The GST may not have made any difference in the price of a cake. The labour costs to the building industry increases with the GST, right through the industry.
As new housing labour and materials becomes 5% more expensive due to an increase in the GST of %5, old housing (due to replacement costs) increase in value. The GST idea alone fuels Sydney's housing bubble predictions and reduces first home buyer's ability to purchase their own home. Additional interest paid over a mortgage loan lifetime allows a 15% GST added labour and material costs, additional mortgage loans years of compound interest, more expensive than first thought.

You may notice that politicians start public debates on regular intervals, if not a topic of public debate, a scandal of some sort. Solar power brought up by Tony Abbott, eventually fades away. Travel abuse expense will eventually fade away.

The media are lazy and I believe are getting lazier. I have noticed an increased amount to murder stories on television news. With respect to the unfortunate victims and families, after a while all murder stories sound the same.

Television news broadcasting time slots are becoming frequent, and or longer. While the quality and variation is left up to a list of political topics that role over to re-emerge when little else is being talked about in between world news topics like Greece's deadline dates come, pass and new deadlines are made which goes on for a while ending with no change. The media are never without news. I Never heard the media say “sorry, there's no worthwhile news today”.

The real news about introducing a GST shouldn't have been about a cake. The real news should be about how money is losing value, that saving money for retirement years, that once people retire with large amounts of money, there exists investment risks in trying to maintain money's value. Many people trying to maintain the value of money by investing in investment companies often lose much of the money as investment companies falter.

Investment companies may offer a (example) 10% annual yearly return on customers’ investment. 10% yearly return is a very rewarding incentive compared to a more secure bank term deposit.
How could an investment company afford to reward private retail customers that much of a reward?
Like house buyers need to provide a deposit in order to borrow money from a bank. Investment companies are using private investors’ money as a risk deposit buffer on money borrowed from banks and or other wholesale finance providers at a lower return interest rate compared the private retail investors.
An investment company may state investment products are low risk Blue Chip shares; some property investment scheme; whatever scheme was planned.
A formulated plan with assured returns backed by a well-known company may exist. Risks may be said to be minimal.
Regardless whether investment assets are high quality products, assets change value according to some asset evaluation system. Shares change value moment by moment. If a share slump like 2008 happens, investment plans backed by experts will pose that risk of asset falls were within a narrow margin of error.
Investment company balance sheet “T” account assets column may be valued lower in monetary terms than creditors’ liabilities column. Company laws state that an investment company is insolvent and must stop trading immediately. First creditor to receive money after assets are sold, are banks and or wholesale creditors. The next to receive are wages, commissions, accountants to wind up the company and other creditors. The last to receive any remaining funds are the private retail investors.

During an investment companies solvent trading, all sorts of legal activities: director commissions; charges passing through accounting activities; regular administration charges; broker fees; all types of inventions that will allow an investment company to stay solvent, while still taking in funds, until an a periodic of market decline.

Count back every 7 years from 2008 decline up to 1980, each 7th year has had a market decline. I am predicting a late third quarter 2015 market decline based on assumptions provided by bible Joseph 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine, and “the seven year itch” 1955 movie. The George Axelrod book “The Seven Year Itch” version written in 1952 falls on a count back 7th year. Silly as that seems, I suggest stuff looks to happen as an act of god, yet stuff is really rigged to happen by living god rulers, which many people are aware, using the 7 year market decline to guard against loses. It's only theory. 2008; 2001; 1994; 1987 crash; 80; 73; 66; 59; 1952.

Even though private investors were assured a 10% return, the 10% return could have an increased liability on the creditors’ column. If one year showed a poor return that couldn't provide the one year of 10% return. Insolvency could be declared. If the market was down at the time liabilities were to be paid out allowing the balance sheet to appear insolvent. Accountants could be brought in to manage winding up an investment company, charging accountancy fees for several years until little private investors’ money remains.

To my reasoning, investment companies are open to all sorts of legal abuse. Any trusting person should realise if there were any legal opportunities to legally remove money from people, investment companies have a history that should be widely advertised.
To me, the above is obvious that the system is so subject to abuse, it's almost appears to be intentionally designed to do as the above mentions.

