> What I would like to hear from Birding -Aus'ers is: would you be
> prepared to pay a levy through the taxation system, along the lines of
> the Medicare levy, to assist farmers and graziers to manage a
> significant part of their properties for conservation purposes? How does
> an extra 0.5 % sound?
Done! I'd be happy to double it to 1%. Australians have got this idea that
they're always being over taxed, resulting in governments cutting funding to
social programs, health, welfare, etc., etc. This includes conservation,
both preventive and remedial.
Look at other countries, particularly European countries, and see how much
tax they pay. I'm proud to pay my taxes, and I'd be proud to pay more
because it's the way the better off can help the less so. Not such a
strange point of view from an economist.
The view that people have in Australia is that we live in an "economy" -
made up of individuals all competing against eachother. Societal goals have
to be costed, prioritised, and squeezed in along with all the other
programs. We should see ourselves as a "society" - a group of people, not
necessarily with common overall aims, but all living together. With this in
mind we then look at what we have to do in order to achieve those societal
aims. And if this involves sacrificing a percentage point off the (all
important) GDP growth rate to get a better society then so be it.
As soon as a politician comes along that says this sort of thing, then she
or he has my vote! However, I'm not holding my breath...
Sorry to be off topic.
---------------
Bill Stent
Quality Controller
IBIS Business Information Limited
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