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Columnist Niki Savva’s relatively positive comments about Jim Chalmers (Comment, 5/11) are apposite, but I would go further and make some different historical comparisons. He’s been one of our wisest and most courageous treasurers. He has started to undo the profound damage caused by Paul Keating retreating for party political reasons from a ban on negative gearing and by Peter Costello weakening an already very mild capital gains tax. He’s addressing the huge tax loophole for discretionary trusts that his predecessors either refused to acknowledge or left in place. Chalmers has reportedly tried to tax gas exports but been overridden from above in the same way as prime minister Bob Hawke protected an utterly anomalous tax favour for the gold industry. The treasurer is now being blamed for economic difficulties that are almost entirely due to circumstances beyond his decisive control, although he should have reversed his predecessors’ entrenchment of the Reserve Bank’s control over interest rates.
Julian Disney, Geelong
GST as lever a sound idea
Your correspondent’s idea of using the GST as a lever to control inflation (Letters, 5/11) is not crazy and should be considered. In fact, eminent economists, professors David Gruen and Ross Garnaut have suggested that very idea with the creation of a central fiscal authority to lift the GST (and other taxes) in times of inflation. The independent authority would work in tandem with the RBA and its interest rate lever, with consumers sharing the burden of inflation measures with borrowers. It is much fairer too, because as consumers we can put off buying a lot of stuff we don’t need when the GST rises, whereas borrowers have no control over their monthly mortgage repayments.
Xavier Duff, West Brunswick
Caught in a dilemma
I feel for the Reserve Bank board and governor Michele Bullock in particular, as they are copping flack simply for doing their job. I feel for the borrowers paying increased mortgage repayments but the central bank, like others globally, really has no other weapon for lowering inflation. The only other institutions that can curb inflation are governments by increasing taxes – and look what happens when they even attempt to do just that.
Phil Labrum, Trentham
Raising GST, and rates, are both regressive
Your correspondent (Letters, 5/11) suggests raising the GST as an alternative to raising interest rates. Unfortunately, both methods are regressive, as they affect the lower socioeconomic group far more than the wealthy. The poor are already struggling, while a couple of percentage points makes no noticeable difference to the rich. Nobody actually needs millions of dollars. While the homeless are offered tents, how about a wealth tax as a starting point in reducing needless spending?
Keith Fletcher, Glenlyon
THE FORUM
Jobs first for Werribee
The last thing we need in Werribee is more housing, at least until the infrastructure catches up (″The sites the Coalition would sell″, 6/11). What we really need are the jobs that were proposed for this large vacant tract, a plan that has now been abandoned for the site.
What happened to decentralisation which was also a previous promise by government. In reality, those running the state (read Melbourne) are keeping the jobs in town while hoping that the workers will find their way into town on already saturated roads and public transport.
John Marks, Werribee
Social housing missing
Interesting plan from the Coalition to sell state-owned land, but I see no mention of social housing anywhere.
Yes, it’s good to use land that is lying fallow, but there are still so many people who cannot afford and have no access to housing. What is the plan for them – get a job?
David Jeffery, East Geelong
Voters’ needs first
Your correspondent (Letters, 6/11) calls for independent bodies to be established at federal and state level to be responsible for costing and implementation of infrastructure projects. There is no doubt that the decisions in Victoria on the Suburban Rail Loop, Airport Rail, the public housing towers, train services to Melton and Tarneit, road gridlock in Beveridge and many others seem to be based on politics.
I could not agree more that we need to have decisions based on evidence of need plus objectivity in determining relative priorities. Such bodies already exist in Infrastructure Australia and Infrastructure Victoria with both being responsible for providing independent advice to government. The challenge then is how to ensure that governments make decisions for the benefit of the people rather than perceived electoral advantage. Hopefully, all candidates for the upcoming election take note of the US election results and see the value of keeping the needs of the voters in the centre of their decision making.
Pauline Brown, Woodend
Not Israel’s fault
Interesting how your correspondent (Letters, 6/11) identifies Donald Trump as the one cutting aid to Israel while claiming that it’s the state of Israel that has the anti-Palestine policies.
The reality, however, is that until some 20 years ago consecutive Israeli governments have made all the efforts for a two-state solution, but the Palestinians rejected them. This is all well-documented in history books.
What is of concern is that your correspondent makes out that it’s all Israel’s fault when in reality the Palestinian authorities have set many obstacles along the way. It’s this type of misinformation that makes it all the harder for Jewish Australians to be treated like all other Australians.
Henry Herzog, St Kilda East
Slim pickings
With an overwhelming body of evidence on One Nation’s inability to articulate any of their costings, the Premier, Ben Carroll, desperately trying to navigate the smouldering plane wreckage of Jacinta Allan’s time as leader and Jess Wilson walking out on press conferences and also having troubles answering critical questions on her team’s state financial resurrection, what quality of candidates are we left with? Slim pickings this time around.
