Comment on Labor vows to listen to voters after One Nation's historic WA upset

• MisterFrog@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

  We have resources. Would we lose some international investment? Maybe. But time and time again modest tax reform doesn’t lead to capital flight in the way capitalists claim.

  And even if we don’t want to rip up contracts (though we should when they’re clearly unfair), there’s no excuse for not progressively instituting new tax and royalties settings as they expire.

  And yet, the Labor government won’t, because they’re corrupt and bought by the gas industry (not in a legal sense, but in reality).

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  • Tenderizer@aussie.zone ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    The tax reforms are modest, but the precedent ripping up contracts because we’ve retroactively decided they’re unfair isn’t. We could raise slightly more revenue from tax on future projects but gas is on the decline anyway and Australian gas isn’t that profitable. The political capital would be far better spent on something with bigger positive impacts for our economy like a land value tax (assuming there’s any politcal capital to spend, since Labor already spent all of the 2025-2028 political capital on reforming negative gearing).

    As for Labor being corrupt. Have they been personally enriching themselves? Taking bribes? No. They’re doing what they’re doing because it’s in the best interest of the country, and because it helps them get re-elected. Don’t dilute the term corruption, what you’re seeing is just politics. Corruption is what you see from the LNP and One Nation.

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    • MisterFrog@aussie.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      We could raise slightly more revenue from tax on future projects but gas is on the decline anyway and Australian gas isn’t that profitable

      Hard disagree. The political capital wouldn’t be that high, practically everyone wants this, even bloody one nation have signalled support for it (not that they’d actually do it), the vast majority of the population is for it. Putting aside ripping up contracts, we absolutely can and should put in tax reform on gas exports at a minimum.

      The claim that Gas isn’t that profitable is absurd, just read the company’s own financial reports…

      Here’s links to 3 of them: …org.au/…/they-profit-we-pay-the-price-gas-giants…

      since Labor already spent all of the 2025-2028 political capital on reforming negative gearing

      My good gentleperson what? They hold a massive majority in parliament, and could easily get way more through with the help of the Greens* if they were actually gonna pass something left wing. Negative gearing has ruffled some feathers, but let’s be extremely clear, Labor has to date made zero radical reform since 2022. The HAFF and the Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates Bill are just two examples of this. Nice sounding, but when you dig into the details, do really do what they say on the tin.

      (* I am not a Greens supporter)

      As for Labor being corrupt. Have they been personally enriching themselves? Taking bribes? No.

      Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald? Not to mention, that simply getting cushy jobs from companies that JUST HAPPENED to lobby you, and donate to your campaign is corruption. Again, not legally, but it is still a lower, real form of corruption, that influences our elected reps decisions, and the list of MPs who do this is so long I’d be here all day researching all the names.

      You call it “doing politics” but clear eyed leftists see $10,000 a head fund-raisers for what they are: corruption. (Even if this isn’t legally corruption).

      I take nothing back, it’s appalling, and the fact WA Labor would run a former gas lobbyist in Secret Harbour is a great example of where the party’s priorities lie.

      “The game is unfair, the LNP and One Nation take corporate money so we also have to do it!!!” Or, you know, we could change the game so that we as a country aren’t beholden to corporate/billionaire interests… (Spoiler: they don’t want to, or pretend we can’t because the Labor party are pro-capitalism)

      Labor always dresses everything up as necessary, and for the greater good. Given Labor’s record, such a defense makes no sense. Labor party pays lip service to being for the workers, and then turns around and take away the right to strike with the ACTU and attempts to crush competition of any union not in their pocket (regarding RAFFWU and the absolutely dog-shite SDA, and the Vic govs bill to outlaw them).

      The Labor party are not for the greater good of the majority of the population mate.

      Let’s tax the gas. If gas companies want to leave? Great, let’s do it ourselves and be like sane countries that nationalised their natural resources, and keep all the profits.

      Neo-liberalism hasn’t worked, when is the Labor Party (who brought neo-liberalism in) gonna wake up and realise it?

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