Hard not to be cynical
Like most people, we were perplexed with the Palmer United Party's costly and ridiculous advertising campaign. In hindsight it could be construed as a clever ploy. Please take in these considerations.
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Queensland Nickel, owned by Clive Palmer, owes its creditors and employees approximately $70 million.
The Australian Government funded by tax payers has started paying this debt (which it should rightfully do).
The Palmer United Party has spent approximately $70 million cajoling the right wing voters of the catastrophic events if Labour was to win government, (including blatant untruthful statements like death duties and the infiltration of Chinese military expansion into areas such as Cape Preston, etc).
The Liberal Coalition (past and present government) has garnered these votes via preference to their advantage (notably in Queensland and Tasmania).
With the microscope now definitely on political donations, it's a little hard not to be cynical.
Harvey Higgins, Coolamon
Should we reveal our vote?
It seems I wasn't the only person who was inundated with pollsters phoning at dinner time wanting to know how I was going to vote. I used the reasoning that "if someone asks you something that is none of their business you have every right to tell them a lie." I thought voting was a private matter.
And what a breath of fresh air Chris Bowen was when he stated "If you don't like our policies don't vote for us." Good to see people listened to him. Or maybe it was his way of knifing Shorten to get a tilt at the leadership? Bill knifed two leaders to get there. And what happened to the bookies would bring a tear to a glass eye.
Bryan Pomeroy, Wagga
Let's hear it for franking credits
Why all the grief and the tide of newsprint ink shed over the fate of franking? In my family's story, it was my grandfather, Frank Rhead, son of a bankrupt, who grew up during the greater Depression of the 1890s, joined the AIF, was in business in Griffith during the Great Depression, went broke in 1931, tried again, paid off all his creditors, and through his ownership of some 'Duncans' shares normalised for me the concept of holding of shares.
Surely, 'franking' is named in honour of him and the many other 'plain Franks' rather than high flying 'Fancy Francis's?
Also, I hold some shares in a locally traded New Zealand-based company. To be competitive, they payout an additional dividend to Australian shareholders, the after tax equivalent of franking.
If franking does go, I imagine most Australian companies will just change their books to pass on their current franking tax credits as higher taxable-to-the-recipient dividends. The only beneficiary of this 'Tax Reform,' will be accountants, who will get to process these new payments in both personal and corporate books.
Also, another usually overlooked implication of Franking, is the incentive it offers to Australian taxpayers to own local Vs overseas shares. It may not have 'bought back the farm,' but it has slowed the great Australian sell off /sell out of corporate assets, more so than any other government initiative.