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  <channel>
    <title>topic Re: Quiet Lefties in Community Spirit</title>
    <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719383#M467836</link>
    <description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size="6"&gt;No, the rich don’t pay a ‘fair share’ of tax. They pay all of it&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;!--   google_ad_section_end(name=story_headline)   --&gt;&lt;!--   // .story-headline   --&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;DIV class="story-info"&gt;&lt;UL&gt;&lt;LI&gt;&lt;SPAN class="source-prefix"&gt;by:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;EM&gt;ADAM CREIGHTON &lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;LI&gt;&lt;SPAN class="source-prefix"&gt;From:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;EM&gt;The Australian&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;LI&gt;&lt;SPAN class="datestamp"&gt;March 01, 2014&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN class="timestamp"&gt;12:00AM&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;/UL&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;!--   // .story-info   --&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;!--   // .story-header-tools   --&gt;&lt;!--   .story-header   --&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;DIV class="has-author"&gt;&lt;DIV class="module author-module"&gt;&lt;DIV class="module-header"&gt;&lt;A target="_blank" href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/Adam+Creighton" rel="author"&gt;Adam Creighton&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class="module-content"&gt;&lt;DIV class="dinkus"&gt;&lt;A target="_blank" href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/Adam+Creighton" rel="author"&gt;&lt;IMG src="http://media.theaustralian.com.au/authors/images/adam_creighton.png" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class="title"&gt;Economics Correspondent&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class="location"&gt;Sydney&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class="module-footer"&gt;&lt;DIV class="twitter"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class="story-body  lead-media-large"&gt;&lt;DIV class="article-media article-media-large media-count-1 first-image-650w366h"&gt;&lt;DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class="image "&gt;&lt;DIV class="image-frame image-650w366h"&gt;&lt;IMG src="http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2014/02/28/1226841/179691-ab7407ea-a03b-11e3-b0f0-c1d617d9b2b1.jpg" height="366" width="650" border="0" alt="Illustration: Sturt Krygsman." /&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;!--   // .image-frame   --&gt;&lt;P class="caption"&gt;&lt;SPAN class="caption-text"&gt;Illustration: Sturt Krygsman. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN class="image-source"&gt;&lt;EM&gt;Source:&lt;/EM&gt; News Corp Australia&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;!--   // .caption   --&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;!--   // .tabs .js-tabbed   --&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;!--   // .article-media   --&gt;&lt;DIV class="story-intro"&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;!--   google_ad_section_start(name=story_introduction, weight=high)   --&gt;THE degree of ignorance about the distribution of tax across households is remarkable, especially given that the truth is so easily and freely accessible. For politicians perhaps it is wilful; the facts suit neither side.&lt;!--   google_ad_section_end(name=story_introduction)   --&gt; &lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;!--   // .story-intro   --&gt;&lt;!--   google_ad_section_start(name=story_body, weight=high)   --&gt;&lt;P&gt;The Left typically tries to create the impression the “rich” aren’t paying their “fair share”. Consider former treasurer Wayne Swan’s attacks on “mining billionaires” and welfare groups’ continual prattling about the financial benefit of concessional super taxation to high-income earners.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The Right, meanwhile, evokes the ordinary, “battling” taxpayer, whose hard-won earnings, so the argument goes, are siphoned off to pay for inefficient or ineffective government programs.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;But the overwhelming bulk of people in Australia pay no net tax at all. High-income earners have become a giant pinata that the majority hit for extra money to pay for whatever new social spending programs the political class proposes to stay in office.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;DIV class="story-related story-sidebar block-style"&gt;&lt;DIV class="assistive sidebar-jump"&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;!--   story-related story-sidebar   --&gt;&lt;P&gt;Our constitutional democracy, rather than safeguarding a set of inviolable tax rules applied under the rule of law, has become an elaborate mechanism for extracting resources from a small minority for the much larger majority. A crude summary might be “pay up or else”.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Only the top fifth of households ranked by their income - those with incomes of more than $200,000 a year in the financial year ending June 2012 - pay anything into the system net of the value of social security in cash and kind received, according to data from the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics survey of household income.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The distribution of personal income tax - the federal government’s biggest source of revenue, raising about 45 per cent of the total ($165 billion this year) - is far more progressive than headline marginal tax rates suggest. Including the 1.5 per cent Medicare levy, Australia’s income tax rates range from 19 per cent for every dollar of income above $18,200 to 46.5 per cent for every dollar above $180,000. Most taxpayers face a 34.5 per cent marginal rate.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;But average income tax rates on households’ privately generated income (ordinarily wages and salaries, but dividends and rental income too) ranged from 1.5 per cent for the bottom fifth of households in 2012 to 22 per cent for the top fifth.