Politics Super Thread - keep it all in here

[Jedi_Tiger]

...the articles contain links to the actual ATO report which is hosted on the ATO website. You have the information literacy of TrueTiger.

don't trust turnbull times thanks

 

[Tim Sheens]

I used to be a political junkie, but I have never been less interested in an election in my life, as soon as Scomo or Albanese are on I just tune out instantly. There is nobody I feel particularly inclined to vote for, punt the lot of them.

That’s a bit sad, as the result of this election, with the climate and energy policies/lack of them on the back of 21 May could well be the most important of my 56 years.

Australia needs to become a leader again and we have not had one decent policy in nearly a decade. Instead of producing batteries and EV's, we have seen the ruination of manufacturing industry, effective climate/energy policy and the NBN.

We now sit surrounded by oceans, virtually devoid of EV'S and associated infrastructure, and only a couple of weeks or so of fuel supplies.

 

[TrueTiger]

...the articles contain links to the actual ATO report which is hosted on the ATO website. You have the information literacy of TrueTiger.

And your an expert of opinions I presume,,,ATO and other Govtmental agencies are as bad as each other..when you can give me solid unadulterated prove that all the govt depts are there for us and not have their own agendas ....then maybe I will consider your opinion as fact...you stick to your limited opinion and I will continue my own personal research....if its not what suits you then keep your opinion to yourself if you just want to degrade people for taking their own personal indepth work for their own and family betterment,dont knock them for trying to find the truth about what concerns them in life.. but then again you must know far more than others and that gives you the chance to bag the crap out of other people...I only have one thing to say to you and that is I feel sorry for you that you cant consider that other people have a varying opinion on differing topics but because it doesnt suit you narrative then its a lost cause in your opinion..

 

[TillLindemann]

That’s a bit sad, as the result of this election, with the climate and energy policies/lack of them on the back of 21 May could well be the most important of my 56 years.

Australia needs to become a leader again and we have not had one decent policy in nearly a decade. Instead of producing batteries and EV's, we have seen the ruination of manufacturing industry, effective climate/energy policy and the NBN.

We now sit surrounded by oceans, virtually devoid of EV'S and associated infrastructure, and only a couple of weeks or so of fuel supplies.

I'm 100% on board with the need for renewable industry + EVs, and agree that one side of politics and its media arm has done its best to sabotage action in this area. But the only party who views it seriously is the Greens, who I couldn't vote for because of their mad views on other issues. It is business - Cannon-Brookes, Twiggy Forrest etc - who are getting the job done, Canberra won't.

 

[Kelce68]

Are you kidding? About one third of large companies failed to pay a cent of tax in 2020, according to the Tax Office's corporate tax transparency report released on 2nd Jan, 2020. Or are they inaccurate and exaggerative as you say?

Of 2,214 entities covered by the ATO data for 2017-18, 710 did not pay any tax. Many companies claimed tax losses and concessions that often go back several years.

There were 1,504 corporate entities in the 2017–18 data that reported tax payable of $52.3 billion — a net increase of $6.6 billion from the previous year. And yet paid no tax.

Also, 192 of Australia’s biggest companies paid tax of 10% or less of their profit in 2018-19, including seven that paid more in political donations than they did in tax.

These are facts and figures that are undisputed, not exaggerated or inaccurate. And that's just what the system allows. There are still instances of outright tax avoidance, in which multinationals attempt to shift profits outside of Australia to reduce their local taxable income.

I understand cognitive bias can be strong (both ways) but let's educate ourselves so that we can have accurate and pragmatic policy formation as you say without turning a blind eye as we have been doing. These are facts. Most corporations are not paying their fair chare like you and me. And if they paid like the rest of us do, then Australia would be far better off economically.

And here are just a few links to satisfy those who are open to it:

A third of big companies paid no tax in 2019-20, this table reveals which ones

The number of Australian public companies that paid no tax rose during COVID-19 lockdowns, according to the ATO's latest transparency data.

www.abc.net.au

The tech giants that paid no Aussie tax last year

ATO reveals 2018 data.

www.itnews.com.au

Some of Australia's biggest companies paid more in political donations than tax in 2018-19

Tax report reveals Chevron Australia paid no tax on $900m but $129,685 in donations to Labor, Liberal and National parties

www.theguardian.com

One-third of big businesses in Australia still don’t pay any tax five years into ATO crackdown

Some 782 out of 2,370 large companies paid no tax in 2019-20, mostly because they made a loss or claimed credits for previous losses

www.theguardian.com

You still did not name a single company that earnt 'billions in profit and zero in tax'.

What you're also neglecting to consider is the contribution of these companies to not only the overall tax pool through job creation and employee tax and super contributions, but their role in the generation of local, expendable cash flow through the salaries that they create and inject into the local markets via their employees.

Whilst I don't disagree that the current system doesn't squeeze these companies as much as they could, it's not as simple as 'they don't pay their fair share'.

 

[Tim Sheens]

I'm 100% on board with the need for renewable industry + EVs, and agree that one side of politics and its media arm has done its best to sabotage action in this area. But the only party who views it seriously is the Greens, who I couldn't vote for because of their mad views on other issues. It is business - Cannon-Brookes, Twiggy Forrest etc - who are getting the job done, Canberra won't.

Could well have a couple more independents to take up the baton that was locked in a safe late in 2013.

Lot of polling noise has Frydenburg losing Kooyong and may well not even be a close contest, with others in the southern states also in with a decent shot.

As I wrote earlier, it is way past time that the vast majority of the country is no longer beholden to the fossil fuel industry through a few QLD MPs and Senators.

