15. Climate Changes and Taxes

Hi. I am Greg and I want to grumble about climate change and taxes. Ok, this is a recurring grumble, but it is particularly topical this week as Tony Abbott’s legislation to scrap the carbon tax is introduced in the Federal Parliament. This was a flagship policy of the election campaign and we were promised that it would reduce electricity prices and ease cost of living pressures – his Bill to reduce our bills.

Except that now key business leaders are saying that we won’t see any big price reductions. Where were these voices during the election campaign I wonder? And where was the reporting of the current wave of economists who think that putting a pricing carbon is more effective and efficient than the proposed direct action approach to reducing carbon pollution. And that is without even questioning the manifestly inadequate pollution reduction targets of both schemes.

But the hip pocket question remains: will our power bills come down if we are without a carbon strategy – sorry, I mean a carbon tax? I don’t know, but I do know that carbon prices were always only a small proportion of the massive recent hikes in energy prices. Adelaide’s electricity prices went up 18.2% in the quarter immediately following the introduction of the carbon price, but only about a quarter of this increase was down to the carbon tax and the general inflation rate increased by only 1.5%. For most households, and particularly for the poorest households, this increase was more than covered for by the government’s compensation package.

The good news is that even if the carbon tax is scrapped, we will keep the compensation package. It is currently worth about $7 a week for pensioners, less for some other income support recipients. It’s not much, but it seems only reasonable to keep it after last week’s announcement that the Federal government would give the richest households a huge bonus by dropping the proposed tax on superannuation earnings over $100,000 a year (ie. for those whose super-pot is a couple of million dollars). And they announced that at the same time as announcing the dumping of the rebate support for low income earners’ contribution to super.

Who knows, after that bit of robbing from the poor to give to the rich, maybe the government figured it owed the poor one.

Shame about the planet though!

I am Greg, I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-15/

First Broadcast: 12 November 2013

5. Election Debate

Hi, I’m Greg and I want to grumble about the state of the election debate, in particular about the contribution of leading journalist, Ross Gittins, the Economics Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald.

Last week he published a column claiming that there is not much difference between the two major parties in terms of economic management credentials, but there is in fact a big difference in relation to who wins and loses from their policies. He pointed out a whole range of policies like superannuation, the abolition of the mining tax, paid parental leave and the fringe benefits tax treatment of company vehicles where Tony Abbott’s policies will disproportionately benefit those who are better off. And then there are policies like the plan to abolish the twice yearly supplement to the pitifully small Newstart unemployment allowance which take directly from the poor.

But Gittins also savaged Labor which refuses to talk about inequality and which, to its unforgivable shame, has repeatedly refused to increase the poverty level-rate of Newstart.

Taken together, he says there is class warfare going on and the rich class is winning.

Now you may be thinking that whether one agrees with his conclusions or not, Gittens has given us an important analysis of policies. So why am I grumbling? Well, I am grumbling because of what it says about the political debate and how far we have drifted. What does it say about the policies at play in this election when the Economics Editor of one of the bastions of the establishment media is driven to warn us of inequality and impact of the policies on the poor!

Still, if Ross Gittens wants to put it out there, I say yep, let’s vote for a fairer share of wealth. And more than that, let’s vote for justice, for the environment and all the things that are important. Let’s vote for community and for compassion, and not for the purveyors (of any political colour) of so-called “tough love”, or of greed and economic self-interest.

As the great English songwriter Billy Bragg put it many years ago, vote not for the iron fist but for the helping hand.

We’ll see what happens on Saturday, but until then, I am Greg and I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard or downloaded at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-5/

First Broadcast: 3 September 2013