David West, Essendon
Trump’s sense of self
Numerous commentators are describing the outcome of the American midterm elections as a defeat for the president’s Republican Party. That supposes that Donald Trump is interested in political parties. I do not think he is. The usual work of political parties, developing policies, and when in government, working through ways to implement them, has no interest for him. His is a cultish view of political parties as simply a prop to his sense of self, with all its strange vagaries. The American electorate has now seen through that. Can the Republican Party rebuild itself as a recognisable political party? Are there lessons for Australian political parties to take note of? And if there are, do they have the strength of character to look and learn? Time alone will tell.
David Ben-Tovim, Carlton
Dealing with Congress
Donald Trump is erratic, but he also has very strong survival instincts. While many are concerned about a conflict-driven, strong-arm approach to the remainder of his presidency, I can also envisage him taking a more conciliatory “keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer″ approach to Congress so as not to act as a catalyst in relation to any investigations that may be being considered.
Claire Merry, Wantirna
Plan B please
If inflation doesn’t come down in the next 12 months, will the Reserve Bank just keep putting interest rates up ad nauseum? What is its plan B?
Robert Scheffer, Bayswater North
Getting balance right
Many of your recent correspondents have bemoaned the actions of the RBA and the government in trying to control inflation. Booms and busts have occurred throughout history, well before the Tulipmania of the 1630s. Governments have struggled to find ways of taming these excesses and have identified only a few levers to achieve this. Governments use taxes and spending, while banks use increases and decreases in interest rates. We should not lambast these institutions when they use the limited means available to them. Getting the balance right for all of us is a constant, legitimate struggle. Let them get on with the job.
Graeme Rose, Wangaratta
History repeats
The Second World War exposed humanity’s darkest side. Hitler exploited economic hardship, fear and racial prejudice, manipulating the German media and public opinion to turn the Jewish minority into scapegoats for the nation’s problems. The consequences were catastrophic.
In the aftermath, the United Nations was established with the hope of preventing such horrors from ever happening again.
Yet today, we are seeing familiar patterns emerging across the world. Political leaders are exploiting economic uncertainty, social division and public frustration, using fear and misinformation to undermine trust in established institutions and blame vulnerable minorities, particularly immigrants, for society’s problems. Social media has provided a powerful new platform for these tactics.
Are we witnessing history repeating itself? I sincerely hope not.
Civil societies must recognise these dangers and work together. We must challenge prejudice, expose misinformation and resist those who seek to gain power by dividing communities and turning people against one another.The lessons of history are there for all of us to learn, but only if we are prepared to listen. Humanity has no real external enemies. Its greatest enemy is the one within, and its name is ignorance.
Rod Horton, Sale
Follow this lead
Thank you to Alexandra and Julian Burt, beneficiaries of mining interests, for their donation (″Billionaire couple make $120m donation to nature″, 5/11). We hope this will inspire other corporations and high net-worth individuals who have benefited from exploiting Australia’s natural resources, to make similar contributions. The environmental problems of feral plants and animals, high intensity bushfires, land clearance and the decline of plant and animal species deserve the attention of all of us, especially the rich.
Andrew Isles, Prahran
Clarification
Some recent letters suggested the government was directly responsible for decisions on rates. These decisions are made independently by the RBA, but government policy can affect those decisions.
AND ANOTHER THING
The US
Donald Trump should join the Democrats because the Republicans are losers.
David Mandara, Hepburn Springs
Donald Trump and his ilk should remember the old saying “you reap what you sow”. Sowing division and hate has been rejected by the American people thankfully.
Randall Bradshaw, Fitzroy
How long can a US president rule by decree? If I were a US citizen I would very quickly be cheesed off.
John Walsh, Watsonia
California Governor Gavin Newsom, in his final acts in the position, has commuted the death penalties of more than 500 prisoners to life imprisonment. It is a shining example for the other states that still perform the barbaric practice of the death penalty.
Reg Murray, Glen Iris
Furthermore
If One Nation ″has the guts to say what you’re thinking″, it’s probably time to stop thinking that.
Steve Melzer, Hughesdale
The advertising jingle goes ″there’s no other store like David Jones″. Not any more.
David Cayzer, Clifton Hill
David Jones has now sunk to Davy Jones’ Locker.
Bryan Fraser, St Kilda West
With a cost-of-living crisis, how do people find $500 million to spend on Halloween decorations? It’s to be hoped they’re kept for future years and not just sent to landfill.
Lorraine Bates, Balwyn
Ross Gittins suggests ″higher interest rates make it more attractive to save″ (Comment, 4/11). Just how do you save anything when rates eat even more of your income?
Bryan Lewis, St Helena
When you spend a dollar, you vote for the world you want to live in. When you buy a Chinese electric car, you are supporting a political system that imprisons a peaceful democrat.
Adam Thomson, Collingwood
Finally
As I get older, are my declining intellectual powers correlated to my increasingly bad handwriting (Letters, 6/11)? Jan Newmarch, Oakleigh
