ALL ARTICLES

Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts

Land tax is communism

No comments

The GST was meant to replace stamp duty. Instead, Labor want to tax your family home. Forever.

As the Treasurer looks to the guest list for the cabinet room-sized productivity roundtable to be held in August, it is clear the family home is on the hit list. Instead of owning your home, you will pay land tax, effectively rent, to the government forever. 

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Land tax is communism.


Jim Chalmers: the unsustainable Treasurer

No comments

Treasurer Jim Chalmers at the National Press Club, 18 June 2025.

From the National Press Club: Today I had an opportunity to ask the Treasurer, Dr Jim Chalmers, a question on the sustainability of his budget. He admitted that it is not sustainable enough, or resilient enough, or enough already. It’s not good. I think he is shaping up to become Prime Minister. In the absence of a good Prime Minister, I reckon Jim Chalmers would do alright. Nobody could be worse than Elmer Thud.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

Michael de Percy had the chance to question the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, on critical things – such as defence spending – less than a day after Albanese was publicly embarrassed on the world stage at the G7. Considering the freshly signed trade deal with the UK, one might have thought that the Treasurer would have an answer ready to go… The better question, however, is if the Treasurer even understands how important the situation is. Michael was, shall we say, alarmed by the answer he received.

My question is here:

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Jim Chalmers: the unsustainable Treasurer.

Victoria’s basket-case a harbinger for Albo’s Australia

No comments

Lots of free stuff in Victoria's budget by first female Treasurer

The Victorian government’s ‘Budget at a Glance’ website mentions the word ‘free’ 37 times in relation to the cost-of-living package.

Victorian teenagers will get year-round free public transport anywhere in the state. Not just to get to school, but to go anywhere and at any time. At a cost of $320 million, this will no doubt inculcate a sense of entitlement in our youth.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

Oh… And Victoria has reminded everyone how utterly devoid of sanity their Treasury is by publishing their Budget. As Dight Canning writes, they are financially and morally bankrupt. There’s only really two people to blame, Treasurers Jaclyn Symes and Tim Pallas. Michael de Percy agrees, writing, ‘All of this ‘free stuff’ seems to come at quite the cost. Victoria’s net debt is projected to reach $194 billion, with interest payments at $7.6 billion in 2025-26, jumping to $10.6 billion in 2028-29.’

My commentary on the Victorian Budget in The Spectator Australia, Victoria’s basket-case a harbinger for Albo’s Australia.

Albo wants to tax 'future you'

No comments
One day, you're gonna get caught with some savings

If you want to get ahead in Australia, it will never happen under a Labor-Greens government. Albo and Adam are running out of your money, so now they are coming after ‘future you’.

We’ve been forced to have a large chunk of our money locked away in super funds since 1992. Of the $4.2 trillion currently locked away until retirement, union-controlled industry super funds hold about one quarter – over $1 trillion – of our money. Part of this ends up funding Labor. I explained how over a year ago.

But now Labor wants to double the concessional tax rate on super funds with a balance of $3 million or more (from 15 to 30 per cent), and also to tax unrealised capital gains. Basically, Labor wants to tax ‘future you’.

Writing in the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

And if you’re still thinking of taking the handouts and voting for Labor (or the Greens…) Michael de Percy warns that their new plan is to tax your future. Not only do the Greens want to rob your grave and deprive your children of their rightful inheritance, Albanese wants your retirement savings. ‘Labor wants to double the concessional tax rate on super funds with a balance of $3 million or more (from 15 to 30 per cent), and also to tax unrealised capital gains. Basically, Labor wants to tax ‘future you’.’

My lates in The Spectator Australia, Albo wants to tax future you.

‘Green Death’ tax from a Labor-Greens minority government?

No comments

The Greens want to introduce an abhorrent death tax renamed a 'dynastic tax'

The Greens don’t want you to succeed. They want to take your money so they can turn Australia into a socialist nightmare. Labor’s plans aren’t far behind them. It’s a case of the Mensheviks (who wanted to use legal trade union means to socialism) versus the Bolsheviks (who wanted to overthrow the state).

But as Adam Bandt has indicated, he looks forward to a ‘golden era of reform’ in minority government where the Greens’ stated policy priority will be to take ‘action on negative gearing and [the] capital gains tax discount’.

Can we be sure Labor will reject the Greens’ plans?

