Re: Aus Federal Politics thread (XII)

[Red]

Why would people leave private health cover if the Medicare Levy goes up?? You avoid the 1.5% Medicare Surcharge Levy if you have private health cover. For me it's much cheaper to have Basic Hospital Cover and not pay the additional 1.5% surcharge.

Agree with this, and it works for me, but there is also a proposal to abandon surcharge exemptions, i.e. those who pay private health insurance would also be subject to this charge. If they adopt this (the theory being it targets higher income earners more), people will drop out because there is no longer a financial incentive to take out private health insurance.  The surcharge is unfair anyway because people are already paying Medicare charges according to their income. Given a lot of people minimise their taxable income below the threshold to avoid this (negative gearing etc.), there is an unfair burden on many PAYE taxpayers.

Thanks for the clarification. I probably wouldn't have posted originally if you'd included the bit about the Medicare surcharge.

The whispered proposal some months ago apparently* (dunno if it's still on ScoMo's books) was removing the claim to the surcharge for families earning over $180,000 and individuals over $90,000. Where do the majority of PAYE taxpayers sit?

Quite a few would fall within this range, but quite a few below.

It does seem unfair though in that the Medicare levy is not a regressive tax so people are already paying according to income.

After Howard introduced the surcharge, he didn't index it for years and it caught many who were not earning a king's ransom.

In some ways you could argue that once people are already contributing to Medicare according to their income, the rest of their salary should be discretionary.

As mentioned above, some with creative accountants, can minimise their income to below the surcharge threshold which reinforces inequity. I know this happens because some of my colleagues have done it.

[embee]

[skully]

Possibly one of sagest voter analyses I've seen.

[JGK]

Possibly one of sagest voter analyses I've seen.

See, you really are an ALP voter.

[skully]

Predictable lame comeback from the Crazy Banking Pinko Enigma.

My immediate thought was "Banker - Tosser - same thing".

[skully]

Something to cheer MrK up...

[skully]

Oh dear, Bill

"BILL Shorten’s attempt to spoil the Coalition’s budget with a new campaign ad appears to have backfired, with claims of racism now being levelled at the Labor Opposition leader.

In the ad, Mr Shorten talks about Labor’s plans to put “Australians first”. To hammer home the point, he stands in front of a group of mildly irritated looking people who are all, presumably, Australians. With the exception of one Asian woman, every one of them is white.

The new ad is turning into Labor’s “Oscars so white,” moment, generating online backlash and forcing a review of the ad.

Mr Shorten has slammed the racism claim as “rubbish” — but he’s not entirely chuffed about the video either.

Even his own colleagues have waved the white flag on the ad fail.

“Anyone who sees it will know exactly what’s wrong with it,” senior Labor MP Anthony Albanese told reporters in Canberra today, calling the ad “a shocker”."

---------------------------------------

So how did the ad get approved. Shirly Shortarse must've greenlighted it before it aired. What a dill.

And this on the back of Sam Dastyari's "This is what $1M will buy you in Sydney" sledge on Faecesbook of a bunch of people's homes across the suburbs. It features the little helal chappy standing out the front of various homes saying "not much". It has him being labelled a crass property snob.

[JGK]

Idiot Pinkos.

[Bradman]

always preferred to land bank than actual real estate but I do wish I'd bought some shitboxes in south shitville Sydney twenty years ago.

[lardbucket]

I sense the inevitable challenge from Albanese is gathering momentum.

Shorten is the liability that may lose Labor the otherwise unloseable next Federal election. It should be a walkover against Turnbull or Morrison or whichever unfortunate is handed that chalice in the shadows of the next poll, but the potato-headed Shorten remains a valuable asset to the coalition. If Albanese knifes him, look out for the biggest landslide Labor win of all time.

