An Australian Green Tax Swap

Solar concentrators image.
Renewables have a difficult future while dumping CO2 is free. (Image: Solar Systems)

The New Australia's tax reform program is mostly about Swaping tax, not increasing it. However, tax would rise for property speculators and foreign coal buyers.

We also support many of the suggestions made in the Henry Tax Review. There are also some notable aspects of the report that are not supported. See here for details.

See our one page Tax Swap PDF or Tax Swap Spreadsheet with current ABS data.                                                                     

The Big Green Tax Swap

Tax CutFunded ByRevenue Neutral?WinnersLosers
  • $25k Tax Free Threshold
  • Cut Payroll Tax
  • Non-earner Eco Tax Rebate
  • No income tax for Carbon Farmers
  • No Vehicle Rego, No Licence Fees
  • No Insurance Tax

Yes

  • Energy Efficient
  • Water Efficient
  • Public transport users
  • Cyclists
  • Car poolers
  • Carbon Farmers
  • Energy Inefficient
  • Water Wallies
  • Loggers
  • Polluters
  • Higher Pensions

No

  • Pensioners
  • Foreign Coal Buyers
  • Free Dental Care
  • Free Ambulance cover
  • Cheaper Private Health Insurance (as doesn't cover dental & ambulance)
  • Abolish Private Health Insurance subsidy
  • No Medicare 'Safety Net' for high income earners.

Yes
(Since the subsidy is not a tax measure)

  • Those needing dental care
  • Private health insurance share-holders, employees

No

  • First Home Buyers
  • Renters (as rents will go down)
  • Property Speculators

Note that NewAustralia recomends scrapping the proposed ETS / Carbon Trading scheme (or scam!) in favour of the above.

Eco Taxes in the long term

Eco Taxes may be unable to supply the government with sufficient revenue in the long term because they are designed to discourage the activity they rely on. In the short term the government could raise the rate of taxation applied to the target activity (i.e. Increase the carbon tax). However, eventually there may be so few ecological problems to tax that the government will have to return to other non-ecological taxes.

Henry Tax Review

NewAustralia supports many of the suggestions made in the Henry Tax Review. There are also some notable aspects of the report that are not supported. See here for details.

Speculative Financial Transaction Taxes

NewAustralia supports some types of taxes on speculative short-term financial transactions as a way to reduce the risks posed by uncontrolled speculative activity.

In keeping with general NewAustralia policy, these taxes would be Revenue Neutral. In this case revenue would be used to reduce company taxes.

Currency transactions tax

This type of tax introduces a small tax cost on foreign exchange transactions which discourages speculative FX trading.

Either a Tobin Tax, Spahn Tax or some variant of these proposals should be considered for Australia. Since the cost of the tax is fully offset by a reduction in company tax there is no net cost to the Australian economy and no need to wait for other countries to enact similar legislation.

Financial securities transactions tax

This would be a small tax (0.5% or less) on the sale of equity securities, fixed income securities and financial derivatives held for less than some period. This period might be in the order of a week or perhaps a month, but certainly more than one day.

The purpose of the tax is to discourage speculative short-term activity in the markets while not hampering long term investments.



Labor's Carbon Tax

13th Aug 2011: NewAustralia fully endorses Julia Gillard's carbon tax proposal. This is far better than the earlier ETS and far better than the Liberal's 'direct action' policy.

Henry Tax Review

3rd May 2010: The NewAustralia response is here!

New Kyoto Treaty

Draft New Kyoto treaty. No global ETS, just get each nation or state to swap some old taxes for a new carbon tax!

The Carbon Tax Center

For more great information about the benefits of Carbon Taxes visit the  Carbon Tax Center.

A carbon price at last!

11th July 2011: Labor finally announces a carbon tax. This is a first step in the right direction which should be extended with more cuts to personal and business taxation funded by a higher carbon tax rate. more...

Encouraging pollution

1st Mar 2011: Australia spends $11 billion more encouraging pollution than cleaning it up! more...

Enviro Tax Swap

2nd Nov 2009: Ross Gittins article supporting 'environmental tax-shifting' more...

Emission cuts futile

23rd Mar 2009: Labor's plan to reduce Australia's carbon pollution by between 5 and 15 per cent by 2020 means that any voluntary efforts to cut emissions will only reduce the price of permits to pollute, not actually achieve additional cuts. more...

Scrap emissions trading

23rd Feb 2009: "Economists on the left and the right who are concerned about global warming are now openly opposed to carbon trading as proposed by the Government and in favour of a carbon tax." more...

US flags carbon tax

14th Feb 2009: "US Energy Secretary Steven Chu has floated the idea of a carbon emissions tax to fight global warming." more...

Taxing carbon better

13th August 2008: An ETS seems to have been accepted, but a carbon tax might be a better solution. more...

Carbon Trading Hoax

31st Oct 2008: "AUSTRALIA plans to minimise the cost of tackling climate change by paying developing countries such as Indonesia to cut their greenhouse emissions, long-awaited modelling by Treasury shows." more...

Taxing carbon better

13th August 2008: An ETS seems to have been accepted, but a carbon tax might be a better solution. more...

No to Carbon Trading

15th July 2008: ONE of the world's best-known economists, Jeffrey Sachs, has warned Australia against using an emissions trading scheme to tackle climate change, saying it would never win global support....Professor Sachs said the concept was "highly disliked" by China and other developing countries, and they would never agree to it. more...

G-8 Climate Failure

10th July 2008: India and China rejected the Group of Eight's declaration on climate change yesterday as leaders of the developing world demanded that rich countries should take a stronger lead on preventing global warming. more...

Petrol $8 Litre by 2018

11th July 2008: PETROL prices could reach $8 a litre within a decade if oil production peaks and Australia is not ready to shift to alternatives, according to a CSIRO analysis. more...

British Columbia's Carbon Tax

26th Feb 2008: British Columbia will implement a carbon tax of $10 per metric ton of carbon dioxide on July 1, rising in $5 / tonne annual increments to reach $30 in 2012. more...