Bazz, Aussie malls have closed before and I would' t be surprised if a few small ones do again, regardless of how the economy goes. But there's no shortage of cheap energy. Are you still unaware of the answer, my friend?

Greece is in a mess because it's in the Eurozone. As long as Australia prints its own currency, we're immune to that - the government has unlimited credit, so can always implement policies to grow the economy.

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ttbn, the problem is the Federal government, no matter who's in power, likes to create the illusion of fiscal responsibility by underfunding the states. Until that's addressed, raising the GST rate won't make the states any better off in the long term.

If you take a look at the actual effects of the carbon tax, rather than the ludicrous claims Tony Abbott made about it, you'll see that prices hardly changed but there was a drop in CO2 emissions far larger than predicted. BTW the money from the carbon tax also stayed in Australia.

Having the GST at only 10% gives us an advantage over most of the rest of the world. We should try to strengthen that advantage by abolishing it.

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steve101,
"Has not anyone thought that governments pay out far more wages and social service benefits than taxes could possibly take in."
Probably not, as the taxation and spending figures are published so we know that's not the case.

Aiden if you believe "there was a drop in CO2 emissions far larger than predicted" because of the carbon tax; give me call, I've got a nice bridge in central Sydney for sale.

No one, I repeat NO ONE, believes the temporary introduction of a carbon tax in Australia had any impact on global CO2 omissions... except you.

ConservativeHippie, I based my statement on http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/carbon-price-helped-curb-emissions-anu-study-finds-20140716-ztuf6.html

What did you base yours on?

If you really believe that bit of garbage Aidan, you'd be well advised to keep very quiet about it.

Anyone who believed that bit of fluff must be feeble minded. It is not something to admit in company.

I'm sure the fact is you'll grasp at any straw, in an effort to support your emotional attachment to green ideology. Not something to be proud of either.

Beach as the forums resident redneck, and champion of white supremacy, I see you have lost none of your capacity to blame it on the black fella, blame it on the ethnic, blame it on the progressive. Like floods and famines, the problems of taxation is all the fault of multiculturalism, progressives, and of course who could forget the villeins of our society, Australia's indigenous people themselves, One of your typical gems;
"What about indigenous, where almost everyone is somehow a contractor to government and the alleged problems increase! -Not unexpected where government has an open chequebook."
So your solution to Australia's tax problem is, do nothing about corporate tax avoidance which runs into billions, rather just kick the Aboriginal can. Now that is mud slinging stuff one can expect from the ultra right! What is your parties tax policy? I can't find it on the web site, which is full of racial rants, but light on tax policy. LOL

Paul1405,

Anyone who observes that government has to make provision for its payments is showered with personal slurs by you.

The lunar NSW 'Watermelons' and their Lee Rhiannon in Canberra are an embarrassment to new Greens Leader Richard di Natale, but then they were always a thorn in the side of Bob Brown.

Why don't you list the taxes proposed by the NSW Greens, for instance property taxes and taxes affecting small businesses?

The Greens spend like there is no tomorrow with heaps of promises to buy votes, but no effective way of funding them and other government commitments.

It is very, very difficult to understand why any young person would consider a protest vote for the Greens, when the Greens are spending their future.