The Biden administration is considering a scheme that would levy a carbon tariff on Australia. A carbon tax or tariff would kill jobs. We should instead embrace science and innovation to safeguard our economy while protecting the climate.
Read MoreIncome tax is easy to calculate. But filing your taxes and sending your dues the ATO is only the beginning. Australians are taxed not only on their earnings but also when they spend and when they save. Sometimes we even pay tax on taxes.
Read MoreNo one likes to think about people being unable to pay rent and losing their homes. But as I learned in high school reading Henry Hazlitt, “The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.” And the eviction moratorium, which the CDC extended this week for the second time, completely ignores landlords.
Read MoreFollowing the release of the report of the royal commission into aged care, the government has faced calls from various quarters that might easily lead it to become a little trigger happy with new taxes.
Read MoreI am a 24-year-old, and I love flavored vapes — grape, chocolate caramel ice cream, and watermelon, to be precise. Too bad five states and numerous cities across the United States have banned flavored vapes, assuming these flavors are ‘meant for kids.’ And worse, now the FDA is expanding that ban. As of February 1, 2021, vape manufacturers will face consequences should they make or sell any vape flavors besides tobacco and methanol.
Read MoreLast January, you could buy a bitcoin for less than $9,000 — that's roughly the downpayment on a 2018 Ford F-150. Today, it costs around $37,000 — that's almost enough to buy the truck outright.
Read MoreHaving lost a loved one to a road fatality, I am appalled to see the NSW government use road safety as a pretense to earn an extra buck. The government recently decided to remove mobile speed camera warning signs so drivers won’t slow down in time to avoid a fine.
Read More‘Social distancing’ was the motto of 2020. However, with around 90 per cent of Australia’s population crammed into 0.22 per cent of Australia’s landmass, perhaps in 2021 we should start thinking about ways we could decentralise the Australian population.
Read MoreWith Queensland locking down and NSW mandating masks, it seems Scott Morrison changed the wrong word in the national anthem. We are still ‘young’, but we are not ‘one’ and very much are not ‘free’. The government’s response to COVID-19 is dividing us into public and private workers -- haves and have-nots.
Read MoreIn a state with 8 million people in a city of 5 million, 49 locals this week contracted a virus with a survival rate of 99.3 per cent. On Monday, community transmission in NSW hit a whopping zero. Yet, lockdown enthusiasts have still found a reason to complain.
The Australian government isn’t into the Christmas spirit, taking when all we want is the gift of a fair go.
On the first day of Christmas the Australian government took from me a percentage of my income for the ‘good of the society’.
Read MoreAustralia is a federation of six states and two territories, but does it need to stay that way? The states and territories have had a tumultuous history, both with secessionist movements and calls for regional statehood -- some coming very close to succeeding. The original drafters of the constitution would likely find themselves surprised waking up in an Australia with a map that hasn't changed since 1900.
Read MoreIn 1935, Australian settlers introduced cane toads to Queensland to control the cane beetles in sugarcane fields. In response to the drug-infused culture of Kings Cross, the NSW government launched a war on drugs alongside much of the Western world. But our war on drugs has run into the same dilemma as the cane toads in Queensland; the solution is worse than the original problem.
Read MoreIt has been rewarding to see so many of [the ATA’s] ideas make it into the NSW Budget. COVID-19 has opened the eyes of many of us to serious structural problems with the way we tax and regulate people…
Read MoreIt seems Clover Moore is living in an alternative universe. In the real world, Australia is recovering from the effects of a global pandemic. People are struggling, businesses are treading water. We have 6.9 per cent unemployment, and 14.5 per cent youth unemployment in Australia.
Read MoreThe 2020 federal budget presented Australians with a new scheme to get the economy moving - a year of subsidised wages. The federal government has allocated $4 billion for businesses hiring new workers as part of the JobMaker plan. But like all subsidies, these government funded paychecks will help some and hurt others.
Read MoreBefore Americans consider mimicking Australia's coronavirus response, they should consider the full costs of heavy-handed governance.
Read MoreWhile most of the western world is in recession because of COVID-19 lockdowns, China has been busy gearing up their export machine. Australia’s over-dependence on China led to massive supply shortages and panic earlier this year.
Read MoreAlbert Einstein pointed out the obvious when he said, “We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” This year alone the Australian Border Force’s Illicit Tobacco Task-force seized 421 million cigarettes and 175 tonnes of loose leaf tobacco. The regular excise tax increases for tobacco products has made the illicit trade increasingly profitable.
Read MoreAccording to Service NSW, Victorian farmers will only be able to get their lambs to market when sheep fly. Sydney based bureaucrats don’t see anything odd about loading 40 sheep onto an aeroplane in Melbourne, flying them to Sydney, then driving them to Corowa Sheep Yards on the border of Victoria. Our draconian COVID-19 restrictions have entered and ventured well into the realm of the ridiculous.
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