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The 1.73 million households in the middle quintile paid an average tax rate of 12.3 per cent on average incomes of $88,900. But the ABS survey estimates these households received $31 a week in Age Pension payments, $13 in disability payments, $48 in child-related payments and $12 in unemployment benefits, along with a host of others that whittle their average net tax payments down to $84 a week.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;This sort of analysis excludes the value of government benefits beyond cash: “free” schools, hospitals, public transport and the like, which the ABS estimated to be $413 a week for these middle-ranked households. Netting everything off shows even “average”, let alone lower-income, households got back $2.70 for every $1 they paid in tax. Households in the bottom quintile enjoyed benefits worth more than 320 times what they paid in tax compared with about 10 times for those in the second-lowest quintile.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Notwithstanding the enormous variation in the circumstances of individuals and households within each of these five buckets - for instance, childless, healthy workers will pay in much more than unemployed families with sick children - the disparities are as remarkable as they are little-known.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Factoring in payment of “regressive” taxes such as the GST and tobacco and alcohol excise doesn’t appear to alter the overall picture. Every six or so years the ABS painstakingly distributes the burden of these “taxes on production” across households, based on estimated consumption patterns.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;In the financial year ending June 2010, what one might call “holistic average tax rates” (including indirect and direct taxes and net of social security in cash and kind) ranged from -64 per cent for the bottom quintile, to -22 per cent for median households and 13 per cent for the top fifth of households.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Put simply, only the top fifth of households paid any tax. The bottom 6.9 million households, while often incurring income tax liabilities and regularly paying GST, received more in cash welfare and services than they paid in.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The concentration of the tax burden on higher-income earners would be starker still if the many tens of thousands of senior local, state and federal public servants - whose salaries often exceed $200,000 a year - were considered a cost. One could argue that the taxes paid by workers whose jobs depend on taxing other workers are akin to a cash refund to everyone else, rather than an organic contribution.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;It is absurd to claim the “rich” - assuming incomes rather than wealth are the defining criterion - aren’t paying their “fair share” of tax when they in fact pay all of it. Equally, to argue that the “average” worker is subsidising government folly is difficult given that their aggregate benefits exceed the tax they pay.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Without making any judgment about the merits or fairness of the status quo, the burden appears to be shifting further toward higher-income earners. Comparing the 2003-04 and 2009-10 financial years, holistic average tax rates fell on average 8.2 percentage points for the bottom three income quintiles, but only 4.6 per cent for the top two quintiles.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;It is still difficult to explain why these rates fell because there are so many moving parts to the social security and income tax systems. Of course, lower tax rates do not imply that less tax is collected: the level and growth rates of income across income quintiles varies and a one-percentage-point drop in average tax rates for higher-income earners has far greater consequences for revenue than much bigger changes for others.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Separate data from the Australian Taxation Office confirm rising progressivity. Based on income tax returns from the 2010-11 financial year, the top 1 per cent of individual income earners - who in the 2010-11 tax year were those with taxable incomes of more than $281,800 a year - paid $23.55bn or 17.7 per cent of the total income tax haul, up from 17 per cent in 2009-10.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Meanwhile, the top 10 per cent of taxpayers - with taxable incomes of more than $105,500 - paid 46 per cent, up from 45.3 per cent a year earlier. The bottom third paid less than 5 per cent in both periods.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The highly and increasingly progressive nature of Australia’s tax burden is clear, but why?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;First, income tax becomes more progressive every year without any deliberate change because of what economists call “fiscal drag”. Because the income tax thresholds are fixed in nominal terms and prices tend to rise, every year more taxpayers are pushed into ever-higher tax brackets and larger portions of their real incomes are taxed at higher rates.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Also, most people earn relatively little. While the ABS reports that average annual earnings for individuals were $74,000 a year last May, this figure doesn’t reflect typical circumstances because the “average” is an irrelevant socio-economic metric, increasingly undermined by rare but very large individual incomes. According to the 2011 census, the median household income, which is unaffected by outliers, was only $64,100.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Within advanced countries, the distribution of incomes has become more and more skewed since the 1980s, albeit less rapidly here than in the US and Britain. Economists debate vigorously whether this is because globalisation has boosted the financial returns to innovation, talent and skilled work, or whether the corporate (especially the finance) sector has become more skilled at extracting income at the expense of everyone else (”rent seeking”).&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Regardless, burgeoning incomes at the top have given governments a lucrative and politically attractive revenue source. Both major political parties in Australia have been able to promise extra, vote-winning government spending that increasingly overwhelms growth in taxes paid by the vast bulk of the population.