The idea that reform can be based on consensus, with everyone agreeing, is unworkable. Let’s face it, there were plenty of people opposed to the Hawke-Keating agenda of financial sector deregulation.
There is a significant matter of principle at stake. People have invested in superannuation according to the rules of the day. No one is suggesting they acted illegally or inappropriately. Then along comes the Treasurer.
The Treasurer is on another planet if he thinks there’s any joy in the latest GDP figures. It would be better if he owned up to it.
There’s no doubt super has benefited some handsomely, but there are many weaknesses in the system.
As the mining tax was to Wayne Swan, the 30 per cent tax on superannuation balances of more than $3m is to Jim Chalmers.
If there was a year in which the Victorian government might warn citizens of the dire state of the budget and the need for cuts and sacrifices, this was the year.
The federal government’s effort to control smoking through a higher excise on tobacco is a case study in badly designed policy.
Make it easier for business to invest according to consumer preference, not government dictate.
Anthony Albanese wants to be remembered as the prime minister who introduced universal childcare. The only problem is, how to pay for it when government debt is already at a record high?
Any claim the Coalition could make to being the more responsible budget manager went up in a puff of smoke. There was never any chance of making the moral case that debt and deficits matter.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/judith-sloan/page/2