[Bradman]

T[b][b][

The same polls will keep bill in the job and apart from an Andrews brain fade he'd already have mals

[skully]

always preferred to land bank than actual real estate but I do wish I'd bought some shitboxes in south shitville Sydney twenty years ago.

Aye. My lady partner is quite a savvy little investor and has gathered an impressive real estate portfolio. She is spewing she didn't pick up a unit (or 2) in Hornsby 12-15 years ago when they were going for $250K-ish. You now can't get anything under $700K. To diversify (she has 2 units in the Summer Hill area - they have tripled in value) she went for properties in Qld, which simply haven't had anywhere near the steroid-boosted growth that Sydney has.

I sense the inevitable challenge from Albanese is gathering momentum.

Shorten is the liability that may lose Labor the otherwise unloseable next Federal election. It should be a walkover against Turnbull or Morrison or whichever unfortunate is handed that chalice in the shadows of the next poll, but the potato-headed Shorten remains a valuable asset to the coalition. If Albanese knifes him, look out for the biggest landslide Labor win of all time.

I'm frankly amazed Albo hasn't put his hand up by now.  I agree illiterate and smug Shortarse is the only thing between the Libs and oblivion at the next Fed election.

[Big Dog]

Bill should just tell all these politically correct wankers to go f@ck themselves.

[horace]

ad would have been deliberately designed for the poor white demographic....

Agree shortpants is woeful. under the post Rudd rules Albo cant challenge.

[horace]

I see dog Latham is joining the Lib Dems (Lejonazi's crew)

[embee]

[skully]

Hehehe, noice.

[skully]

What is going on?

"HALF of the illegal boat people the Coalition Government tried to kick out of Australia have been saved by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal overturning the deportation decision.

That’s despite the Immigration Department finding the 20 fake asylum seekers lied on their visa applications by saying they were at risk of being killed or persecuted if they returned to their own countries. Figures obtained by the Herald Sun reveal the Immigration Department attempted to deport 40 boat people who were granted protection visas under the previous Labor government.

All 40 appealed to the AAT and the AAT overturned the ministerial deportation decisions in 20 cases. Countries those allowed to stay in Australia came from included Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa.

The Herald Sun has also discovered a Turkish drug dealer convicted five times, including for peddling commercial quantities of heroin, ice, ecstasy and cannabis, was allowed to remain in Australia after the AAT quashed a decision to deport him.

The lenient treatment of Ahmet Candemir late last month, despite minimal evidence to show he was committed to rehabilitation, came as Immigration Minister Peter Dutton launched a blistering attack against the tribunal and its leadership.
...
He took particular aim at the former president of the tribunal, Duncan Kerr, whose term expired on Monday.

“He was appointed either by (Kevin) Rudd or (Julia) Gillard, and his term is coming to an end in fact, and there will be a new appointment made ... it won’t be him I suspect,” Mr Dutton told 2GB radio."

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Is there any doubt that this Kerr clown is a Pinko stooge??

I note even Shortarse was in the media yesty saying enough is enough - if you are caught lying on a refugee claim, you're gone.

The Iranians who lied about threats to their lives even returned to Iran for holidays FFS.

[Bradman]

Gigs to the AAT are handed out like bikkies at a blood bank. You only have to have some expertise in any one of a wide variety of fields. Given they're state based I'd say there's probably a hundred or so part time members. Not too much luck required in drawing a couple of lefties on any given panel.

[horace]

Meanwhile the Guardian has published leaked policy papers about a graded cruelty system on Manus Is.

The system is designed to stream those found to be 'genuine' refugees from those assessed as not to move them all on.

[JGK]

Still, Dutton's comments are out of line. The Executive should not be attacking the Judiciary like that.

[Bradman]

Well the way is technically exec (I think) but yeah Kerr's a real judge and certainly the most experienced refugee law mind on the Federal bench.

[Bradman]

Farking auto correct.

[skully]

So MrK, are you outraged at the new bank levy?

[JGK]

Not at all. It is a very good thing.

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