Writing in the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

Michael de Percy is worried that the Greens will bring back death taxes. They’ve renamed the policy, of course, referring to it as ‘the implementation of tax on dynastic wealth’ – but it sounds like grave robbing to me.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, ‘Green Death’ tax from a Labor-Greens minority government?

Bracket creep and soft economists

No comments
Is Australia so ‘unique’ because lefties dominate the education system, academia, and the media?

The Albanese government reduced the Stage 3 tax cuts that were designed to address some the burden of bracket creep. The trouble is bracket creep is built into our progressive tax system. Unless something is routinely legislated to fix it, bracket creep happens systemically. Labor sent that plan backwards.

Instead, Labor has focused on the unjustifiable figure of $600 billion they made-up as a costing for the Coalition’s nuclear energy policy while denying that their ‘cheapest form of energy’ isn’t cheap at all. Their promised $275 energy saving was grossly wrong, and energy prices keep going up and will continue to do so under Labor.

Where are the economists? In my opinion, they must all be Labor supporters who are staying mum.

My lates in The Spectator Australia, Bracket creep and soft economists.

Dutton’s tax-deductible interest for first homebuyers is a breakthrough

No comments
First homebuyers will benefit from tax deductible mortgage interest under Mr Dutton's policy. 

Like many conservatives, I have been waiting for something original from the Coalition that will differentiate them from the socialists. Labor has proven time and again that socialist approaches to housing affordability do not work. Today, I am pleased to report that Peter Dutton has announced an Australian first: First homebuyers will be eligible for tax deductions on their mortgage interest for new builds for the first five years of their mortgage.

This is great news, and the policy echoes my argument in the Speccie from this time last year: How about tax deductions for your home loan interest?

Writing in the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

Michael de Percy also watched the launch and picked out policies directed at homebuyers as the most important. ‘I am pleased to report that Peter Dutton has announced an Australian first: First homebuyers will be eligible for tax deductions on their mortgage interest for new builds for the first five years of their mortgage.’

Writing in the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes had this to say:

Michael de Percy watched the Coalition launch, and was highly impressed with Dutton’s commitment to provide tax deductibility on mortgage interest to low- and middle-income first home buyers. Provided it’s offset, it’s sound and targeted policy, incentivising both buyers and sellers but not necessarily inflating home prices, and it’s a real difference from Labor’s foolish promise to build 100,000 new homes and guarantee $1,000 tax deductions for all. Marketed well, the mortgage interest deduction policy could have been the blockbuster barbeque-stopper the Coalition badly needed in the first week or even before the election was called: why they held it back until well into the campaign is a mystery. As for the Coalition’s tactics, today’s Newspoll tells the story, as the Coalition’s primary vote falls for the third week running. The only bright spot is that Labor’s primary vote is still historically low, and the minor parties and independents are the beneficiaries.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Dutton’s tax-deductible interest for first homebuyers is a breakthrough.

Angus goes to the mattresses, majority don’t like Adam

No comments

My Canberra Correspondent caricature for The Spectator Australia

Your Correspondent in Canberra: It was quite the day in the election campaign. Adam Bandt addressed a sparse-looking crowd at the National Press Club while Angus Taylor tore strips off Treasurer Jim Chalmers who cried ‘Uncle’ and asked Angus to ‘stop confusing me with your facts’. Chalmers’ charm and his obedient Lefties’ support all run out of steam at the supermarket checkout.

Adam Bandt has the answer. He will be Prime-Alt Minister. He will ensure Mr Dutton does not get in, and he will keep Labor under control using his stature and charisma. Further, you won’t have to worry about the checkout anymore because obviously the supermarkets, energy providers, service station owners, and every other business are taking the mick out of you.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Angus goes to the mattresses, majority don’t like Adam.

Angus Taylor’s Budget Reply leaves conservatives wanting more

No comments

Angus Taylor's post-budget reply at the National Press Club, 2 April 2025 
 

From the National Press Club: Australia has had record numbers of business failures on top of declining productivity. That means declining living standards. The Treasurer’s Budget will provide 70 cents a day in tax cuts and aggregate deficits of some $180 billion over the next five years. Mr Chalmers says we’ve ‘turned the corner’ in the cost-of-living crisis.

But what will Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor do?

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Angus Taylor’s Budget Reply leaves conservatives wanting more.

