Comments
On equality of opportunity
2No doubt I’m not qualified to enter this debate. All of the people I quote are more experienced in this than I am, and I’d highly recommend you subscribe to their blogs rather than mine. You’ll learn more, for starters, and they update more often than I do. But the debate on equality of opportunity is an important one, and it is – like many debates – too important to be left solely to the professionals. This is, I think, going to be in several parts (I do run into problems with brevity).
Recently, Andrew Leigh (ALP Member for Fraser) wrote a book called Disconnected, arguing among other things that the social fabric of society is fraying. Christopher Joye critiqued the concern for income inequality: (more…)
The last lament of a dying retailer
21 year ago
I wanted to consider the issue of GST on online sales, as raised by Gerry Harvey recently. I think he’s wrong – at least at the moment. He’s engaging in rentseeking – or at least, trying to. It’s worth looking at what’s happening, and why. Harvey claims that parity of the Australina dollar with the US dollar hurts retailers in Australia, and that there is not a level playing field, as GST does not apply to sales with a value of less than $1,000. It’s worth noting that online retail sales are a relatively small part of total retail sales – about 3%, according to Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten, and of those, 20-50% are from overseas.
(more…)
Letter in The Age
0I got my first letter published in The Age today:
Garrett revisited
CATH Bowtell – Labor’s new candidate for the federal seat of Melbourne – may well believe in same-sex marriage, workers’ rights, a fair go for refugees and everything else (The Age, 6/7). But her party does not. Any organisation that can turn Peter Garrett from staunch advocate for the environment and social justice into a faint echo of his former life should have no problems eliminating Ms Bowtell’s beliefs in less than a single term. Progressive Melbourne voters know that our Labor MPs do not stand up for us. This will not change with a new face.
Comment in Crikey
0I had a comment posted in yesterday’s Crikey. It’s not necessarily all that illuminating, although it’s probably as informative as the piece I’m responding to. Some members of the IPA are at least both interesting and informative, even if I disagree with pretty much everything that they write. Others are perhaps of less value.
The payroll tax/job creation myth abounds
2Adam Schwab in Crikey yesterday had a go at Bernard Keane. It’s here – possibly paywalled. My response may be a little too long for Crikey, so I’ve also posted it here, below the fold.
(more…)