Editorial:

Give priority to services, not tax cuts for the wealthy

So, the Government now has "money to burn" according to the 
latest Treasury report on Australia's financial situation. The 
surplus is estimated to be almost $10 billion for the 2003-2004 
financial year. It is claimed that company tax payments, "reduced 
welfare outlays" and "good economic management" are responsible 
for the record surplus. At the same time there is a conspiracy of 
silence by the two major parties as to where all this money is 
really coming from.

The wealthy have been given tax cuts and the rate of company 
taxation is lower than ever. The truth is that money is pouring 
into Treasury from the iniquitous GST — the Goods and Services 
Tax. It is often a silent and unseen imposition contained in the 
price of almost every purchase.

The Government even collects several times on the same items. The 
Communist Party has bought some second-hand furniture for our new 
office. Although GST was paid when it was bought new, we pay GST 
again on buying it second-hand. If we were to sell in the future 
we would be obliged to charge GST yet again. It is true that 
businesses are able to claim it back from the tax office but wage 
and salary earners have no such opportunities.

The GST has slewed the whole tax system, imposing a huge new tax-
take on wage and salary earners.

One reason that both major parties are silent about the GST is 
the cover-up device by which all the money raised from the GST is 
handed over to the states. However, it is collected by the 
Australian Tax Office and this payment to the states has allowed 
the Federal Government to save on Federal payments to the states 
from other revenue.

While the Labor Party initially opposed the GST it is now silent 
and has no plans to scrap it should it win government. Yet that 
must be done when the whole tax system is restructured to reduce 
the huge tax burden imposed on the working people and their 
families.

The second major issue is the refusal of the Government to spend 
much more of this "money to burn" on public health, education and 
housing — three major areas which are being steadily eroded.

There is no justification for any shortage of teachers and the 
consequent large class sizes that still prevail in many schools. 
There is no justification for a shortage of nurses and trained 
doctors to relieve the chronic situation public hospitals. Many 
more schools and hospitals could be built and equipped using only 
a small fraction of the almost $8 billion treasury surplus this 
year. There is no justification for the huge university fees 
being imposed on students and the financial difficulties facing 
many university administrations.

We are now told by both the Labor and Liberal Parties that they 
will establish a special fund into which the huge surplus will be 
paid to finance the presently unfunded superannuation 
entitlements of public servants. But this surplus is the property 
of all Australians not just one section and it should be returned 
to the working people and their families in the form of improved 
services for education, health and housing in particular.

For years both major parties have been pursuing a policy of 
"small government" which means cutting and privatising public 
services and responsibilities. It means tax cuts for the wealthy 
while pursuing the mantra that governments should always balance 
the budget. The Howard Government has fulfilled that objective 
but the result is chronic shortages in education, health services 
and in public housing. Public transport systems are in disarray 
and have also been run down.

These policies are conscious and deliberate as every possible 
sector of the economy is opened up for the control and profit of 
the big corporations. An alternative government committed to 
serving the interests of the working people is urgently needed. 
It would give priority to the provision of services rather than 
tax cuts for the wealthy.