Senate passes tax cut bill with Labor changes
June 16, 2005

"The Senate has passed the Government's tax cut legislation but with Labor amendments lifting the average tax cut from $6 to $12 a week.

Finance Minister Nick Minchin objected to the amendments pointing to a black hole because of the absence of proper costings.

Senator Minchin said the Labor proposals were cobbled together on budget night.

Labor said its proposal was much fairer for those on lower incomes.

The Australian Democrats and Greens sided with Labor to pass their amendments to the Tax Laws Amendment (Personal Income Tax Reductions) Bill 2005.

The bill was passed by 35 votes to 33.

The amended legislation now returns to the House of Representatives where the Government will reject the Labor changes."


I love the last line and our horribly power-imbalanced democracy. Why did they even bother printing this article?

why did you even bother posting it? :ouch: :ouch:

You're right Randell. I had no right to place politics in your reading spectrum.

*Sigh*

John Howard is a cunt. A yeast-infection carrying cunt.

hahhaha agreed, i really dont understand where all the dumbshits live that

A) voted howard back in

B were stupid enough to also vote for the libs in the senate, ensureing whatever dumbassed bills thay want to pass they simply can write them up and pass them,

bye bye workers rights, soon we will be like the wonderfull USA on $2 an hour begging for tips, or having a sick day only to come back to work replace by someone else(may be blown out of proportion :P) but seriously, they want to be rid of collective bargaining, meaning even the hardest workers will be pissed on if they dont have the confidence to strike a good contract with the boss one on one. also wants to lose flexi days and long service (who cares when u retire on the most ludicrus super package ever hey johnny cocksucker) + much more workers right down the drain.

wave see ya later to telstra who currently brings in shitloads of cash to the budget every year, but lets sell it for a one off payment so that the howard government can make their books look good for a few more years(just long enough for him to retire, or die whichever comes first)

+ whatever other dickwad ideas they can come up with

i wouldnt mind seeing how many of the 18+ ppl in here voted for libs in the lower house, and voted for the libs in the senate.....

personally i went labor-independant its just plain stupid to want the same party having a majority in both houses, might as well be a F*cking dictatorship.....

i love politics btw :)

That's why I bothered to post it. What are your thoughts on medicare's recent turns, Trog? Safety net, my ass.

What frustrates me is that, no matter how bad Howard goes, the liberals don't see it. People with disabilities have to work? Good, the lazy bludgers! I swear, every one of them sounds like some sick Sir Quincy Penfold/Dr. Kermitt Krocket crossbreed.

If the libs remain in power for much longer we'll be a state of the US- one nation under Bush (and not the good kind). Our welfare system, once the best, is starting to look less and less impressive. As a guest of the government this year, I have a lot at stake, personally. :P

The chances of the voting public remembering that the medicare safety net was shot to pieces after it was used as a substitute for other lost benefits is slim to none. Tony Abbott is a dirty liar.

I hear he keeps children locked in his basement....

medicare sucks ass, im lucky i can claim my missus as a dependant or id be up for the 1% medicare levy at tax time.....i always go to the medical centre when i need a doctor as they still bulk bill and they do a lot of things onsite, like x-rays, blood tests etc, liberal would love to make it compulsory to cary private health insurance, they have allready pressured everyone over 30 to join, + howard pretty much is forcing people to have to work longer in order to survive retirement, which frigging sucks, its probably going to 70 by the time i get to retirement age......

I say we need Medicare. Most people would have no helath insurance without it. Anyway, I say the tax cuts could have been better spent, like on abolishing HECS-HELP fees & making university free for everyone (except foreign sudents).

yeah of course we need medicare, personally id rather see no tax cuts and, id even pay more tax if it meant that

a) no matter where you are in australia u acn walk into any doctor and it didnt cost

B) public hospital system where theres a bed when u need it, and more doctors, nurses, surgeons so "elective surgery" waiting lists are very short, i believe u should never have to wait more than say 1 month for any kind of surgery, except transplants obviously.

c) free dental and optical

i know the costs would most likely be a massive blowout, but with these budget surplus' surely they can be more imaginative than giving the average australian another $6 dollars a week, its a frigging joke, its not even 2 schooners at the pub.

ive never been there but ive heard that in england u dont pay a cent to go to hospitals, even if your a tourist......but ole johnny boy has his cock so far up bush's arse that his knob probably has stars and stripes on it, and we will continue to move towards a society like theirs....the poor will be stomped on and told sorry for the inconvenience, but the rich have to move on..........

Hospitals are free in England on the National Health Service - don't know if that's the case for tourists though - but most of the hospitals I have been to there (to visit people) were built about 100 years ago ... and have had nothing done to them since.

Basically any hospital visit, or visit to a NHS GP, is free.

With dental and optical, I know there have been cases recently in Bradford, my home town, where a new NHS dentist has arrived in a suburb, and people have been lining up outside their doors ALL night so they might have a chance to register with them when the doors open at 9am.

Most people I know, admittedly all of whom work full-time, use private dentists.

Eye tests are free for those under 16, students, or over 60's.

It is a decent system despite the amount of criticism it receives over waiting lists etc - especially as tax rates are so low over there compared to here - but I think I would feel quite a bit 'safer' in a hospital here (especially now Dr Death is back in America!) than I would over there.

Someone mentioned abolishing HECS. I think that's an insane idea. I'd like to see a more restricted approach to it, but I'd hate for us to adopt a scheme similar to that in the US. I've got friends in the USA who struggle desperately for scholarships, or work two jobs- just so they can afford to study. I'd rather see HECS adopt a 'scholarship' like form, rather than see it cut (ideally I'd like to see it stay as is)

He said abolish hecs and make uni free. Which would also be disasterous. While it's a nice sentiment and Gough Whitlam is a god, it would mean financial ruin.

Shit yes, that would suck. I'd rather they be less free with Uni places, not more free. Some people just shouldn't be at Uni, shown by the fact they're failing every other subject and generally wasting the government's money and the University's time.