You are being deliberately obtuse, or you are naturally thick.

Toglhot, we have to look at the big picture when it comes to how much multinationals pay in tax, because apart from their taxes, we have the enormous amount of taxes the create, both directly, through PAYG as well as payroll taxes and indirect taxes such as those generated from businesses enguaged by the multinationals and, given we are a ridiculously expensive nation to operate in and taxes are just one of the costs associated with doing business here. If the numbers don't add up, they leave. Point in case, our car industries.

I also note nobody is targeting people like Hugh Jackman or Paul Hogan as they left her because our tax systm is a joke, where the more one contributes the more they pay in taxes, to assist those who choose not to. So be careful what you wish for there because if you're one of the 76odd % who rely on the top end for financial, assistance, this will also be at risk.

As for the libs not spending, where do you think we would be now had the brakes not been put on and, much of the libs spending is due to unsustainable commitments made by Labor.

Sorry to inform you but we are in a race to the bottom.

With plummeting opinion polls, the increasingly desperate Abbott government appears to be launching into a vote buying exercise. Despite the doom and gloom merchants belief that fiscal responsibility can only be achieved through a budgetary surplus without a despised deficit, that is why they voted for Abbott last time around. Some will accuse 'Cocky' Joe Hockey of throwing fiscal responsibility out the window with Mondays speech "The Economic Case for Personal Income Tax Cuts", Hockey wants to take income tax cuts for voters to the next election, but at the same time he fails to say how spending would be reduced, or if other taxes such as the GST would need to increase. The skeptic in me says without any real details, this is nothing more than a desperate attempt at vote buying, by an equally desperate government, staring defeat in the face

*by an equally desperate government, staring defeat in the face*

Music to my ears and solace for my brain. All we need now is a new Labour leader of the calibre of Jeremy Corbyn in the UK, who they are all scared of over there.
Too much to ask for here though, going by the quality of the posts.

Well unfortunately our politicians are very short sighted, interested only in returning to power, we see this in every government as they lurch toward election time, people have short memories and nonsensical promises offering them nickels and dimes usually win them over.

Everyone who does business in Australia has a responsibility to pay their fair share of taxes and the government has the responsibility to ensure that they do so. Taking steps to ensure these large organisations pay their taxes will not force them out of Australia, they will still do business here as they do in every other 'over taxed' country around the world. The Australian government, by not hardening our taxation system simply makes it harder on us and gives the large organisations bigger profit margins.

Holden and Ford are not shutting down operations in Australia because of tax concerns, they are shutting down because their product is no longer a viable proposition. Continuing to produce vehicles that the public no longer want is a recipe for disaster. Sales of Falcon and Commodore have been declining for many, many years, but Holden and Ford failed to see the writing on the wall and kept producing these vehicles, vehicles that simply weren't selling in enough numbers to make them viable.

ttbn, not being obtuse or thick, I just don't understand why you would want to participate in a topic you consider a waste of time - please explain.

Things do seem to be changing. Hockey has put Tax Dept accountants into
suspect companies offices to see what they are doing.
BHP & Rio Tinto are two suspects who sell their iron ore to Singapore
companies, owned by themselves, at cheap prices and then sell it onto China at the market price.
Singapore made a deal with them for low taxes.
What we should do is put a high tariff on anything they sell to us and
then legislate a special tax on those companies.

It is not just Australia that is stirring that pot, the UK has recently
introduced legislation on the same problem.