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The Labor government’s decision to lift the Medicare levy to 2 per cent from this July to partly pay for the forthcoming disability insurance scheme is a good recent example. For its part, the Coalition wants to impose a temporary “levy” on big companies’ profits (which will reduce dividend income flowing to upper-income earners) to pay for its paid parental leave scheme.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The massive disparity between gross and net payments of tax - 12.6 million people lodged income tax returns in 2010-11 - suggests “churn” is rampant and an immensely complex system is rife for rationalisation: we have more than 100 different taxes across three tiers of government interacting with a multitude of social security services in cash and kind.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The administrative costs of collecting taxes - especially income tax - are large, not to mention the damage they cause to enterprise and effort.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Cutting cash social security along with the first few marginal income tax rates, for instance, would create a more honest tax system and prompt a virtuous cycle of reducing welfare dependency, boosting employment to boot. By converting “in-kind” social security to cash, state governments could provide parents with a voucher to spend on schools administered in the private sector, would help to boost transparency.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Only a tiny share of the population were eligible for the very low rates of income tax that emerged in English-speaking countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While the scope and size of governments have soared since then, the price of civilisation still, rightly, falls disproportionately on the richest.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The distribution of tax is not the problem but its growth as a share of national income is (along with undue focus on income rather than wealth as the determinant of someone’s capacity to pay).&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Critics tend to argue that ever-greater taxes drive economic activity overseas and reduce the incentive to work, undermining growth. These are valid arguments but they do not answer the question of what is the most desirable “inequality-economic growth” trade-off.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;No number of studies showing that rising tax rates stifle growth, however statistically persuasive, will match glib, emotional arguments that the “rich” can “afford” to pay, so we should make them. The moral case for fixed, reasonable taxesmay resonate more than the pure economic one. Arbitrary increases in taxes to pay for services the market can and should provide offend the rule of law and erode individual property rights.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;</description>
    <pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2015 02:00:58 GMT</pubDate>
    <dc:creator>poddster</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2015-02-10T02:00:58Z</dc:date>
    <item>
      <title>Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719030#M467656</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;The board seems to be devoid of the very vocal Lefties today. Poor lefties were deprived of their promised feeding frenzy and are most likely under their particular rock licking their egos.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Makes a pleasant change &lt;span class="lia-unicode-emoji" title=":slightly_smiling_face:"&gt;🙂&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 13:32:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719030#M467656</guid>
      <dc:creator>poddster</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T13:32:38Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719034#M467657</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;Even Donna didn't manage her 5 threads today, that has to be a first &lt;span class="lia-unicode-emoji" title=":slightly_smiling_face:"&gt;🙂&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 13:36:32 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719034#M467657</guid>
      <dc:creator>poddster</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T13:36:32Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719036#M467659</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;Maybe not all today,&amp;nbsp; but she still has 9 threads on page 1&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;That must be a record.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 13:38:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719036#M467659</guid>
      <dc:creator>imastawka</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T13:38:58Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719037#M467660</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;Stawlks, could it be a cry for popularity do you think? &lt;span class="lia-unicode-emoji" title=":slightly_smiling_face:"&gt;🙂&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 13:41:31 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719037#M467660</guid>
      <dc:creator>poddster</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T13:41:31Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719039#M467661</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;if you ask me i believe its attention seeking...&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 13:46:35 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719039#M467661</guid>
      <dc:creator>joz*garage</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T13:46:35Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719040#M467662</link>
      <description>They are in fact smiling from ear to ear.Abbott's still at the helm,which is a bonus for Labor.At the same time the public knows the government is in disarray after the vote for a spill.Tony's got a few months to turn the polls around or he's likely to be a goner.His entire cabinet won't support him next time.Any chances Joe Hockey will be one of the first to desert him?</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 13:47:19 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719040#M467662</guid>
