The
policy had been discussed and approved at a meeting
held just days
before. I was fortunate to be at the meeting and to meet the brains
behind the 2%EasyTax, John McRobert and Derek Smith at Pauline Hanson's
office (seen right).
Commentary by Scott Balson, Global Web Builders - released Thursday 3rd September 1998.
| Pauline Hanson on Channel 9's Today Show this morning (3rd September): "What we are saying about our tax policy is that we are prepared to put it on the table. Let everyone have a look at it, let the Australians have a debate about it because it is not something that should just be brought in you either accept or you don't (like the GST)." |
A perfect spring morning in Pauline Hanson's heartland, Ipswich, was the forum for about fifty candidates and One Nation executives to meet in a closed session to learn about the party's proposed changes to Australia's tax system.
The
policy had been discussed and approved at a meeting
held just days
before. I was fortunate to be at the meeting and to meet the brains
behind the 2%EasyTax, John McRobert and Derek Smith at Pauline Hanson's
office (seen right).
The book, "Your future in your hands", by John McRobert which covers the 2%EasyTax in some detail can be purchased on-line.
The meeting scheduled for midday would be free of the mainstream media with the only camera and journalistic ears being allowed being mine.
When I arrived outside the Global Info-Links building at the South street entrance I met a number of familiar faces waiting for Pauline Hanson and her new political adviser-apparent, Peter James, to arrive.
Several members of the Queensland Electoral Campaign Committee (QECC) were there as well, including:
Copies
of the book "Your future in your hands" were being sold. Author John
McRoberts was there to sign the books which went very quickly.
The
imminent arrival of Pauline Hanson was signalled by the arrival of Peter
James laden with documents for hand out during the meeting.
It was time to move inside, with the candidates partners being excluded from the inner sanctum where the tax policy outline would be released.
There
was an amazing absence of media - not even the Queensland Times had
an notion of what was going on under their noses- even though such a large
number of One Nation members were standing outside the main entrance to the
city's library.
When Pauline Hanson arrived everybody shuffled in out of the warm sunlight into the Barry Jones room.
The meeting started off with Peter James giving a short introduction to the
new tax policy, the 2%EasyTax.
James in his introduction said, "The 2%EasyTax will capture the multinationals.
"The GST as proposed by the Coalition does not address the tax dodges by big business and the added burden on PAYE tax payers as a result.
"Beazley's bribe to lower income Australians again does not solve this country's problems."
James then introduced Glen Shields a former National Party Senator who spoke at length about the 2%EasyTax calling McRobert's book, "Your future in your hands" the "Most precious book that has been produced this century."
Here are some extracts from Glen Shields talk to the One
Nation candidates:
"The problem with all other taxes is that they are based on profit. Teams of opposing forces are trying to catch each other out and get around 'what is profit'.
"People today make decisions based on tax benefit and not on investment which impedes business development.
"The
bureaucracy won't like the EasyTax because it gets rid of all the paperwork
that they shuffle.
"Judge Vernon when investigating bureaucracy walked into a very large office with hundreds of bureaucrats. The bureaucrats were tired of being investigated and when Vernon asked one what he did he replied 'Bugger all'. 'Oh,' said the Judge. He then asked the next what he did and he replied 'Bugger all'. 'Good,' Vernon replied, 'Let's get rid of him because we don't want duplication'.
"The other parties (Laboral) have been spoon-fed for so long by the bureaucrats that they have got constipation and they now have the Pauline Hanson enema.
"2%EasyTax has not been implemented by the major parties because of the bureaucrats.
"The EasyTax is a flat tax."
After
his talk Derek Smith (seen right) spoke about the EasyTax. Smith is from
the company "Tax Reform Pty Ltd" the body behind the development of the EasyTax.
Here are some extracts from his talk:
"At last someone is listening. We have a good product that has to be sold.
"In
Pauline Hanson we have a person who has great courage and great vision.
"The Au$ is under attack because there are more sellers than buyers because we are dependent on commodities. The world has a surplus of commodities. Some countries, like Russia, are raided by speculators who will now dump commodities to survive.