Impossible business growth underpins house of cards Budget

No comments

National Press Club address by Dr Jim Chalmers, Treasurer, National Press Club, 26 March 2025

From Parliament House, Canberra: Last year Australia experienced record numbers of business failures. While the percentage of businesses was not as high as in 2013, the actual number of failed businesses was higher. Further, productivity growth, a key driver of living standards, has been negative and remains flat. Yet underpinning this election budget is a rebound in private sector growth that is difficult to justify.

Writing in the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

On the Budget, Michael de Percy was down at Parliament House today listening to Treasurer Jim Chalmers being questioned – but he didn’t get to ask his... Which is a shame, because I’m willing to bet Mr Chalmers would visibly squirm trying to answer it. You can read all about it here.

Writing in the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes had this to say:

Fresh from the Budget lock-up, Michael de Percy highlights how the Budget assumptions about private sector growth, and its ability to contribute to the revenue bottom line, are probably too good to be true. If so, the huge spending already locked in plus to be announced in the election campaign will incur even larger debt, and thus deficit, to cover the magic pudding profligacy that now has largely been endorsed by both sides.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Impossible business growth underpins house of cards Budget.

Regional Australians are the biggest budget losers

No comments

Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers, Great Hall, Parliament House, 26 March 2025

From the Canberra Press Gallery: Regional Australia is the engine room of private sector activity in Australia. With the Budget set to see a reversal of the public sector’s growth that has hidden the real cost of living pressures experienced by most Australians, it is difficult to see how the Budget’s public sector and Net Zero focus will help the regions. To put it another way, regional Australians are the biggest losers in this Budget, with no relief in sight.

The night before I went into the Budget Lockup in Parliament House, Alexandra Marshall had this to say in the Unfiltered newsletter:
Of course, we have the Budget release and Speccie writer Michael de Percy has volunteered his sanity to go down and be part of the lockup. If you’re not already, follow us on Facebook where we’ll keep you updated. Michael is going to be looking for the crazy, infuriating, and outrageous detail in Chalmer’s major work that everyone else has missed. 
Writing in the Morning Double Shot newsletter before I went into the Budget Lockup, Terry Barnes had this to say:
Today is Budget day, and the Albanese government’s spendathon is tipped to continue. I see from Alexandra Marshall’s Unfiltered newsletter that our gallery correspondent Michael de Percy is going into the media lock-up to pore over the Budget papers, so you don’t have to. In the meantime, he’s written about what he doesn’t want to see in the Budget, and how the Albanese government weak leadership in economic policy is costing Australia dear as we become less efficient and productive. Meanwhile, Alexandra herself is flabbergasted at the brazenness of the Prime Minister’s latest pre-election handout.

The day after my article was released, Terry Barnes wrote in the Morning Double Shot newsletter:

Our man in the Budget lock-up, Michael de Percy, ran his acute political eye over the Budget, with a particular focus on how Chalmers’s effort will go down in regional Australia, where Labor needs to shore up support in areas like the Hunter, while pushing down Coalition support in regional Queensland, Tasmania, and elsewhere. Here is his report, and there’ll be more later today. 

Even our illustrious Editor-in-Chief, Rowan Dean, shared the joy:
It was quite the adventure for a first-time Press Gallery journalist, and it was great to be part of the Spectator Australia team!

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Regional Australians are the biggest budget losers.

Auction on stupidity: Uniparty vows to double down on Medicare spending spree

No comments

No Medicare Choice from the Uniparty: $8.5 billion on the left, $9 billion on the right

In a bid to ensure Labor remains in power at the next election, the Coalition has doubled down on Labor’s Medicare spending spree. The Uniparty is in full swing and nobody can tell the difference between the major parties. While the Greens will help Labor get over the line, the plethora of conservative parties that are reacting to the Coalition’s apparent willingness to join the Uniparty is undoing Menzies’ legacy before our eyes. The recent non-debate over Medicare reform is a case in point.

Writing in the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes had this to say:

Sunday saw $17.5 billion, all-up, put on the table by Labor and the Coalition to ‘save’ the mirage of universal Medicare bulk-billing by GPs, something that should be taken out and quietly put of its misery instead of being made the eye-watering, hideously expensive centrepiece of Labor’s election policy, answered by an immediate ‘me too’ but the Coalition. Your scribe quibbles with elements of Michael de Percy’s conception of a Labor-Coalition ‘Uniparty’, but he is spot-on in his analysis of yesterday’s announcements, both unnecessary and frankly foolish wasting of your money and mine.

