I won’t go so far as to say common sense has prevailed, however the new sick tax looks to have been taken off the table for the moment at least.
Common sense and the $7 GP co-payment never really went together at any rate.
We were told that the budget was at a crisis point, something that may actually be true given the country’s deficit has doubled since Abbott and Hockey took the wheel, and this sick tax was all part of the heavy lifting that needed to be done.
However we were also told that the revenue raised was to be put into a medical Research Super Fund which meant it was going to have absolutely no impact on the budget at all.
So if it were not going to raise a cent in revenue why would a government impose a sick tax on the public at the same time as all the other harsh measures in the budget like the petrol tax increase, cutting people off from welfare, the cuts to pensions, and all of the jobs being lost in the public service and of course the ABC?
Was it just designed to rub salt in the wound? We all love being kicked when we’re down don’t we?
Look what Tony gave me…
The co-payment was designed to create the super medical research fund. A noble cause indeed after Abbott and Hockey slashed so much funding for the CSIRO that went into research.
Joe Hockey told us in 20 years this superfund would be the biggest medical research fund in the world. That is actually true if you base it on today’s funds and don’t allow for other research funds to increase in the next 20 years. I guess Joe is expecting that pharmaceutical giants like Roche, Bayer and Pfizer will be happy to just stagnate rather than continue to invest money in their corporation’s future. Delusional logic at best, blatant lying and treating the public as fools at worst.
Joe Hockey’s calculations also neglected to take into account administration fees for the fund. I would be extremely interested in knowing whom the Coalition had in mind for that particular role. A role that would no doubt be well paid and leave someone in charge of Billions and Billions of dollars literally raised on the illness and bad health of Australian citizens.
When the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) is released in December and the worsening state of our economy is exposed for all to see I expect one of the excuses we will hear as Joe Hockey desperately grabs for anything that may help keep something that resembles his past credibility afloat is the excuse that the sick tax was rejected by the senate and the public.
If this is brought up as an excuse for Abbott and Hockey’s failure we will know that Abbott’s lies about no cuts to ABC and SBS or changes to pensions and health were just the start.
The only way this sick tax would have a positive effect on the budget deficit is if it were tinkered with after it passed through the Senate which begs the question “What did the Coalition have in store for us that they haven’t told us about?”
However the sick tax has already had an impact on the budget, and it’s been a negative one. Our government has wasted an untold amount of time putting this failed excuse for plan together and that is all at the taxpayers’ expense. Joe Hockey’s budget crisis worsens a little bit more every time he marches down the corridors with Peter Dutton nipping at his heels to try to convince the Senators that tampering with Medicare is a great idea and they should not only pass it but hi-five each other as another great reform is dismantled to prop up a dysfunctional and failing government. He may as well be trying to convince them the earth is flat or that climate change doesn’t exist.
Slow down Joe, I can’t keep up…
If Abbott comes out attempting to persuade the country he has listened to the citizens and heeded their calls I hope he will excuse members of the public if they start dry retching where they stand. Threatening to cripple someone and then not following through with the threat does not suddenly make you citizen of the year.
With this government we have come to realise can expect the unexpected (another broken election promise of “no surprises”). For that reason the surprise sick tax that was not mandated and the surprise backdown are something I would not be surprised to see re-appear via another surprise way of sneaking it through parliament and avoiding democratic process, leaving a very surprised Senate to explain how they were bypassed to a surprised public.
There is a saying “don’t count your chickens until they’re hatched”.
I’m told chickens have a similar saying that when translated says “Don’t count your Coalition backdowns until they’re dead, buried and cremated, and even then….”
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Sick tax and Uni cuts not mentioned in party room. PM’s office running around last night saying it was off. This morning Dutton and Abetz rolled PM office. Who is in charge??????????
It’s very good question, my bet is on: not one in Mr Murdoch’s Cabinet is qualified to be in charge, the only common qualification they all share is, they are LIARS very bad LIARS as a matter of fact
They won’t give up on this. It’s an article of faith. The medical system must be run as a private business. who is to be the banker for all of those $7. Sounds like it could be run by a retired hedge fund spiv…..Malcolm T has a few friends who answer that description.
Truth is at the core of Democracy.
Some participants in our recent election have chosen to divide inflame and misinform, thereby failing in their duty of care towards democracy through acts or omissions that could reasonably be seen likely to damage the very fabric of our democratic institutions.
A fog of lies and confusion turned many away from a dreary mess of slogans and exhortations. To such an extent, that 1 million voters did not care to register a formal vote, and 2 million did not vote at all. Democracy is dying of neglect
It must no longer be acceptable that political offerings can avoid scrutiny, be deceptive or misleading, or be distorted half truths and exaggerations or scandalous rumours that we have experienced recently.
But how will the $7.00 co-payment help his budget. It goes straight into research. Or will they take a bit out now and again.
