The long, soul-destroying national debate has begun. Should the Commonwealth find yet another way of pick-pocketing the citizenry by taxing sugar?
Predictably the Greens are behind the push, having gone to the last election with a sugar tax as part of their grab bag of feel good policies. The Greens have said they will introduce a “sugar-sweetened beverages tax” as a private members’ bill in the ongoing freak show that is the Australian Senate at some time over the next 12 months.
Barnaby Joyce was incandescent – well, more incandescent with rage at the proposal.
“People are sitting on their backsides too much, and eating too much food and not just soft drinks, eating too many chips and other food,” Barnaby said.
Perhaps inadvertently, the Deputy Prime Minister had outed himself as a hand wringer for the public good of a different kind. He’s pro-sugar but anti-fat.
Full column here.
I see the coalition is formalising its partnership with the hansons by now taking their economic and financial policies and advice. Last week they were deriding the Lambie 10.5% but now happily run with hansons 15%. This country is in all sorts of trouble with the coalition of hansons running the show. I am up to here with my tolerance. Someone pass the coke.
What kind? Diet?
I’m with you Dismayed.
Just what stage of ‘dumb’ is this government aiming for when they’re down now with the very people who’ve made racism mainstream in our country.
Maybe Labor should co-operate with the Libs?
You want people that bring money into the country to pay tax on the first dollar they earn and every dollar after that? Seems odd coming from you? The backpacker tax fiasco is completely of the governments doing. It is and was a blatant cash grab because they have no real policies for reform only there ideological campaign against the unemployed, the working poor, the sick and anyone who dare try to hold them to account. Your comment does not add anything to the conversation.
Neither does yours.
Labor is playing politics with the future of this country by refusing ANYTHING that will bring the budget back into balance – whether it be cuts or increased revenue.
Shorten and his merry men and girls are bereft of any ideas other than some crazy plan that will increase the deficit considerably but somehow bring it into balance in 10 years’ time.
However, looking at the complete picture is totally beyond your partisan approach to life. There are many like your good self in the Labor Party and that is one of their greatest weaknesses – they just feed off of each other’s rubbish rhetoric and end up believing it en masse.
Depressing isn’t it JS? But seems the cross bench is workable when it comes to getting sensible legislation through – just the odd payoff required here and there. I think that Derryn Hinch is holding some sway and drilling some sense into the more recalcitrant.
Dismayed – should we apply the tax free threshold to all non-resident income earners?
Jean Baptiste 12.53pm 28/11
says: “… the US would have done them sooner or later..,”
Perhaps not JB, the Bay of Pigs invasion in ’61 failed to bring home the bacon. Maybe they chickened out after that.
It was a letter. Castro suggested that if the US invaded Cuba the Russians should make a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the US, in the belief right or wrong that if the US were to invade Cuba in spite of their Russian alliance it would lead to nuclear war.
It would appear more of a call for reassurance that the Russians would not abandon Cuba to US aggression after the Russians had achieved the objective of removing the threat to them from within Turkey. . I doubt Castro would In any case I doubt Castro’s opinion mattered much to the Russians.
This seems a reasonable denouement.
have attached much faith in a US agreement not to attack them.
https://dwkcommentaries.com/2016/09/05/fidel-castro-nikita-khrushchev-messages-during-the-cuban-missile-crisis-of-1962/
I say Mr Insider that Senator Jacqui Lambie sure is a tough lady isn’t she! Goodness some of the mainstream wishy washy’s Pollies could take a leaf from her book. Of course her only downside is she’s putting Tasmania 1st, and how. Go hard Jacqui!
http://senatorlambie.com.au/
Razor 9.49pm 27/11
Re Thwaites v Butler – I reckon it was the prospect of a bit of ‘cold steel’ from the Brisbane Magistrates Court that had the psychological edged over Ms Butler. They “don’t like it up ’em” as Lance-corporal Jones would say.
Butler’s apparent hastily written regretful acknowledgement of an offence against Thwaites was an intended admission of guilt in anyone’s language. Just as her initial comment on ABC was intended to decrease the respect in which Thwaites was held and to harm his reputation.
I can understand why our friend Dismayed perhaps wouldn’t cotton on, but the other blokes are probably only playing silly-buggers.
JTI 9-50AM 27th
“Lets not forget Fidel did his best. Did his best to incite a global nuclear conflagration in 1962. I mean.”
Others recall the USA doing it’s best to incite a conflagration by placing ICBM’s in Turkey and Russia responding by putting missiles into Cuba. Ultimately it was agreed that the US would remove it’s nukes from Turkey with the Russians taking theirs out of Cuba and a guarantee was provided that the US would never again back an invasion of Cuba.