An establish investment company my take in and allow immediate withdrawal of funds. As retail investor funds’ margins’ varies, investment fund security deposit margin may fall below the percentage whole sale finance agreements required margins. Whole sale investors may and or will require an investment company to sell assets to pay back whole sale finance provider to correct margin problems. Commonly known as a “margin call”.
http://www.investinganswers.com/financial-dictionary/investing/margin-call-102

http://www.asx.com.au/products/managed-funds/lics-lits.htm

Retail funds entering and exiting alter the margin agreements and force margin calls to take place. Any retail investor seeing a company that allows funding to immediately leave the fund should be cautious. Being the last out the door can be risky, leading to investment company’s insolvent proceedings.

A problem is that children don't learn at school; media programs don't or at least very rarely dramatize investment ideas; media information programs don't discuss detailed risky types of investment; after teenager education has ended, adults don't query on how to invest. Investment information is somewhat there, yet, people are not that curious without falling into a traumatising learning avoidance tactic. Risk is only a word that gamblers are avoiding to consider as risk needs unknown time consuming contemplation thoughtful consideration. Having said that… I doubt that many people would have read this reading without inventing some reason to stop reading, moving onto something less learning, having only to want to read something to judge true or false in order to reinforce their belief in their own intelligence.

Investment companies investing in higher risk, higher rewarding investment companies that go broke, have lower risk investment companies going bankrupt as well.

Discussions should be about why people are beguiled into assurances rather than being properly informed. How education has simplified children ability to understand complex processes similar to margin call risks. There exists a 2011 movie called “Margin Call” I believe was seen twice on SBS1 television. The movie drama is vague when describing by actually mentioning the phrase “margin calls”. Few poorly educated, knowledge repressing people would have bothered to watch the SBS movie. The fact margin calls is a dramatized movie, is a poor serious information presentation method attention grabber means of educating unsuspecting investors.

Too much attention is focused on democracy's federal government political dramas: scandals; embarrassments; eventually fading away brought up scary rule changes. One recent rule change is banks need to increase reserve cash requirements. That rule brings back my memories of 1990s Keating recession we had to have.

Trust is a very overly used human behaviour. Faith in words and childhood beliefs are abused by those who know how to take advantage of trusting people who don't know any better, who are too not willing to doubt their own pleasure seeking getting rich desires.

Let us know when you're taking a breath Steve, so we can get a word in hey!

Dear Steve,

Thank You for this discussion and the information
that you have supplied to us thus far.

According to the Australian's Business Review, July 22, 2015,
the Housing Industry Association has warned state and federal
leaders that increasing the GST on new housing could price
many Australians out of home ownership. The Housing Industry
body said new housing was already weighed down by tax.

HIA Chief Executive Graham Wolfe stated that:

"Increasing the burden on home buyers should be a no-go area
for governments if they are really concerned about housing
affordability."

Queenslanders in particular, along with WA would be mad to agree with any increase in GST. Most of what we pay in GST goes directly to our failed states, South Australia & Tasmania, with the grants distribution system. It is a major net transfer of our money to the southern failures.

It would not be surprising if the silly bunch we now have in office now, don't actually understand this, but I hope some in industry can get the message through to them.

Yes the GST is bad, but nothing to the costs imposed on us by years of Beattie & Bligh government. I have just paid a $1100 electricity bill for the last quarter. I dug out some old bills to compare. In 1994, with 6 people in the house, compared to 2 today, my bills were under $300 a quarter. Most of the increase occurred in that idiot Beattie's time, when he was ripping an extra quarter billion a year out of power generation to spend on bureaucrats.

In 1998 for example my off peak hot water system cost $14 to $16 a quarter for 6 residents. Now the same system, serving just 2 people costs $168 a quarter. Yes there has been general inflation, but one thousand two hundred percent is utterly ridiculous.

Wind power anyone? Cheap power! They've got to be kidding.

Steve101,
There have always been plenty of "indicators" for corrections,
crashes etc but the most reliable one I have seen is the spike in oil
prices that occured before every recession. The one exception was the
the Dot Com crash about 2000.
The 2008 crash was caused by the peak oil production that occured in 2005.
The prices rose from about 2007 & peaked in July 2008.
However because peak crude oil occured in 2005 I don't think the
spike in price will any longer be an indicator of a share crash or
recession. Pity that as it was a really accurate signal.

The future now is very uncertain and all the rules have been scrapped
and we are yet to see the shape of the future.