Wednesday, March 13, 2019

The banking royal commission: the tax angle | Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers


“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry,  Vaclav Havel's favourite French writer and pioneering aviator



The banking royal commission: the tax angle | Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers







We welcome the
's findings that there were no revenue targets for our debt staff at any time & no 'cash grab', as alleged on
. Read more in our Commissioner's statement: ato.gov.au/Media-centre/A…








ROD DREHER: Beating The Cultural Revolution. “What the former anti-communist dissidents among us are recognizing is the totalitarianism inherent in a new Cultural Revolution, the contours of which we are only just now beginning to discern.”
The thing to remember about the original Cultural Revolution is that it wasn’t some sort of authentic grassroots phenomenon. It came from the top. It was astroturf, with blood.

Sarsha at Tiffany

The Voice







The Australia Institute and Deakin University, 7 March 2019. Tax is the price we pay to live in a civilised society. This is perhaps reflected in the Swedish term for tax, ‘skatt’, being synonymous with ‘treasure’. The four main Nordic nations – Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway – are among the world's most highly ranked countries in terms of the factors that determine prosperity and particularly in terms of innovation: consistently ranking well above Australia. They are also among the most equal in terms of income distribution – much more equal than Australia. These countries therefore provide an opportunity to study how policy settings might be adjusted in Australia to bring about a more prosperous, innovative and equal society here.




The politicisation of the public service in the sense of the eclipse of the federal bureaucracy by political advisers has happened in every Westminster system, but it's gone a lot further in Australia than it has in the other Westminster systems. It's gone a lot further than the UK, a lot further than Canada and a lot further than New Zealand. There has been a big hollowing out of the federal bureaucracy in terms of real talent and muscle. It's lost out in terms of remuneration, it's lost out in terms of power, it's lost out in terms of respect and it's lost out in terms of protection of reputation.


'Like an episode of Utopia': Businesswoman slams government


A new policy to help female entrepreneurs was developed by a female businesswoman who says she has not been paid or acknowledged for her work.




NSW Treasurer attacks ALP's public service wage rise plan as 'reckless'


Amused Dom Perrottet criticises Labor's call to scrap the 2.5 per cent cap on wages for the state's 396,000 public servants, warning voters to be "alert and alarmed"



'Priceless': David Morgan's plan to save the public service



Why the ATO is defying the Coalition over small business tax appeals

 Tax office abuse is about to become an election issue. In its final weeks the Morrison government is engaged in an intense battle with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)  to determine whether there will be a fair small business tax appeal system, and one not controlled by the ATO.


I’M SO, SO, SO SORRY: A Baby Boomer apologizes on behalf of his generation.

This is in the New York Daily News. Didn’t Pinch Sulzberger issue his own boomer apology a decade ago?





Gmail, Google Drive suffer global outage


Users complaining that they are unable to access their files or send emails with attachments.



4 hours ago




It's the elephant in the  bed.



Labor says preference swaps with Greens and Shooters are because they want to win

NSW Labor leader Michael Daley has confirmed Labor is talking with the crossbench ahead of the next week's state election, as he defended his party's decision to preference both the Shooters and the Greens.


Inspector General of Taxation report lifts lid on ATO's chaos Robert Gottliebsen ...