michaele

I do know at the time you said because you had been elected you had a mandate from the people .......... but to do what you want? If any responsible leader of any country were to dramatically change that taxation system, then don't you agree that the change ought to be ratified by the people's vote on that very critical change. Or is it a dictitorial decision that because "I am your leader then I will do what ever I want because the majority (in this case not) elected me". I found and still find that decision reprehensible Mr. Howard. I trust that you will have a peaceful retirement from having to make decisions and overide the needs of the Australian people in spite of their well-being and best interests.We have paid far too much and far too well for your dotage.

LulaBelle

Is this meant to be for John Howard? You need to go in to the Election section to ask him questions...

CamperdownT6145

Yes, remember him saying "there will never, ever be a GST (under my government)"?The old core and non-core promises?Had to love Janette recently saying in defense of her deceitful hubby that sometimes he just says he's going to do something but that doesn't mean he is going to really, or something hilarious to that effect.It was inevitable since the Asprey Report in the 70's that under a Liberal government at some point we were going to get a high-revenue-raising broad-based tax such as GST, of which a greater burden is borne by low income earners because it is not a progressive tax. Liberals opposed the Labor introduced capital gains tax which is essentially a tax on wealth and is fair under our progressive tax system (i.e. the greater your means are, the more tax you pay). That nicely illustrates the traditional difference between the parties as far as their views on social welfare and equity are concerned.

Shaun

hay there nice question i glad you asked it , good on you

RobertC0682

Actually it was a policy of the Liberal party to introduce GST in the 1998 election. That was never a secret and from memory tax reform was a big issue in that election with both sides having significant tax policies.I think Howard's stance on this is that the voters essentially voted for GST by voting in the Liberals, as the campaign was basically 'a vote for Liberal is a vote for GST'.