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Year 12 IB Economics
Mr. Foley Practice IA
Antonis Ntrongoulis
Year 12 IB Economics
Mr. Foley Practice IA
Bowen also confirmed on Thursday that the economic statement would outline
the full costs of the regional resettlement agreement with Papua New Guinea.
The government has thus far declined to quantify the costs of that agreement.
The government has faced a substantial task to meet its commitment to return
the budget to surplus in 2018-19. Tax revenues have been weak, and the
government must offset spending associated with policy adjustments made
by Kevin Rudd since he returned to the Labor leadership.
Bowen and the prime minister began to soften the ground for the tobacco tax hike
on Wednesday in separate events in Sydney and Brisbane.
"As the prime minister said today, we need to be continually looking at what we
can do to reduce smoking," Bowen said on Wednesday afternoon.
"There is not a family in Australia that hasn't been touched by cancer caused by
smoking.
"I think the Australian people would agree with us, that we need to consider all
sorts of measures to reduce smoking."
The Labor government has been active throughout its two terms in government to
reduce smoking rates, including pursuing and winning a landmark high court case
that has imposed plain packaging on the tobacco industry.
The Cancer Council has endorsed tax hike. The council's chief executive, Prof
Ian Olver, said price control through excise was by far the most effective public
health measure to bring down smoking rates, particularly among young people
and people on lower incomes.
"Evidence shows that the increase in excise in 2010 has driven down tobacco
consumption by around 11%," Olver said.
There is continuing speculation the government will use the release of the
economic statement - either Friday, or over the coming weekend - as a
springboard for calling the federal election for 7 September.
The Coalition has been critical of the tobacco measure. It says the government
should seek to control spending rather than raise taxes, particularly those
impacting disproportionately on low income earners. "This is just another tax.
Let's not listen to this palaver about health, it's all about revenue," the opposition
leader, Tony Abbott, told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday morning.
Abbott said the opposition would respond to the statement once it was in the
public domain. He said he would not be drawn on specific measures in this
interim period before the statement was released.
"This is a government that can't control its spending. Whenever it gets into
trouble, it hits you, the Australian people with new taxes. If they do this to you
before the election, think how much worse it will be after the election," Abbott
said.
Antonis Ntrongoulis
Year 12 IB Economics
Mr. Foley Practice IA
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/31/government_tobacco
_tax_economic-statement
Article: 823 words
Antonis Ntrongoulis
Year 12 IB Economics
Mr. Foley Practice IA
Bibliography:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/thestreet/2013/09/06/big-tobaccotakes-its-last-drag-as-economic-change-looms/
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/valueaddedtax.asp
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/demeritgood.html