Medicare as on Howard’s hit list, but he was never able to carry it out. The Liebrals are ideologically opposed to universal government provided through taxation health care. Even so our Medicare model has been tampered with by these vandals.
I would never ever trust health policy to the Right. They want an American system here where jackols make fat off the sick and infirm.
When will people get it through their skulls. The Coalition will destroy Medicare and replace it with a user-pays/insurance model. A vote for the Coalition is a vote for horrendous personal and institutional medical costs.
Nobody has mentioned where those huge research funds will be going, although at current doctor visitation rates it would have take at least a decade to reach the total fund amount mentioned.
I can’t imagine the Government setting up a new dedicated Research facility when they have effecively closed down so many.
I suspect the money would have been simply given to those private companies mentioned above. Perhaps some generous corporate political donations would flow back too.
The fund was just the sweetener but the co-payment was always intended to be just a preliminary strike in the eternal war against Medibank.
Buy This!
The first thing Hockey did when he came in to power was to give the Reserve Bank $8.8B, money they did not ask for.
$8.8 Billion to speculate on currency trades. Behind the trades are bankers skimming fat fees from the trades. If $8.8B was turned over at least once with bankers commission fees estimated at 1% and that is a whopping $88M, even at .5%, it comes to $44M.
Hockey’s wife is a merchant banker, “Is she creaming some of these commissions?” if so, Joe has a huge conflict of interest. And it’s time there was a Senate Inquiry into this matter.
The second controversial thing Joe did was to introduce the $7 GP Tax + extras for a $30B Medical Fund on the premise there was a budget emergency, and when Joe did not find traction Dutton said Medicare needs to be sustainable and the $7 GP Tax is needed.
The facts are that Medicare is more than sustainable and if one wants to believe the lies of Abbott, Hockey and Dutton, well, the way forward is to increase the Medicare Levy.
But this not convenient for Abbott and Hockey who have been bought out by private interests, one may recall the SMH headline “Treasurer for Sale” and now Hockey is feeling the pressure because he can’t deliver.
This $7 GP Tax going towards creating a $30B Medical Fund is no different than the monies given to the Reserve Bank but on a grander scale. Is Hockey’s wife going to be a beneficiary of some fat juicy fees ranging in the multi-millions? And will it be like the Future Fund with Costello at the helm investing funds in the Coal industry.
This $7 GP Tax has to be the biggest con perpetrated by Abbott, Hockey and Dutton on the tax payers of this country, ripping off monies from taxpayers under the guise of future medical miracles for their own and big business self-enrichment.
We know the budget emergency was a con and so is the $7 GP Tax.
Time to show them the door; a cell door would be more appropriate.
Brilliant illustration here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204049631773587&set=gm.786823708057591&type=1&theater
Thank you bobrafto,I always thought their had to be an explaination for them wanting so desperately to get this policy through the senate,you have explained their motives very well
That fund is not expected to be in place to fund any research for up to a decade. Only income will be used. In the meantime, all, I say all our leading scientist are moving on to better thinks. Sadly not in this country though. Where are the young scientist we are now educating going to get experience and support from. No one left to give them a hand up.
They have closed down all public sector research, including one of the best in the worlds, the CSIRO.
By the way, they expect 20 billion to be invested. only 5 billion will come from the misnamed, fraudulent GP tax.
This mob’s vision is to see the public sector in all fields disappear altogether. That is their vision.
Destroy all unionised industry. Succeeding in this regard.
Abbott sees himself as chief salesman and saviour of the fossil mining and power generation industry.
Have has demobilised, made un workable NBNCo. No longer national fast broadband,
Privatising tertiary education in all fields. Undermining the primary and secondary school system, leaving it to deal with the poor and disadvantaged.
I am a little puzzled why Abbott believes that building roads, some many do not want, makes him a infrastructure PM. Then, he does not intend that government will build them. He expects the private sector to do the heavy lifting. Public will pay through the nose for his roads.
I do not believe that Thatcher ever dreamt of going as far, as Abbott intends, What’s more, he believes he will be loved for his efforts. One needs to keep in mind, Abbott spent his time at Oxford, not studying, as his results show, but working on behalf of the Thatcher government and touring Africa. demonstrating against Mandela.
He still thinks he is back in that world. The world of Menzies, reds under the bed and the falling dominoes of the Communist state.
He still believe that Britannia has it colonies across the globe, rules the waves.
Just talking about this backflip on the backflip. It seems to me Abbott’s done one of his cast anyone & anything overboard to save himself stunts, only to have his installers & backers remind him of why he’s been put there & what he can expect if he’s naughty.
Well Costello wanted mums to have one for the country now hockey wants us all to take one up the bum for Santa don’t expect he wants to go guarantor on our credit cards.
Nobody could pretend to be this stupid could they
they don’t just want to ruin the economy they want to ruin all of us personally as well
The all new SERCO debtors prison opening soon