Former treasurer says economic reform in Australia will take 'financial crisis'
www.abc.net.au
Former treasurer Joe Hockey says meaningful fiscal reform is not possible in Australia as it often conflicts with voters' economic self-interest. He says it will take a "crisis" for governments to enact significant budget repair.
    • No1@aussie.zoneEnglish
      9·
      1 day ago

      He knew SFA about anything. I was so pissed when he got the golden parachute to be ambassador.

      But then I looked on the bright side. At least it got the cunt out of our country.

  • tankiesmasher@aussie.zoneEnglish
    11·
    1 day ago

    Sounds like a tautology, like the reform can only happen when the economic conditions necessitate it, like no shit.

    Also even the article explains that Joe Hockey’s tenure saw stupid deficits, so he can shut the fuck up for the rest of time.

    Nobody likes to trash populism more than me, but blaming it for increasing spending when you used it to cut taxes is insane.

    Conversations about national deficits are always like this, no one wants to talk about taxes so they ratchet down while we juggle spending a million different ways. We need a government brave enough to tell voters to get fucked and raise the tax rate to cover what they want to spend and not be apologetic about it.

    • zurohki@aussie.zoneEnglish
      3·
      9 hours ago

      Or they could increase taxes on billionaires. You know, the people who have the most money and can afford the highest taxes.

      Just once, to see what it’s like.

    • Nath@aussie.zoneMEnglish
      4·
      8 hours ago

      It went bloody well for house prices, actually. Nationally by around 8%, Melbourne by up to 20%.
      Commercial real estate saw incredible reductions in prices (nearly half). That was because there was huge speculation in commercial real estate, buying tower space in capital cities. When the RBA hiked interest rates, it popped that bubble.

      The half of us who can’t afford Million-Dollar houses could really stand to see a similar correction in house prices today.

      Ahh Joe Hockey. This observation says it all, really:

      He oversaw the dismantling of a key aspect of the Henry tax reforms by abolishing the resources rent tax and the carbon tax, which significantly reduced the federal government’s tax haul.

      When combined with his ditched spending cuts, the end result was a decade of deficits during the greatest resources boom in Australian history.

      That single fact could well be overall legacy that the Abbott/Turnbull era is remembered by. We had all the opportunities to establish a sovereign fund similar to what Norway did with their GPFG. Had we done this, it would be worth Trillions today. We could still do this; but we won’t. The way our government is set up, anything like that is immediately spent as soon as the other party gets in.

      Can you imagine a government who works for what is best for everyone, and not best for getting their party (re)elected? I’d love to see a government like that.