Flat White has added her voice to your scribe’s, Michael de Percy’s, and others of this parish denouncing both Labor’s plan to trade votes for more GP bulk-billing, and the Coalition’s indecent rush to trump it. This is going to be a race to the fiscal bottom election, and already it’s not pretty for those who value fiscal responsibility and sensible, considered policy.

Writing in the Unfiltered magazine, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

Speaking of the election, Michael de Percy was dismayed to see the ‘auction of stupidity’ where Albanese and Dutton went head-to-head, coughing up billions of dollars in public money on Medicare policies. That said, Dutton did have one success – the most popular thing he has ever said was floating the idea of stripping citizenship from those who hate Australia and act against its interests. 

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Auction on Stupidity: The Uniparty vows to double down on Medicare spending spree.

Beer and spirits are too expensive, Mr Dutton!

No comments

Did Jim Chalmers invent the Dishwater Martini?

It’s no secret that Labor and the Greens want you to ‘eat ze bugs’. The way our economy is going, eating insects will soon be all we can afford. Steve McQueen was the epitome of cool, but a real-life version of his bug-eating prisoner in Papillon is not the ideal I aspire to. And while McQueen managed to escape by jumping off a cliff, all we have to do to be free from tyranny is get Mr Dutton to shout us a few drinks. I’d vote for that.

Writing in Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

Aussie pub culture – as well as our beautiful wineries – are in big trouble with excise tax going up again. This greedy and limitless money-grab by the government has reached the point where it is collapsing businesses across Australia. Not to mention that teenagers have switched from having a drink with their mates to engaging with extremely dangerous party drugs. It’s a sad state of affairs and the Treasury is wholly responsible.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Beer and spirits are too expensive, Mr Dutton!

The Pub Test: The real state of the Australian economy

No comments
My local watering hole, the Telegraph Hotel, Gunning NSW, 20 December 2024

Nobody has been this broke in generations

Labor’s machine is out in force this Christmas in a vain attempt to recover the electoral ground that is collapsing under its feet. My feed on X is replete with comments telling me how John Howard and Peter Costello taxed us more than Jimbo and then mostly squandered it. Peter Garrett is tweeting anti-nuclear sentiment, leftist think tanks are spruiking how good the economy is, and other lefties are blaming everything else on the RBA.

It’s a complete rot-fest of lies. Nobody has been this broke in generations. Just ask anyone at the pub.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

And finally, Michael de Percy says that ‘nobody has been this broke in generations’. If you watch the modest Christmas shoppers, I think he’s right. ‘I made a joke(?) about how I am almost completely skint because all my spare cash is going to Albo. One of my neighbours replied grimly, ‘And if not him, one of his mates.’

My latest in The Spectator Australia, The Pub Test: The real state of the Australian economy.

Land tax is socialist and should be banned

No comments
Stamp duty is an inefficient tax but it is better than paying a forever tax on your freehold land

Stamp duty makes it more difficult to purchase a home. Not only does it increase the initial outlay required, but it also adds to the strain of meeting stringent savings requirements to secure a mortgage. But make no mistake, a land tax for homeowners is worse. It is effectively rent on what should otherwise be freehold land.

The Morning Double Shot newsletter had this to say:

Michael de Percy is right about state governments’ land taxes: they demand people pay rent on their own land. Land taxes should go, but at the same time the rate of GST, which John Howard and Peter Costello hypothecated to the states in 1998 (in return for abolishing state taxes including land tax) should be upped to 15 per cent, with tied grants to the states slashed to zero – and personal income taxes cut, of course.

The Unfiltered newsletter had this to say:

Land Tax is socialist – get rid of it! What do you think about Land Tax? Michael de Percy makes it pretty clear that he is fed up with the Labor government and that the socialist tax should be scrapped before it does real harm to the concept of private property. He writes, ‘Land tax may be efficient, but land tax is rent. If you must keep paying for the land you own, then it is no longer freehold land.’

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Land tax is socialist and should be banned.

The RBA is doing its job, so don’t shoot the messenger

No comments
Treasurer Jim Chalmers stated the RBA is 'smashing the economy'.

