Pork

Dear Fellow Blogger,

As we approach the 24th November, the pork barrel is being well and truly raided. Most recently, we have a promise of tax cuts.

I have a few problems with this. On past performances, any gains to Joe Average through these cuts will be eaten up almost immediately by the inevitable rise in interest rates that will follow once the flow-through effect takes hold. From that point of view, the tax cuts are simply stupid.

A more compelling reason to reject the idea of tax cuts is that we live in a wealthy country that is in dire need of improved infrastructure, particularly in the area of health and dental services for the elderly, and this simply isn’t going to happen if the money is consumed by tax cuts.

There is only one reason for these promises and that reason has most to do with political expediency. Unfortunately both major parties have made very similar porky promises.

It’s time they listened to Australia’s Catholic Bishops. Below is an extract from their statement of August 7th –

“Catholic tradition holds that the common good is underpinned by the promotion and protection of human dignity. Implicit in seeking the common good is the desire to serve the poor, the marginalized, the sick and forgotten in our society.

Political philosophies will address these challenges differently, but substantial action is required if these principles are to be made realities”.

I can’t see much evidence of this kind of action from either of the two major parties. No doubt selfishness will win, and we’ll have to live with the consequences.