Carbon tax facts

THERE are some facts that Jim Reiher has overlooked regarding the carbon tax.
The Prime Minister stated three days before the 2010 election that “there will be no carbon price (tax) in the government I lead”.
Many people like me took her at her word and accepted what she said. But due to the pressure from the Greens she changed her mind.
I am sure if Labor had won in its own right, there would be no carbon tax. However to keep Labor in power we are now having a carbon tax.
The GST was a major change to the Australian tax system. Not only did it replace the wholesales sales tax, not sales taxes as stated in the letter.
It also replaced many other taxes, like the bank debt tax.
There were a large number of odd tax calculations under the old wholesale tax, which tax related goods at different levels.
We were one of the last of the major economies to introduce a GST or VAT tax. The idea was to give the states and territories a general broad based tax, which the Labor state governments later were quick to accept.
The GST cannot be increased from the current 10 per cent without the agreement of all the states and territories, you can’t say that about the carbon tax.
The Australian GST is one of the lowest rates in the world and is generally around the 20 per cent plus in Europe. However Australia will be one of the first to introduce a wide base carbon tax and also at a high rate.
I will not debate Jim Reiher on the refugee issues; however history will see that Howard did the right thing by stopping the boats. The current Labor refugee policy is a complete mess and is reflected in the polls.
Dr Malcolm Freeman,
Berwick.