"It's amazing how they forget the people once they get over the line. The solar panel program has been incredibly successful and many have borrowed to do their bit and reduce greenhouse gas production"

A truly typical Labor "success" - not only do our taxes subsidise the purchase for those wealthy enough to afford the fraction of the cost they are required to foot, the power companies are forced to buy excess power generated during sunlight hours at about 54c per kwh, then sell power to the same people at about 22c per kwh during the rest of the time (SA figures).

This has the effect of increasing the average price per kwh charged and thus while the better-off with solar PV panels on their roofs may receive a credit, the rest of us are charged more per kwh in consequence than we would be otherwise - a double whammy of our taxes paying for the purchase of assets by a select few while we less privileged are faced with finding the money to pay larger electricity bills.

"The rest of us" particularly includes those who rent and, or, like me, live in units who cannot, even if we had the money, participate in this classical case of taxing the poor to give to the rich - "middle class welfare" does not do it justice.

As for doing "their bit and reduce greenhouse gas production" yeah, right; those I know are honest enough to say they did it mostly for financial gain.

So, if the author considers the increased mining tax in WA to be a really bad thing, I wonder what he would consider to be a good move by the Libs?

The mining tax is a strange example to use here. I mean, OF COURSE the people should be getting a bigger cut from our mineral wealth. Barnett was right to increase royalties. And Swan is also right to reduce the GST to WA as a result (which would mean an increase for the other states), as the profits from WA’s minerals should not just be distributed to Western Australians, but approximately equally to ALL Australians.

This move by Barnett is really quite amazing, as the traditional relationship between government and big business is one of government bending over backwards to accommodate their every wish. In fact, this and the resultant never-ending economic and population growth is the biggest problem, with both Liberal and Labor.

Sure, there are heaps of things that we can be critical of, with both the Libs and Labs, but it makes no sense to examine all this minutiae while ignoring the elephant in the room that is continuous rapid growth with no end in sight, which is just taking this country in a direction rapidly away from a sustainable future.

Isn’t this the most important thing of all?

Dear Mike Carey, one of the great joys in today’s politics is provided by such as yourself. You article reminds many of us of all the reasons why the ALP is now going beyond a toxic brand.

What you fail to understand is that it is the values embraced by this type of surreal support for the ALP that is killing it.

Keep up the good work and thank you.

Funnily enough I found both the NSW solar tariff decision and
the WA iron ore royalties to be great decisions!

Paying people 60c/kw/h, subidised by everyone else, is typical
of economic mismanagement at its finest. What we've landed up
with is another "you beaut" scheme, where the rortsters move in,
until it is shown to be unsustainable and crashes when reality
hits. That is exactly what has happened.

Colin Barnett had every right to increase the royalty on iron ore
fines and bring them up to the rate of lump ore. He had warned
the Feds that he would do it, long beforehand. 7.5% royalty is
not unreasonable.

Fact is that WA is already seen as little more then a cash cow
by much of the East. There is talk that we'll get back as little
as 30c in the Dollar on our WA GST payments.

The costs of developing all this infrastructure in WA is being paid
for by WA taxpayers. We need the extra funding for that, given you
all have your hands out, the moment we make a bit extra.

IMHO we'd be far better off in the West, seceding from you lot in
the East. We could quite easily do without Canberra. For us its
nearly all costs with few benefits. Good on Barnett, he got that
one right.

Yabbs, I think we're 100% in agreement.

My work colleague got solar panels, and I warned her I tell ya. I told her that kinda deal wouldn't last very long. It just couldn't.

I find it interesting given the hoopla, that those who are 'helping the plannet' are only happy to do so at the 60c rate :-)

The Premier of WA it should be remembered, is the man who argues that his famous water canal from the Kimberleys will work OK because water will run “down” to Perth from the North due to gravity.
Now with a bloke like that running the show, how can he be wrong