Pretty good result for Cuba, because the US would have done them sooner or later otherwise.
I’ve always been a bit cynical about the “peril” of the Cuban crisis. When it comes down to tin tacks, no national leader or associates was ever really keen to get the nation into something where they might personally be at the business end of a fast moving high explosive object. That’s the place of others, and the further the better from home and hearth.
Orville Little Sun Dog
Your style is redolent of that amazing contributor who went by the name of “Ezza”. You didn’t have the same English teacher by any chance?
Henry Blofeld
Turnbull has had five consequtive negative polls? Pffffft. A mere bagatelle, a piddling performance. The man’s an amateur, bring back Abbott I say, if you want to see premier league unpopularity.
No, you don’t understand the history. Khrushchev and the Soviets were trying to find a negotiated solution, mindful that the alternative was protracted nuclear exchanges. Castro was not so concerned about a nuclear holocaust. On October 26, 1962 he sent a telegram to Khrushchev calling for a preemptive nuclear strike after the US had agreed it would not invade Cuba. It’s history, it’s documented, it’s fact.
JB, that’s FACT, find it in the dictionary under F, or J under JB’s allergies.
Old Fidel sounds like he might have had Donald Trump’s sense of humour…
Not likely unless they went to school at Thunder Butte Elementary. I have an English-Canadian mother, but English is not my first language, and but for a few words, I didn’t start learning it until I went to school. To judge by your screen name, (French?), I might find talking to you easier than talking to a person whose language is English. As a kid I spoke Creole and Teton, but little English. My wife is an Aussie, and an indigenous woman, but I sometimes struggle to understand her clipped vowels, odd grammar and nasal twang. I find writing English hard. I can’t write it smoothly. Spent most of my career writing weather reports.
The Bring back Tony Abbott movement gaining ground everyday as his replacement on the field has dropped the ball on nearly every occasion. There can be a limit on the time spent in the sin bin and Tony has done his time and is rearing to play again. Of course that would result in a few field changes, for instance little Georgy Brandis will have to be replaced as would Chrissy Pyne and a few others. A new 2IC for the Libs would have to be found to replace Jules Bishop but overall am sure Tony will field a tough lean team this time around with the “girly men” all gone. Turnbull can retire to spend more time with Lucy.
http://tinyurl.com/j2bydyo
JB: Oh no, not again!! That was some ride we all went on…..
JB
I was wondering if Orville’s comment from the last blog of:
’72 now , so I will gladly buy into another 10! I was betting 5 and hoping 8, but I like 10.’
was referring to his/her age or the amount of reincarnations on JTI’s blog.
Kinda reminds me of John Cleese – I think we’re entering the Bankwest ad stage of their blogging career
JB/Jazza,
I was kind of thinking that Orville’s style is reminiscent of Mr DT.
Dont know why JTI but this page is impossible to find on my mobile devices. Doesnt come up on any search engine Ive tried. A search on my mobile devices just gives me your old blog page. You might want to get a techie person to take a look at that. As for me Im going to email this page link to my ipad pro. That should sort it for me.
If you get lost, type jacktheinsider into Google (no breaks) and you’ll see it.
My ipad pro still gives me the old page as the top result when I do that JTI, then your twitter page (I dont use twitter, for reasons Im sure you can work out!) then your “author page” at the australian, then old blog pages. But not this page. I dunno but it looks like my apple devices just cant see this page for some reason.
Hey JTI is there any way I can quickly get to the most recent replies without your old pages format? Takes me forever to re-read everything. Love that you kept us together anyways.
I got it fine on my Sony android phone when I was travelling Darren. Was just harder to scroll through all the posts.
It doesn’t come up at all on my ipad searches, Yvonne, which is a bit weird. Ive just emailed the link to myself and added it as a favourite. But just concerned that some of jti’s audience who use ipads etc cant find his new page.
Darren google https://www.jacktheinsider.com it works on my ipad.
Sometimes old Ross hits the sweet spot.
http://www.theage.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/smarter-thinking-on-the-budget-deficit-is-long-overdue-20161126-gsy5v6.html
http://www.fgc.org.nz/media/latest-sales-data-shows-mexico-sugar-tax-a-failure
One view of sugar taxes
“No room at the Coalition Inn for Tony Abbott” says Ms Julie Bishop today Mr Insider. Well goodness me why does that not surprise us all as ex ousted PM Abbott circles the PMship like a shark as the present incumbent Turnbull thrashes around in the water like “bait” for a hungry “shark” and we all know who that “shark” is don’t we!
http://tinyurl.com/hyfp84y