NathanJ - Quote "The people of Australia - should be willing to pay more in GST to get better roads, hospitals, schools and other services for their benefit." BUT a lot of the cost is in bureaucratic incompetence For example the $2 Billion dollar Hospital in Perth that has more than 200 staff BUT will not open for patients for 8 Months $50 million dollars minimum for nothing.

If the Government fixed up the loopholes the rich us to avoid tax then there would be no need to increase GST.

That raise is also needed to pay for the 50,000 Plus so called refugees Labor incompetence let in.

Despite an iron clad promise from "Honest" Johnny Howard that there would never ever be a GST from his government, at the first opportunity he introduced one. Despite a iron clad promise to never ever increase the GST from 10% we now have the conservatives, the so called minimum tax people, wanting to increase the GST to 15% or more. The conservatives are very much in favor of this flat consumption tax on two grounds. One, its a tax on the poor, where by the old age pensioner on a few dollars a weeks pay the same amount of tax on a meat pie as does the billionaire Gina Rhinoceros, I can hear the conservatives now "But Gina Rhinoceros consumes many more meat pies that the average pensioner does" I say so what. Secondly and more importantly its a business bonus. where by since its introduction business has ripped billions of more dollars from the tax system by simply pocketing the GST for themselves.

The lies of "Honest" John Howard on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixn9fFatdcs

and a good piece from the Canberra Times on lies from politicians.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/more-than-promises-broken-when-our-politicians-recant-20120927-26nro.html

In all the years of taking and interest in Australia politics from pre Whitlam to the present. I must say, when it comes to lying to the Australian public it has been the conservative side of politics that history has proved to show are the big political lairs. Is it due to their general disdain for the average Australian, their "born to rule mentality", I don't know.

One of the fundamental things that we need to do as part of tax reform is to greatly reduce the rate of increase in the demand for everything that our tax dollars are spent on.

Sure we could increase the GST or introduce a flat tax or somehow get the big business sector and the rich to pay their fair share.

But rather than just thinking of the money-supply side of the issue – which is what practically everything thinks only of – we need to look very closely at the demand side as well. Think about the amount of our tax revenue that has to be spent on forever duplicating all the basic infrastructure and services for ever-more people.

By greatly reducing immigration and heading towards a stable population, we would be doing much more for tax reform than if we successfully achieved even the most optimistic supply-side improvements.

Ludwig. speaking in general terms we have a very strong expectation in Australian society for "welfare" not just for the poor but for all in society, the rich, the corporate and the poor, everybody. At the same time we have a general expectation for lower taxes. How do you accommodate both expectations?
It is easy to "spot" direct welfare, the cash given to the needy, its not so easy to "spot" the indirect welfare in the form of grants, subsidies you name it given to other more powerful sections of the community. In fact these sections are the first to deny that they even receive "welfare", they very much see themselves as givers and not receivers.

Morning NathaJ we speak about this from time to time, emotion seem to over rule the Brain when we do.
Before the election in a thread about tax reform I said I thought Abbott, despite words to the contrary,would do it,and as a Labor voters said I would support it.
I am unlikely to bring the Australian in to any debate unless it is the warn of Murdock's power, and his miss use of it.
But you touch on the truth, like it or not tax reform is over due, some will hurt some help.
Many just plain silly tax,s could be dumped and a GST higher than it now is, maybe 15 percent, would more than cover that.

Australians are reluctant tosee our welfare transport education health and much more are in part Socialism, nothing wrong with that.
But we pay in the end.
And if we stop paying those who want less tax will cry unfair.
GST if we confront the truth is a fairer tax getting at least some tax from those who work hard to avoid it.

I'm with Indi on this one.

I have put forward my idea before a couple of times.

A flat Tax of 10% on Gross, same as the GST, no deductions for anything for any reason. 20% on any money/artwork/property going into a trust Fund or anything like it. 20% on any money going into Off Shore Bank Accounts. 20% on all Perks/bonuses. Huge fines for any attempted avoidance. Confiscation for deliberate avoidance. Have I left anything out.

Halt all Overseas AID except for immediate Emergency AID for Disasters.