THE TOUGH NEGOTIATORS‏

The battle in Bondi between the so called "great mates" Packer & Gyngell, was enough to make me really scratch my head and wonder how anyone who would resort to such basic instinct barbarity, could ever have achieved the power & influence that they currently have. Both men are doing a great job in their businesses in my opinion but I still can't see how enemies of this ilk let alone GOOD FRIENDS? could ever be involve in a public brawl???

The event did hold a resemblance though to two other close friends having a public brawl just a day later. When Peter Costello so publicly stated that this proposed budget levy was nothing more than politics and would raise no real money to deal with the ALP's legacy of debt, well it surprised me again. I would have thought that the country's greatest recent Treasurer would have kept such an opinion to himself considering it was his student, from his team, going in with this plan. I guess the old adage is true, "with friends like this who needs enemies."

I'm not a member of the Libs so I will say this much, I agree entirely with Costello. Regardless of who pays such a tax (it seems likely that it will be geared towards the most wealthy), it just will not raise enough revenue to even barely address the 12 billion dollar annual interest bill, let alone the capital debt,.... SO WHY DO IT?

I will attempt to answer my own question with this point and that is it is better to do something than nothing and as long as it doesn't lower economic confidence of put strain on the low earning Aussies, it is still a revenue stream. Hmmmm, sure but I am anti TAX and all about less spending, smaller Government and just like my opposition to the needless Abbott PPL scheme, saving money and not wasting it. Encouraging consumer spending and job growth is what I voted for.

It's early days still and I am confident that the Budget next week will not be as frightening as those on the Left would have you believe but I do think that this Debt Levy will appear in some form and on it's own it just another useless tax in my humble opinion. The PPL is wasteful welfare (My Mum had three sons with no handouts and she managed to keep her job until retirement, so why now?).

If The PM wants to save money then close down the Department of Climate Change, stop wasting money on such generous foreign aid and make public grants much harder to get. Make the States accountable for their GST spending so that they are building more Hospitals, Roads, Schools etc and not another Art Gallery, Wildlife Reserve or bloody bike lane!!!

Politically speaking I am worried about the lack of trust this levy would result in minds of an already cynical public and not just for the Coalition but for all politicians in general.