Yesterday the Treasurer fessed up
to presiding over a larger surplus than expected while business called
for “real tax reform.” The surplus is now always “larger than
expected,” which just shows how clever the Australian Treasury has got
in underpromising and overdelivering. But as The Oz said in its editorial pages,
“The boost to commonwealth income in yesterday’s Mid-Year Economic and
Fiscal Outlook is not the result of the Government’s hard work. It is
the result of the hard work of Australians, too much of the fruits of
which has been lifted from their wallets before they have had a chance
to decide what to do with it – a decision they are better qualified to
make than politicians.”

Then there is the issue of national
saving. Remember the “debt truck”? The answer is the same as it always
is, reduce tax on saving, raise tax on spending, and this piece of
absolute analytic clarity has apparently been revived by the father of
the GST, Mr Greg Smith. “Go, Smithy, go,” but I fear you have a snowflakes chance of being listened to. This unholy mess must be cleaned up.

Read on at Henry Thornton.