People love to hate the RBA at the moment. Along with unnecessarily high energy and grocery bills, mortgage repayments are ruining our prosperity. There’s no reason for this other than the Albanese government spending other people’s money. Meanwhile, the RBA is the adult in the room.

So, I am surprised that many conservatives are jumping on the RBA-hating bandwagon. This is all Labor’s fault.

Alexandra Marshall wrote in the Unfiltered newsletter:

And look, Michael de Percy said that we must not shoot the messenger about the state of our economy. Yes, the comments made by the RBA did sound a bit like the WEF muttering in front of a microphone, but the RBA doesn’t have a lot to work with.

Terry Barnes wrote in the Morning Double Shot newsletter:

Michael de Percy takes aim at the stoush of the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has started with the Reserve Bank governor he appointed, Michele Bullock. M de P points out the Governor essentially has one job: to do her utmost to keep inflation under control and the economy growing. Like it or not, Bullock is doing that job, in accordance with the Reserve Bank’s statutory charter. But as her prescription is fiscally responsible yet no vote-winner, what does Chalmers do? That’s right, he tips a bucket of the proverbial over the head of his own appointee. Not a gallant way to treat a lady, even if she has the hide of a rhinoceros and the stubbornness of, er, a bullock.

And in The Best of Flat White, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

Also this week, the RBA did not cover themselves in love or adoration by reminding the borderline poor that they might have to make a few more sacrifices – such as selling their homes. Michael de Percy has pointed out that the RBA is doing their job but someone is to blame, is it the Treasurer? The one thing we know for sure is that Australians have woken up to the fact that this is a rich and prosperous country. Someone is getting all the money, and it is not the voting public.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, The RBA is doing its job, so don’t shoot the messenger.

Labor’s recession we didn’t have to have

No comments
Cost of living crisis is worse than headline inflation suggests [Depositphotos: stokkete]

Federal spending is set to increase to its highest level since the mid-1980s, pandemic spending aside, at 26.6 per cent of GDP. The states and previous governments share some of the blame, but Labor’s federal fiscal strategy is prolonging the cost-of-living crisis with no relief in sight.

Terry Barnes had this to say in the Morning Double Shot newsletter:

Michael de Percy makes a very true point about the Albanese government. It is the fiscally profligate and socially radical descendant of the Whitlam government, not the economically reformist and socially moderate Hawke-Keating Labor regime. The polls are encouraging for the Coalition, but not yet good enough to get them over the line. What will happen if we have a minority Labor government propped up by the extremist Greens and zealot Teals? We shudder to think.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Labor’s recession we didn’t have to have.

A Federal Budget to celebrate

No comments

 

It's not all lollipops and rainbows [Image from X].

A Federal Budget to celebrate

Is this the moment Labor self-destructs?

This year’s Federal Budget is a grifter’s paradise. It sets up all of socialism’s worst economic ideas in a contest against the Reserve Bank of Australia to see who is right: the socialist Treasurer or the Reserve Bank Governor – a person who knows our economy cannot thrive on lollipops and rainbows alone.

This is a Budget to celebrate because it will see the end of the worst government in Australian history. And it couldn’t come soon enough.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, A Federal Budget to celbrate.

Treasurer’s antifragile Budget just another black swan

No comments
Antifragile: Broken bones can sometimes heal stronger than before the break

The Treasurer is like a boss who enthusiastically makes everyone’s life a misery with every new fad.

We have superannuation funds where trillions of dollars of our retirement funds are tied up and likely to be used for renewable energy projects or social housing if Labor gets another crack at governing.

We have a housing market that is being swamped by government trying  to build social housing and failing to do so while messing up the market.

We have poles and wires ripping up prime agricultural land and destroying the retirement prospects of farmers and landholders to connect government-funded renewables projects. Nuclear is not even allowed to compete in the mix because it remains banned.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Treasurer’s antifragile Budget just another black swan.

How about tax deductions for your home loan interest?

No comments

 

Home loan interest is tax deductible in Sweden and The Netherlands, so why not in Australia?

Imagine if you could claim the interest you pay on your mortgage as a tax deduction. While you can’t in Australia, you can in Sweden. Why not here?

My latest in The Spectator Australia, How about tax deductions for your home loan interest?

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
© 2025 Dr Michael de Percy
made with by templateszoo