To Tax or not to Tax? A very taxing question

The alternative Treasurer, Joe Hockey, has landed himself in some trouble recently with his proposal to add layers of regulation and scrutiny that would prevent banks from gouging their customers in the many and various ways they are now so practiced at.

Not only was his proposal at odds with the general philosophical bent of the conservative right which is to de-regulate, it seemed that when Tony Abbott was asked about it he knew nothing of the proposal.

Within days, the leader of the opposition, Tony Abbott, has also made a proposal that most of his colleagues were unaware of, a proposal for a position that has consistently been regarded by analysts as unworkable - a flat rate of taxation for everyone earning between $25,000 and $180,000.

Perhaps this was just another example of Tony Abbott speaking off the cuff, and so his words are not to be regarded as policy - just an idea. It was certainly a further example of the opposition straying into the area of popularity-based policy, rather than with maintaining policies that are consistent with their basic economic framework.

These two stories have generated some questions for me, and I wonder what you think of them.

1. Would you be willing to trust our economy to these two most significant members of the party of alternative government? - I don't think I would.

2. How did Howard and Costello keep those who are now in opposition under control so far as the economic message was concerned? There are a lot of free wheels out there and who knows which direction they are going in.

3. In the same week, this lot resorted to complaining about the negative impact of higher utility prices on the cost of living when inflation figures came in lower than expected. Does the Federal Government have any control over these costs? Is there not an objective in raising the cost of these utilities - to reduce our consumption?

All in all, I feel in no way inclinded to the view that the current Liberal/National coalition has the credentials to be the alternative government of this Commonwealth.