019-20.

We need to not just get back to surplus, but also keep our eye on the ball of paying back national debt, which is sitting at a staggering $500 billion.

Mr Morrison wants to enshrine some fundamental rules for the Budget that will help achieve those goals, but will they be enough?

He wants to peg the Commonwealth tax take at 23.9 per cent as a proportion of GDP, which is all well and good – and another reason why we have to have personal income tax cuts in this Budget because otherwise we would breach that limit.

However, another once accepted rule that we should aim for a surplus equal to at least 1 per cent of GDP by 2023-24 has now been scaled back to just 0.5 per cent of GDP, and that’s looking aspirational.

Those who argue a cap on the national tax take doesn’t provide governments with options when circumstances change are sacrificing discipline for possible indulgence.

This is no time to relax economic rigour just because the economy has turned a corner and is again starting to benefit from higher revenue streams and improved international conditions.

In fact, the opposite is true. This is just the time to be saving for the next rainy day.

We should learn the lessons from the past when the good times were squandered for short-term gain and we were left with what’s been a decade of debt and deficit hangovers.

Tonight, Treasurer Morrison owes it to future generations to make sure we do not leave a legacy of more financial pain.

Time to take responsibility

RUGBY league often bemoans being a victim of its own success.

It complains that the rate of incidents involving players is no more frequent than what occurs in general society, but the sport’s high profile ensures each indiscretion gets maximum attention.

News yet another high-profile player had been engulfed in controversy after boozing with buddies will yet again raise this question: Are rugby league players more prone to finding themselves in trouble than other young men on a night out?

Despite the NRL’s protestations, most fair-minded people would argue the answer is surely “yes”.

The latest incident involves North Queensland Cowboys forward Scott Bolton who has been charged with indecent assault after a night out in Sydney. The Cowboys’ camp is in shock because Bolton is considered “the last bloke you’d expect to get into strife”. Bolton will get his day in court.

However, if the game’s leaders have a league table of who is most likely to act up, then it begs the question just what are some of the others up to?

Bolton’s case will no doubt throw up predictable reactions about the need for player education, team curfews and the like.

However, without commenting on the current case, surely there’s a point where such coddling becomes meaningless and players have to take responsibility for their actions.

These are men who earn significant amounts of money, are adored by fans and live in an environment where their whims are attended to by countless club staff.

Surely every player should know by now that this privilege requires them to maintain certain standards of behaviour.

Originally published as Editorial: Nation can’t afford to cut and run from debt