Australian Capitalism And Gst Essays - Tax Reform, Value-added Tax

Australian Capitalism And Gst Essays - Tax Reform, Value-added Tax Australian Capitalism And Gst On the 13th August 1998, the Prime Minister, The Hon John Howard MP held a press conference at Parliament House to launch the Federal Government's tax plan for Australia's future. The plan incorporates significant historic changes to the Australian taxation system, which are to be guided by five key principles. The key principle of the Federal Government's tax reform proposal that is creating speculation and debate is the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax, commonly known as GST. This consumption tax has come under intense public and political scrutiny and questions have been raised as to the economic fairness of this proposal. According to Macionis and Plummer (1997, p.420) capitalist economies produce a higher overall standard of living but also generate greater income disparity. The inequity of Australia's current economy is evident from the media release issued by the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) 4pm Wednesday 17 March 1999 in response to the taxation statistics that were released the same day. Michael Raper, President of ACOSS stated that the taxation statistics revealed the gross inequalities in the distribution of wealth in Australian society today with The top 10% of Australians owning 52% of the nation's wealth, while the bottom half owns a paltry 3%. On balance, does a capitalist economy promote a fair distribution of wealth and social power? I say not. Political support is gained by appealing to members of society with promises to act in their interests, more often directing this appeal to those individuals with wealth, social power and influence. The multi-million dollar advertising campaigns supporting the Federal Government's tax reform package and in particular the proposal of the Goods and Services Tax is funded by big businesses. The same big businesses that will benefit from the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and that will benefit from the 30% cap on the Capital Gains Tax, an option being considered that can only strengthen the big businesses social power and capitalist ventures within Australian society. This supports the Marxists theory that states Basically, the state always works in the interests of the dominant, ruling, economic class: it favours and supports 'capital'. (Macionis et al 1997, p.452) A media release issued Wednesday 14 October 1998 by the National Tax and Accountants Association in regard to the inequity of the proposed income tax system also supports the Marxist theory. According to Ray Regan, President of the National Tax and Accountants Association, under a GST big businesses will continue to fly first class, travel around in their limousines, go on junket trips overseas and live a lavish lifestyle, but not pay one cent more tax. This is not a fair taxation system; an efficient taxation system should not be beneficial to some and not others. Bennett (1992, p.222) writes, Politicians rarely confront the public face to face to discuss issues and policy yet it is accepted practice in the Australian political arena. Instead of making an effort to understand issues too many people base their decisions on what they are told and accept this at face value, they do not question or seek out the underlying truths. An example of this is the initial media representation of the Goods and Services Tax exemptions. The government believes that to apply GST to education would discriminate against private providers (The Howard Government 1998). The exemptions were accepted and applauded by the public as they were led to believe that all charges, in particular regard to education, were to be exempt. The National Tax and Accountants Association soon alerted the public of this gross misrepresentation. Ray Regan in a media release issued 30 July 1998 states, it is very important for the public to quickly understand that with health, education and childcare the Government is most certainly not talking about a blanket exemption whatsoever. In reality, each of these three essential items will have many componentsthat will be subject to the new GST tax which people will have to pay for the rest of their lives. The GST exemption is applicable to school fees only, not uniforms, texts, transport etc. essential components of the current education system. The equity of GST-free private education that includes boarding school accommodation should also

Grand Canyon essays

Grand Canyon essays In this paper part one will discuss the Geologic processes that have formed and shaped the landscape of the Grand Canyon. It will discus how the canyon was formed, the age of the canyon, and its present development. It will also, in part two, include the impact that Thomas Moran had on the developing of The Yellowstone National Park by the wonderful paintings and sketches that he drew. Without him the Park may not have been approved. It will also discuss the love that he grew for the colors and the landscape. No one really knows the geological process that formed the Grand Canyon. Geologists feel that a number of processes may have formed the Canyon. Geologists think that the major factors that formed the Grand Canyon are water and wind. Manny people dont understand how water can have such an impact considering the Grand Canyon is located in a desert. The soil in the Grand Canyon is baked by the sun. It becomes very hard and cannot absorb water. When it rains the water tends to come down in torrents. The plants that grow in the canyon have very shallow root systems so they can grab as much water as possible on the rare occasions when it does rain. When you have plants that have very shallow roots, they are very easy to be washed away when it rains. Now you have lots of water and no place for it to go, but down to the Colorado River. With out plants with deep roots there is nothing holding the soil and rocks in place. The force of flash floods can move unbelievable amounts of soil and rock. There are many cracks due to seismic activity, or by constant soaking and drying of the rocks in the canyon. Water settles in the cracks, and in the winter months it begins to freeze. When water freezes it starts to expand and push the rocks apart and widens the cracks. Sometimes a rock will fall and create a rock slide. A rock slide will move a great amount of earth and speed up the time it takes to create ...

Identification of Qualitative Methodology Research Paper

Identification of Qualitative Methodology - Research Paper Example The group also consisted of women who were in assistant-variety positions which was intended to emphasize scenarios where power and control were highlighted. Based on the background given about Taiwan, the sample population recruited for the study was appropriate as well. The observational approach to the research was not significant because there is no mention of time-frame for each of these observational sessions nor a description of the observed environment. In many respects, this aspect could have either been eliminated from the study or enhanced further to justify methodology. The on-site observation would require being a separate event from interview environments to avoid researcher error or bias. This study also did not clearly outline its intended objectives, moving directly from the background of Taiwan business to theoretical secondary sources with no mention of a direct goal. The interest of the study was clearly to find out information about this working environment without a strong focus on what was intended to be proven or disproven. The con of this approach is that it was too broad of a research study with no clearly outlined research objective. (or trends) based on responses. The researcher categorized these responses into power, gender, and office politics. This study has bias in it though as it chose a sample of women who were in clearly-inferior job roles to other authoritarian leaders (by hierarchical design), which seems to have lessened the study’s reliability and/or validity. Having no clear research objective and a sample which was not, by design, unbiased is another con of this research study methodology. A cross section of male workers, in similar environments in support roles, would seem to justify the relationship between power and gender in the workplace better. This would mean having to add on more interviews for a different cross-section of male