nairbe
It's not about who pays tax and who dosn't, it's about who pays 'positive taxes' and that figure is just over 58% of tax payers. 42% of tax payers receive more in 'hand outs' than the contribute in taxes. Unemployed and pensioners, both old age and others don't enter the equasion.

Put bluntly, that leaves the 58% to 'pick up the slack', then pay all the bills.

I read somewhere that when the old age pension was introduced, there were 27 tax payers per 1 pension recipient. That figure is now 2 tax payers per recipient.

Put simply, our resource sector needs to perform and perform well so we can rape it for all it's worth, otherwise, we will simply fold.

Our manufacturing is all but gone and tourisum is on its knees, retail also is starting to buckle.

Mining is our last line of defence and, unless we take drastic action to stop the wastage, I fear our future generations will have a pretty bleak future. After all, they will all be born with an unwanted debt.

Yes Rehctub, longer life has made a significant impact and couple it
with the tendency of women to have children in their late 30s and
early 40s instead of 20s has not helped.

The other big problem that we are not facing up to is the campaign
that a number of countries have in buying up farms around the world
to meet their future food demand.
It seems to be utterly stupid to allow this to happen.
The Chinese government has already bought farms in Australia.

I wonder why ?

BAZZ, two reason I can think off off the cuff.

1. Because they (the chineese) simply don't, or won't, have the land to grow their future food requirements.

2. They know that our farmers won't be able to afford to employ staff in the next decade or so, to remain remain competetive and will ultimately go out of business. They will most likely grow 'bio-fuel' instead, all of which requires minimum labour input as machine can harvest 'non-food stuffs'. Who can blame them, hey!

The chineese are very clever and can see that we will have to literally charge the earth for our goods, so they are looking to the future, not like us.

It's a bit of a 'no brainer' if you ask me, yet the labor governments and thier unions just can't see the big picture.

Meanwhile, our best farming land is being sold to the highest overseas bidder and we do nothing.

I agree rehctub, my question was rhetorical of course.
With large parts of western China being taken over by desert their
food producing areas must be decreasing and the move to the cities by
the young and the single child policy probably means their food
production will fall not rise.

Frankly if famine becomes a problem in China I can see the food being
exported direct to China and the local markets running empty.
I can even imagine Chinese guards at the farm gates, after all it will
be land owned by the Chinese government.

A Madmax scenario I agree, but not unimaginable.

Rehctub,

Mining companies don't pay the same company tax as other companies, they are massively discounted due to concessions. They PAY MUCH LESS, only 15% in fact.

So there, I CAN answer. You are being fed BS from the mining sector and it's advocates in parliament and the media. They are robbing this country blind of it's primary resources and the ants like you are jumping on the side of the spiders.

Sure they give jobs, but those jobs won't go anywhere, because there is still way to much profit to be made even with this proposed tax increase.

Trashcanman, I have seen previously that mining companies get concessions
on their operations, but I have never seen any detail. Also the pollies have
not mentioned it either. Do you have any detail ?

One thing that has not been accounted for by many is that the super tax
applies *before* they pay interest on their borrowings.
As it will apply to mines that are already financed this sounds very dangerous.
It could in fact wipe out their profit entirely if they were reasonably
highly geared as I imagine many mines would be. It could also leave
them in a position that they are unable to pay their ordinary company tax.