"The world is awash with money and because of this we have expert opportunists who do what they like.
"The reality is that Australia is the richest country per capita in the world but we have two million unemployed.
"There is a flight of money going to to the US$ - not just by foreigners but by wealthy Australians as well.
"The reason we have two million unemployed and underemployed Australians
is quite simple. 20% of the income pays 80% of the taxes (largely PAYE) while
business, 80% of the income, pays just 20% of the taxes.
| Fact: The 2% EasyTax is the only tax proposal before Australians today which does not tax employment. |
"Labour has been king-hit with taxes - the GST will just add another king hit to workers.
"The
concept of the EayTax recognises and changes this inequitable burden on the
employed.
"Various governments have tinkered with taxes like the FBT, Capital gains and Wholesale Tax. The concept of the EasyTax is to take the tax off labour - so that the savings can be passed on to the price of products sold.
"The prices of some goods can be cut by between 30 to 40%.
The next question we need to ask is does the worker deserve to be disadvantaged? We must give people the buying power but allow them to keep the same pay packet - through the EasyTax their purchasing power will be increased by about 17% in real terms (as the tax burden is shifted).
"There is a lot of wealth hidden by the taxation system. For example Au$100,000 hidden in cash convertibles is suddenly worth Au$117,000.
"As a result a huge beneficiary of the EasyTax will be retirees.
"The reason why so many Australians are unemployed is because wealth is "hidden" - and this is because of the tax system. If the money was made available it would create jobs and make Australia the lucky country.
"With all these savings poured into investment we could have too many buyers and not enough sellers. The concept is to shift services out of the public sector and into a user pays private sector,.
"How
much profit Australia makes will determine our living standards.
"What we want to do is to lock in 0% inflation - that is very important for the value of the Au$.
"Social security costs us Au$50 billion - if we get that down our government's foreign debt - currently Au$69 million - will go within three to four years and we will all benefit.
"Reduced prices would allow higher household spending. Families will say "Pinch me because I cannot believe what I am seeing".
"Control of the economy for a 0% inflation will be driven by the changing spending habits of people."
Peter James then spoke on the EasyTax saying:
"The
EasyTax will be implemented over a three year period.
"The first stage will involve a lot of consultation with many experts to ensure that we get the balance right.
"There will be no 2%EasyTax on bank account transactions - except for moneys going into and out of the country (- catching the multinationals in the process).
"The state taxes will be separate.
"There will be no tax on employment.
"The GST will push more people into the black economy.
"One Nation will consult with unions to ensure that an employees take home pay is the same as after the PAYE was deducted. The cost savings to employers being passed on to the consumer through lower production costs.
"With a lower wages bill the employer will also be able to afford to employ more staff.
Pauline
Hanson then spoke on the EasyTax. Here are some extracts:
"We will put the EasyTax on the table. Once we have the resources and the research people we will cover all our bases.
"We will admit we are wrong if we are - but when you look at the thirteen years of work put into developing it we think that it is a winner.
"Income tax is destroying this country, destroying the incentive to work. Bracket creep i continuing to erode the earning capacity of Australians.
"The
Labor Party re hitting the people with other taxes.
"It is getting to the stage where the person who gives it a go is paying for all the others who just sit on their backsides. We've got to give people the incentive to work harder.
"What the government has not addressed is the multinationals and big business who do not pay their share of tax.
"This is the big one - you add your 2% to the Au$200 billion that leaves the country untaxed - and that excludes their turnover in this country.
"EasyTax
cascades - even if there are seven levels of processing for the final sale
that is just 14% - the GST can go as high as 28%.
"Pensioners need to get a pay rise. We won't, however, go out with promises until we know that we can afford the costs.
"We will make fuel reductions for farmers and all Australians from 18 to 43%.
"I
tell you we are going with it. Tax reform, however, is not the main issue
in Australia - unemployment is.
"Under 2%EasyTax we can create employment.
"I always said I would be different and we are - we have got to have the vision to lead the way."