Comments on: Faces on A Bus: Wayne Swan’s Postcodes

By: Shaun

Shaun — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 10:51:22 +0000

This book is second on my must read list (John Birmingham’s new time travel techno thriller is first).

One of these days I’ll try and distill some of John Ralston Saul’s arguments from The Collapse of Globalism. He too points out that economic indicators of “wealth” and “prosperity” do not reflect reality for many.

By: Kieran

Kieran — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 08:01:29 +0000

Lateline - where uppercrust Australia talks to itself. They mean well (and are better than some of the alternatives) but still…

By: Anthony

Anthony — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 04:18:02 +0000

You’re right about the tax debate and perceptions of ‘middle Australia’ or whatever they’re calling it this week. In May last year, just before the Budget, the Age newspaper disgracefully ran a front page story on ‘new research’ that suggested failure to index tax scales meant ‘the top tax rate is increasingly hitting middle earners’. Michelle Grattan put her name to this rubbish. The Parliamentary Library research had in fact been available since the previous March. And of course, it didn’t suggest the top rate (considerably lower than it was a couple of decades ago) was hitting middle income earners. As the writers indicated, the top rate kicked in at $62 000, whereas middle full-time wages at that time were around $40 000 per year and middle household earnings around $30 000. Anyone earning enough to attract the top marginal tax rate is in the top 20 per cent of full-time wage earners, not the middle.

By: wsacaucus.org

wsacaucus.org — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 04:17:41 +0000

At last - the beginnings of a review of Postcodes

Mark Bahnisch has reviewed Swannie’s book Postcodes at Larvatus Prodeo. While I’m here, Crikey are soliciting blogposts for their new feature, Blogwatch. This ups the ante a bit, because it means that subscribers will be given excerpts from the blogo…

By: dj

dj — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 01:03:38 +0000

The reporting of the media about average incomes, etc. only helps spread the misunderstanding that people have about the financial situation of the majority of Australians. Misleading statements and questionable uses of statistics (especially average income, which many people confuse with median income) by public figures repeatedly go unremarked and unexplained.

By: zoot

zoot — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 18:03:40 +0000

Is there any hope we might get Bomber enthusiastic about this stuff? Surely he realises by now that imitating the rodent is never going to work.

By: Kim

Kim — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 13:14:38 +0000

Swan deserves plaudits. Not only is he laying out the true state of affairs, which as you say, Mark, is totally missed in the media, he’s one of the ALP frontbench with an obviously sincere and well articulated social justice orientation. More power to him!

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 13:11:02 +0000

Thanks, Guy. I tried to find the post on wsacaucus.org to send a trackback - and that’s when I realised I’d been extremely slack in doing the promised review of Swan’s book since it was so far in the past! I hope to post another entry on Swan’s positive policy proposals which are eminently worth discussing.

By: Guy

Guy — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 13:09:00 +0000

Good stuff. I’ve been waiting for this for a while! I did buy Postcode and start reading it but have since left it on the shelf due to my research commitments at the moment. I look forward to picking it up again once this semester is done and dusted.