      <dc:creator>myoclon1cjerk</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T13:47:19Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719043#M467664</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;I think you may be right. &amp;nbsp;Joe Hockey must be checking his odds, getting out his calculator and hitting the minus 3.6 billion black hole. &amp;nbsp;Holy hell!&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 13:53:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719043#M467664</guid>
      <dc:creator>j*oono</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T13:53:37Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719048#M467667</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;How odd,&amp;nbsp;yesterday they were over the moon at the prospect of a leadership&amp;nbsp;challenge and today you say that they are pleased as punch that it didn't happen. My how quickly the Lefties have a change of showing that they are pleased. Like 2 bob each way &lt;span class="lia-unicode-emoji" title=":slightly_smiling_face:"&gt;🙂&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Very&amp;nbsp;adaptable &lt;span class="lia-unicode-emoji" title=":slightly_smiling_face:"&gt;🙂&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 14:10:47 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719048#M467667</guid>
      <dc:creator>poddster</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T14:10:47Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719054#M467671</link>
      <description>Not me.I hoped Abbott would win.Check the opinion polls.He's very much on the nose.There was a double digit swing against Abbott today,by his own members.The other 60% say they're going to start governing now:17 months after they were elected&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;span class="lia-unicode-emoji" title=":slightly_smiling_face:"&gt;🙂&lt;/span&gt; Meanwhile we're only 4 months away from the next budget (how much pain is that one going to bring) and they haven't passed their first one yet.And some say the last government was a circus.</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 14:22:06 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719054#M467671</guid>
      <dc:creator>myoclon1cjerk</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T14:22:06Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719056#M467672</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;They passed their budget when it was formulated, it is the hostile opposition in the senate that is blocking it out of sheer bustardry.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;but i guess that is what oppositions do, sadly at the expense of the voters.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 14:27:40 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719056#M467672</guid>
      <dc:creator>poddster</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T14:27:40Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719057#M467673</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;If you remember, I also said I hoped Abbott would stay to lead his party into the next election. He deserves a fair go and a shot at a mandate for his policies. &lt;img id="smileylol" class="emoticon emoticon-smileylol" src="https://community.ebay.com.au/i/smilies/16x16_smiley-lol.png" alt="Smiley LOL" title="Smiley LOL" /&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 14:28:08 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719057#M467673</guid>
      <dc:creator>iapetus_rocks</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T14:28:08Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719060#M467675</link>
      <description>&lt;BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&lt;HR /&gt;&lt;a href="https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/187476"&gt;@iapetus_rocks&lt;/a&gt; wrote:&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;P&gt;If you remember, I also said I hoped Abbott would stay to lead his party into the next election. He deserves a fair go and a shot at a mandate for his policies. &lt;img id="smileylol" class="emoticon emoticon-smileylol" src="https://community.ebay.com.au/i/smilies/16x16_smiley-lol.png" alt="Smiley LOL" title="Smiley LOL" /&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;HR /&gt;&lt;/BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&lt;P&gt;He deserves that for the last election as well. It was a huge mandate, yet the hostile lafties are doing everything to block that mandate.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Why is that do you think?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 14:33:34 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719060#M467675</guid>
      <dc:creator>poddster</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T14:33:34Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719062#M467676</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;The budget aimed at making the less well off even more so.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Abbott needs to reign in his spending but he also needs to concentrate on making those sectors of society which can best afford it, to contribute more.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;"Treasurer Joe Hockey has hailed the agreement to axe the mining tax&amp;nbsp; - which will cost the budget $6.5 billion - as a "damn good deal" for the Australian people."&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-02/government-strikes-mining-tax-deal-with-palmer-united-party/5713116" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-02/government-strikes-mining-tax-deal-with-palmer-united-party/5713116&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;He robbed us.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Those minerals belong to all the Australian people. We need to make the companies pay their fair share for digging up and selling &lt;STRONG&gt;our&lt;/STRONG&gt; public resources for their private profits.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 14:34:26 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719062#M467676</guid>
      <dc:creator>iapetus_rocks</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T14:34:26Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719065#M467677</link>
