34 Billion dollar bribe

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34 Billion dollar bribe!

Part One

Before we start, let's have a couple of things clear. The 34 Billion dollar tax cut is OVER 5 YEARS, so it is a promise that can only be implemented if you reelect the Liberal/National coalition for a further TWO TERMS - always assuming of course that the tax cuts were a "core promise" and that the world or the Australian economy had not unfortunately ruled out such generosity.

That generosity is itself false - the Australian taxpayers have been over-taxed - directly or indirectly - to provide a surplus government income from which the so-called generous tax benefits derive, so the "tax cut" is simply giving people back what should not have been taken from them in the first place.

Comments below have been taken from Uniting Church in Australia election 2007 material.

The Howard government can afford 34 BILLION dollars in tax bribes as the election draws near, but education has become a commodity - and an expensive one at that - which many cannot afford.

"If Australia is truly intent on ensuring optimal educational outcomes for Australian university students, it must provide those students with an adequate economic and living platform allowing them to focus on educational achievement."

Professor Alan Robson,
Chair, Australian University Student Finances
2006, Report Committee 2005.

The Howard government can afford 34 BILLION dollars in tax bribes as the election draws near, but climate change has been denied for ten years and only acknowledged recently, as an election ploy.

"The threat posed by climate change challenges the way we live in a fundamental way. If we are to meet and overcome the challenge we must think creatively about the organisation of our social and economic institutions, our relationship with each other across national and cultural boundaries and our relationship with the environment."

For the Sake of the Planet and all its People,
A Uniting Church in Australia Statement on Climate Change, November 2006

The Howard government can afford 34 BILLION dollars in tax bribes as the election draws near, but environmental issues are barely considered - except as an election issue in a time of draught.

"We need new strategies for managing water in the 21st century because the ways of the 19th and 20th centuries are no longer appropriate. The health of our rivers, wetlands, estuaries and groundwater systems is fundamental to the future of our cities, industries, communities and agriculture across Australia."

Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists,
Blueprint for a National Water Plan, July 2003

The Howard government can afford 34 BILLION dollars in tax bribes as the election draws near, but insists that working people must endure "Work Choices" while the rich become richer.

"Work is a fundamental aspect of human life. It is one of the most significant ways that people find meaning in their lives and the means by which they live out their responsibility to contribute to the common good. Along with that responsibility, however, comes the right to be treated with dignity and respect in that work."

Rev. Elenie Poulos, speech to Now We ThePeople conference, 2005

The Howard government can afford 34 BILLION dollars in tax bribes as the election draws near, but persists in being niggardly with welfare payments and other help for the less well off in our community.

"UnitingCare works with disadvantaged Australians everyday. We know from experience that it's not easy for them to get and keep a job... Problems like insecure housing or homelessness, poor access to public transport and child care and inadequate opportunities for training and re-skilling compound to make it extremely difficult for them to participate. Effective welfare to work programs must identify and address both the needs of job seekers and the many barriers they face to employment."

Lin Hatfield Dodds, UnitingCare Australia NationalDirector, Media Release, 15th September 2005.

During the current time of plenty we should be sharing our resources, addressing disadvantage and investing in the future by building up our communities.
Many people working and trying to support a family on the minimum wage struggle to meet basic costs of living each week.
Despite low official unemployment rates, there are also high numbers of people who are out of work or only have a few hours of work per week.

The Howard government can afford 34 BILLION dollars in tax bribes as the election draws near, but aboriginal people still live impoverished lives.

It is an indictment of our shared failures that forty years after the referendum that finally recognised Indigenous people count in this country, Indigenous Australians still suffer enormous disadvantages in health, education and employment. In a country of such wealth, it is shameful that the life expectancy of Indigenous Australians is seventeen years below the national average."

Rev Gregor Henderson,
National Assembly President,
Media Release, 24 May 2007

The Howard government can afford 34 BILLION dollars in tax bribes as the election draws near, but cannot see the sense in bringing our troops home from Iraq.

"Peace-making is hard work and not for the impatient, but the alternatives being offered to us at the moment will only lead to despair, hatred, fear and death. Another war lead by the so-called ‘Christian West' will only add a new layer of enmity in the Middle East producing another 50 years of instability and death."

Rev. Prof. James Haire, National Assembly President,
Media Release, 23 January 2003

The Howard government can afford 34 BILLION dollars in tax bribes as the election draws near, but multiculturalism is used more as material for xenophobia than for celebration.

"Every one of us has a part to play in breaking through barriers to understanding and empathy I encourage all Australians to take the good in our hearts, our homes, our communities and our country, and turn it to the task of learning how to live together in peace, embrace our diversity and celebrate all that we share as human beings knowing that our future depends on each other."

Rev. Gregor Henderson, National Assembly President,
Media Release, 20 September 2006

The Howard government can afford 34 BILLION dollars in tax bribes as the election draws near, but invades the Northern Territory to 'solve' problems of violence, drunkenness and child abuse.

"The Government has chosen to pursue populist policies and temporary solutions which will further push Indigenous rights and responsibilities to the fringes. This is not the act of a Government that respects and values the Indigenous people of Australia."

Rev. Shayne Blackman, National Administrator,
Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress,
Media Release, 15 August 2007

The Howard government can afford 34 BILLION dollars in tax bribes as the election draws near, but immigration policy and the attitude towards David Hicks and Drs Habib and Haneef has shown a disrespect for those who are, or wish to become. residents of Australia.

"Australia's reputation as a strong advocate of human rights has suffered and our capacity to exert positive influence over those countries with little or no regard for human rights has been compromised."

Dignity and Humanity: Recognising Christ in every person, A Uniting Church in Australia statement on human rights, 2006

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