As a follow on from the recent electricity bungle, the National Competition Council (NCC) is about to impose more multi-million dollar penalties on WA for the State's failure to enact electricity reforms.
$41 million was held back last year due to failure of the State to enact other reforms, such as in Retail Trading. The latest indications are this next penalty will be more serious.
Aside from the alleged "good intentions" of the NCC and incompetence of the State government in avoiding these penalties, WESTRALIA.net questions the whole acceptance of this situation.
Dickheads or not, the State Goverment was elected by the people here. Penalaties on the WA Treasury and public, simply because Canberra does not see the policies it wants should not be tolerated.
WESTRALIA.net suggests:
If the Feds in Canberra and the NCC want to see REAL COMPETITION, they should sacrifice their own positions and encourage true competition between the States by returning State Taxation rights hijacked for the Commonwealth war effort in 1941 and never given back.
Imagine.
Firstly, Westralia virtually generates biggest bucks per capita by far. So we need not have any fear of our own poverty.
#2, We, and the Australian States should be rationing our money to the Federal Government for the provision of literally, Commonwealth Services. This was the original intention.
#3, How would Westralia be then, competing with each Australian state for business and generally making Westralia an attractive location by way of provision of services and lifestyle.
Likewise those States would compete with us and each other. You could not short cut on services and infrastructure spending, nor could you over tax the citizens. Whatever provided the best outcome for the citizens would dictate their choice.
That is "National Competition".
This was demonstrated a few decades ago with all systems go in Queensland after they abolished Death Duties. Meanwhile the other States continued to tax you even after you died. They soon woke up when big slabs of tax paying population moved north to Queensland. That demographic shift fueled the development of that state we see today.
No one seems to have suffered due to loss of Death Tax.
Remember, that was the original intention. Not to be raped and pillaged, then every year go back rattling our little cup; "Please Sir, can I have some more?"
...And for Death Taxes, well in the whole scope of humanity, people might actually want to leave a contribution to their own caring society if they knew it would never be wasted. In fact they might even compete to see who would bequest the most.
...But that is another Westralia.net story for another time.
Posted by Westralia.Net
at 11:19 PM WST