We are writing to you to express our concerns about the latest thought bubble from the Abbott government.
Lies, broken promises, populist slogans, and a policy vacuum have eroded what little trust we had in the Federal government. They are a ship without a rudder, sailing into economic headwinds with a First mate (Joe Hockey) who is caught between half rations and spending like a drunken sailor. And now Captain Abbott has hoisted the Jolly Roger - his 'deficit levy' is a desperate tax grab which will hit the hip pockets of everyday Australians. And they will pay twice - through the introduction of this new tax, and through the damage it will do to our increasingly fragile economy.
We should remember that this Government plans to revoke the mining tax in order to give it back to very rich multi-national miners. It plans to remove an effective price on carbon and replace it with an incoherent policy which will deliver billions into the pockets of big polluters in return for insufficient abatement. They opposed the levy which helped rebuild Queensland after Cyclone Yasi and the floods of 2011. They opposed reducing the private heath insurance rebate for high income earners.
Now they want to charge us a levy to fix a concocted problem. We have a AAA credit rating. We have the lowest debt as a proportion of GDP of all the advanced economies. We had an economy that was growing at around 2% and an unemployment rate below 6%.
Our Government doesn't listen. Not to economists, the IMF, or the business council of Australia, all of whom are advising against austerity, and many of whom oppose the 'deficit levy'.
The deficit levy is a new tax and it is bad for the economy. It will impact North Queenslanders as we transition from the investment phase of the mining boom. It will hurt everyday people and it will not fix a problem which many experts believe doesn't even exist.
We are asking North Queenslanders to send a message to your local members at State and Federal level. A message that makes it clear that we expect them to listen to the experts and to implement policy that is in the financial interest of most Australians. In short we expect them to start acting like a responsible government by axing this new tax.
Yours sincerely,
Scott Stewart, Coralee O'Rourke and Aaron HarperLabor Candidates for Townsville, Mundingburra and Thuringowa