Howard govt. costs 34% more than Keating govt.
With the latest budget figures now out I did a quick back of the envelope calculation to find that our Federal government services now costs us 34% more than it did a decade ago. That’s after adjusting for population and inflation and omitting the GST cost component.
1997 cost per capita was A$8437 (year 2007 dollars)
2007 cost per capita was A$11310 (year 2007 dollars)
In gross dollar terms the increase in the total cost of Federal government over the decade almost exactly equals the current total of all personal income taxes. Or to put it another way reducing all personal income tax to zero would leave the budget with the same gross revenue outcome as in Keatings day.
an eye for an eye
I am not an advocate of the death penalty but sometimes a crime comes along that really makes the idea feel especially appealing. Read more »
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