      <description>&lt;BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&lt;HR /&gt;&lt;a href="https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/437353"&gt;@poddster&lt;/a&gt; wrote:&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&lt;HR /&gt;&lt;a href="https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/187476"&gt;@iapetus_rocks&lt;/a&gt; wrote:&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;P&gt;If you remember, I also said I hoped Abbott would stay to lead his party into the next election. He deserves a fair go and a shot at a mandate for his policies. &lt;img id="smileylol" class="emoticon emoticon-smileylol" src="https://community.ebay.com.au/i/smilies/16x16_smiley-lol.png" alt="Smiley LOL" title="Smiley LOL" /&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;HR /&gt;&lt;/BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&lt;P&gt;He deserves that for the last election as well. It was a huge mandate, yet the hostile lafties are doing everything to block that mandate.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Why is that do you think?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;HR /&gt;&lt;/BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&lt;P&gt;I believe his mandate was for a responsible, adult govt, offering no surprises and no cuts to health, education, pensions&amp;nbsp; or to the SBS or the ABC.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;and he breached the trust of the voters. We never gave him a mandate to lie and to deceive us.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;he deserves political oblivion for such perfidy.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 14:37:03 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719065#M467677</guid>
      <dc:creator>iapetus_rocks</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T14:37:03Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719066#M467678</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;Oh it is late - I thought this thread was just for us :&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Quiet, sinistrals.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Night all - sleep well all.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 14:39:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719066#M467678</guid>
      <dc:creator>cmcoins2000</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T14:39:58Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719067#M467679</link>
      <description>The senate's doing the Libs a favour by not passing these bills.How much more unpopular&lt;BR /&gt;would they be if they were passed?</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 14:43:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719067#M467679</guid>
      <dc:creator>myoclon1cjerk</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T14:43:52Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719068#M467680</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;6.5 billion???? really?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;remember this?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Report suggests still no revenue from mining tax&lt;/P&gt;&lt;DIV class="byline"&gt;By chief political correspondent &lt;A target="_self" href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/simon-cullen/4057016" title=""&gt;Simon Cullen&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;P class="published"&gt;Updated &lt;SPAN class="timestamp"&gt;&lt;SPAN class="noprint"&gt;14 Jan 2013, 8:39pm&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN class="print"&gt;Mon 14 Jan 2013, 8:39pm&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;DIV class="attached-content ready"&gt;&lt;DIV class="inline-content photo left"&gt;&lt;A target="_blank" href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-14/mathias-cormann/4463986"&gt;&lt;IMG border="0" width="340" title="Mathias Cormann" height="227" alt="Mathias Cormann" src="http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/4463968-3x2-340x227.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;A target="_blank" href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-14/mathias-cormann/4463986"&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;Photo:&lt;/STRONG&gt; Shadow assistant treasurer Mathias Cormann says the tax is a failure. &lt;SPAN class="source"&gt;(AAP: Lukas Coch)&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class="inline-content story left"&gt;&lt;A target="_blank" href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-25/hockey-says-mining-tax-not-raising-money/4333032"&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;Related Story:&lt;/STRONG&gt; Swan under fire over mining tax revenue&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class="inline-content story left"&gt;&lt;A target="_blank" href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-20/swan-dumps-surplus-pledge/4438508"&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;Related Story:&lt;/STRONG&gt; Swan dumps budget surplus pledge&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class="inline-content map left contracted"&gt;&lt;DIV class="story-map"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;A target="_blank" href="http://maps.google.com/?q=-26.000,134.500(Australia)&amp;amp;z=5"&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;Map: &lt;/STRONG&gt;Australia&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;P class="first"&gt;The Coalition is demanding the Federal Government reveals how much revenue the mining tax has raised amid reports it has generated no revenue for a second consecutive quarter.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The Australian newspaper has today reported that none of the country's three biggest miners - BHP Billiton, Xstrata or Rio Tinto - will make payments when second quarter instalments are due next Monday.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Treasurer Wayne Swan has deflected questions about whether the tax has failed to collect any revenue, telling CNBC in Hong Kong that budget revenues generally have taken a hit in the past six months.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;"It is company tax, it is resource rent tax, and it is superannuation tax. It's across the board and it reflects the global volatility that we have seen in the economy, affecting confidence, lower commodity prices affecting incomes," he said.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The companies involved are saying little, with BHP noting the market situation has changed considerably since the mining tax was designed in 2010.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;"The Australian dollar and commodity prices in particular have experienced significant volatility over this period and these have a direct bearing on MRRT payable," a company spokesman said.