Are you kidding me? There's a proposal to raise the regressive GST? #abcnews

General Revenue Assistance is the Commonwealth program that collects GST & pays it to the states. Due to 'vertical fiscal imbalance' which is bureaucratise for 'the Commonwealth screwed over the states by taking away their right to collect income tax' 1/

The GRA/GST constitutes about 1/2? of state govt budgets and is used to fund, well, everything that regular folk rely on: police, education, health, emergency services, housing. You get the picture. Basically everything is reliant on this one program. 2/

To have so many functions dependent on such a regressive tax because the Commonwealth decided to impose such a 'vertically imbalanced' taxation system is clearly a problem when this regressive approach is now seen as the only way to raise govt revenue. 3/

I might just add that this year the gov has decided to ignore its responsibilities under the Charter of Budget Honesty Act & NOT publish their line item spending past February of this year- ie the point at which the Covid-19 blowout began. #Auspol

I am quite likely, the only person in this country to actually notice this omission. Which says something, I'm sure.

If you're wondering what the Commonwealth gov does, it funds income support which is actually a huge expense, plus Defence, higher education funding and all the rest.