Australia must be the only country in the world to have kept the promise that the Goods and Services tax ( GST ) would remain at ten percent.
Now a question mark hovers over that promise !
There is no question that if we want a decent hospital system we will have to contribute more money. The only question is where that money will come from !
Kevin Rudd proposes to lift the Federal contribution by withholding fifty billion dollars from GST money that flows to the states. Obviously the states will strenuously resist and fight that proposal all the way to the bank.
With a Socialist government occupying the treasury benches the " tax and spend " philosophy would suggest an easy answer - simply increase the GST to a figure greater than ten percent.
But of course that suggestion will be vigorously denied. This is an election year - and even the mere suggestion of a GST increase would be a vote killer !
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