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The latest budget figures released last month show the Government received $1.1 billion in resource rent taxes (including both the Minerals Resource Rent Tax and the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax) between July and the end of October, but it did not provide a breakdown of the figure.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;DIV class="inline-content quote right"&gt;&lt;BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&lt;DIV class="quote"&gt;&lt;P&gt;The mining tax secrecy must stop. People deserve to know how much or how little the Government has raised.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class="cite"&gt;Shadow assistant treasurer Mathias Cormann&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;/BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;In the 2012-13 budget, the Government predicted the mining tax would raise $3 billion, although that was later revised down to $2 billion.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The Coalition has described the tax as a failure, because it is costing tens of millions of dollars to administer while not raising any revenue.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;"He's supposed to be have been collecting the revenue for more than six months, [but] he's refused to tell us how much or how little he has collected," shadow assistant treasurer Mathias Cormann told ABC News.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;"So what we're saying, the mining tax secrecy must stop. People deserve to know how much or how little the Government has raised, in particular given the Government has already committed all of the money they thought it would raise and more."&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;'Won't be enough'&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The Greens have long argued for changes to the design of the tax so that it applies to more companies and more resources.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;"Let's wait and see until we actually get the figures in next week, but whatever they are it won't be enough," Greens leader Christine Milne told reporters in Hobart.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;DIV class="inline-content quote right"&gt;&lt;BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&lt;DIV class="quote"&gt;&lt;P&gt;We need to raise revenue in Australia. We need to plug the loopholes in the mining tax so that we do have the money to increase Newstart, to fund the Gonski review into education, to fund Denticare.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;DIV class="cite"&gt;Greens Leader Christine Milne&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;/BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;"We need to raise revenue in Australia. We need to plug the loopholes in the mining tax so that we do have the money to increase Newstart, to fund the Gonski review into education, to fund Denticare."&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;There has been a steady recovery in the spot price of iron ore over recent weeks, prompting speculation it may help reverse the Government's budget problems.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;But a spokesman for Acting Treasurer Penny Wong said: "As the Treasurer said on a number of occasions, people should be cautious about putting all their faith in numbers that are based on a day's, week's or month's spot prices for our resources."&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Late last year, Mr Swan announced it was "unlikely" the Government would be able to deliver a budget surplus this financial year, despite repeatedly promising to do so.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;He pointed to declining tax revenues and lower-than-expected commodity prices.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Mr Swan recently wrote to some ministers, asking them to find further spending cuts given the need to pay for other expensive promises including a National Disability Insurance Scheme and an overhaul of school funding.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 14:44:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719068#M467680</guid>
      <dc:creator>poddster</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T14:44:15Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719069#M467681</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;No govt is going to deliver a budget surplus until they start making those who have the most, pay the most in taxation.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;No govt is going to get re-elected if they act to make the poor even poorer while giving tax breaks and perks to the wealthy.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Workchoices killed the Howard govt and cuts to healthcare, education, pensions SBS and ABC, along with an attempt to re-introduce workchoices by stealth, will quickly put an end to any hopes for re-election for this current govt.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 14:55:47 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719069#M467681</guid>
      <dc:creator>iapetus_rocks</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T14:55:47Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719070#M467682</link>
      <description>&lt;P&gt;Whatever revenue the minig tax earned, it was better than no revenue at all, courtesy of its being scrapped.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 14:54:36 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719070#M467682</guid>
      <dc:creator>iapetus_rocks</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T14:54:36Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Quiet Lefties</title>
      <link>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719072#M467683</link>
      <description>"He (Swan) pointed to declining tax revenues and lower-than-expected commodity prices."&lt;BR /&gt;&lt;BR /&gt;That's exactly the same problem the current government is facing.Any bets this govement amends their forecast for a surplus? But of course, it'll be the fault of those not in power.</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2015 15:09:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Quiet-Lefties/m-p/1719072#M467683</guid>
      <dc:creator>myoclon1cjerk</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2015-02-09T15:09:00Z</dc:date>
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