 

[Merlot]

die greenies die

 

[Tim Sheens]

Watching Morrison and Dutton now and hearing him talk about national security and his relationship with Fiji, with the words of Fiji's PM stating that Scotty was condescending and didn’t listen on climate coming to mind. Along with "Pacific Time" and "water lapping at their doors" comments from when the three stooges (including Abbott) were at a meeting.

The massive failure that they were aware of last August, yet failed to prioritise is well captured in the cartoon screenshot too large to upload, but in this link:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1517235185313783813

 

[Magpie_Magic]

I can accept if the ALP wins.

Just no more mandates.

And no more handouts.

They do have a track record of being controlling.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

Watching Morrison and Dutton now and hearing him talk about national security and his relationship with Fiji, with the words of Fiji's PM stating that Scotty was condescending and didn’t listen on climate coming to mind. Along with "Pacific Time" and "water lapping at their doors" comments from when the three stooges (including Abbott) were at a meeting.

The massive failure that they were aware of last August, yet failed to prioritise is well captured in the cartoon screenshot too large to upload, but in this link:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1517235185313783813

mike Carlton lol you must be joking haha

 

[Tim Sheens]

mike Carlton lol you must be joking haha

Fact is that the cartoon is from chief Morrison government cheerleader Phil Coorey's Australian Financial Review, but this site won't allow a file of that size to upload as an attachment.

 

[bathursttiger1]

Watching Morrison and Dutton now and hearing him talk about national security and his relationship with Fiji, with the words of Fiji's PM stating that Scotty was condescending and didn’t listen on climate coming to mind. Along with "Pacific Time" and "water lapping at their doors" comments from when the three stooges (including Abbott) were at a meeting.

The massive failure that they were aware of last August, yet failed to prioritise is well captured in the cartoon screenshot too large to upload, but in this link:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1517235185313783813

Australia could not go anywhere matching the money that China has to throw at the Solomon inlanders.

 

[Tim Sheens]

Australia could not go anywhere matching the money that China has to throw at the Solomon inlanders.

Maybe. Though you can be pretty sure of being rejected when your government, derides, acts condescendingly (their words) and neglects valid concerns of neighbours, and then sending junior representatives at the death.

All this whilst severely cutting foreign aid as per the Lowy Institute text and graph shown below. Aid has always given great bang for bucks, though derision from probably the three largest coalition figures that I quoted on earlier bite and cause harm to relations. Hurt that even large amounts of dollars struggle to overcome.

.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

Interesting Mr Marles at Munster in Qld press conference today could not answer reporters question if coal mines go beyond the threshold do they need to buy carbon credits and if so at what price ?
Deputy Leader Marles could not answer the question
You cannot trust this mob they are clueless, coal miners be wary

 

[earl]

You cannot trust this mob they are clueless, coal miners be wary

You can't trust either side on politics on this issue or the independents. It's really complex and getting our heads around the situation is exceptionally difficult.

There is such a push for action as well.

I'm really concerned there is going to be this big push to grow more trees and people end up getting into the business of trying to game the system to attract those subsidies. I can this turning into a situation where we see very little positive benefit with a large cost.

I'm not really a climate skeptic. I think we are screwing the environment up. I think we are heating the planet up. I think people will suffer.

I also think there is a lot of bunk science and politics around this issue.

I wonder how many people have read the latest IPCC report. If you haven't go and try to read it. I gave up pretty quickly.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

You can't trust either side on politics on this issue or the independents. It's really complex and getting our heads around the situation is exceptionally difficult.

There is such a push for action as well.

I'm really concerned there is going to be this big push to grow more trees and people end up getting into the business of trying to game the system to attract those subsidies. I can this turning into a situation where we see very little positive benefit with a large cost.

I'm not really a climate skeptic. I think we are screwing the environment up. I think we are heating the planet up. I think people will suffer.

I also think there is a lot of bunk science and politics around this issue.

I wonder how many people have read the latest IPCC report. If you haven't go and try to read it. I gave up pretty quickly.

it was interesting Marles had no idea and dodged the question.
One thing for certain is the Greens will not side with coalition, People of the Hunter and other mining areas have a really good think and don't trust Labor before reading the detail first.

 

[earl]

it was interesting Marles had no idea and dodged the question.
One thing for certain is the Greens will not side with coalition, People of the Hunter and other mining areas have a really good think and don't trust Labor before reading the detail first.

Maybe. Let's see what happens.

I'm honestly not that political in that I don't really care who gets in. To me it's two middle right parties.

So on global warming I think both parties are weighing up jobs compared to a future clean energy path. The big issue is that we are a massive exporter of coal. We need the income and the jobs.

I reckon they are both playing a game on climate change to a degree.

 

[Yossarian]

Good ole Slo Mo…

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has refused to face reporters today as he makes an announcement rehashed from the 2019 campaign.

 

[Tim Sheens]

Good ole Slo Mo…

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has refused to face reporters today as he makes an announcement rehashed from the 2019 campaign.

Down your way wasn't it and he even brought Jenny for the drive.

Happy to see that Morrison is concerned about his Central Coast seat with the decent margin of 4.2% in the case of Robertson. Enough to host and address the local party workers to try and rally them.

Don't think he will lose it though, as there are enough males around that he thinks he may lose to Labor, being his target audience that will listen to his dog whistling on trans issues and the like.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

It is nice the US has intervened in the Solomon Islands due to Scumo and his crew stuffing it up. It seems the US want to confront China if it attempts to build a base in the Solomon Islands. It couldn't have come at a better time for Australia after the $5.5bn submarine debacle and the Hunter Class frigates heading in the same direction.