Starving the beast
Angus Taylor's strategy for fighting government obesity is pure Ronald Reagan
On Friday, the Treasurer’s staff went hunting for credulous journalists armed with a back-of-the-envelope calculation that Angus Taylor’s plan to abolish bracket creep would “cost” $35 billion in its first four years.
They received an eager reception at the Sydney Morning Herald, where Taylor’s alleged black hole led the paper’s Budget coverage on Saturday.
The placement of the story at the bottom of page 20 reflected the genteel exhaustion of a once-respectable masthead. Its reporters can no longer muster the energy to challenge Jim Chalmers’ spin by asking the obvious question: if Taylor’s tax cuts impose a cost, who will be obliged to pay?
Not taxpayers, obviously. Indeed, they’ll have $22.5 billion more disposable income after four years on the Coalition’s figure, or $35 billion according to Labor.
The greatest cost will be borne by politicians, who will be forced to spend political capital by cutting spending or adding to the debt.
Taylor’s conservative critics have been urging him to release his inner mongrel. Well, now he has, by unleashing the boldest economic reform since the introduction of the GST.
By committing to index thresholds, Taylor has drawn attention to bracket creep: a scam that has reaped countless billions of dollars over the years by creaming off cost-of-living pay rises.
The stage is set for a stand-up fight along fundamental philosophical lines. fight between collectivists and classical liberals. In one corner are socialists like Albanese and Chalmers, who believe governments were put on earth to raise money and then spend it. They believe the state has a moral claim over private income.
In the other corner is the party of Robert Menzies, under a leader who passionately believes that individuals should receive the fullest possible reward for their labour and deserve the fruits of their investment.
