The Liberals are Better Economic Managers!

Hold the front page, the coalition have developed an economic policy to take to the election. According to Dutton it’s a surefire winner and will see him nestled in the Lodge without further delay.

So, what is this policy that has Susssan Ley all a quiver and Angus Taylor telling us that this is what leadership is all about? Well, on the scant information so far released the policy is in the form of a tax break for small businesses (those with a turnover of less than ten million dollars). It means that a small business can claim up to $20,000 a year off their taxable income for entertaining staff and clients to lunches and golf days or other such jollies.

Angus Taylor was asked by a perceptive journalist, ’wasn’t this just a big piss-up for bosses ? ‘

Dear old Angus, quick as a whippet came back with ‘it won’t include alcohol’.

Immediately Spud’s momentum was visibly drained and Susssan looked alarmed ; not so much that you had to have an alcohol free lunch or golf-day but rather, some poor bean-counter in accounts would have to sift through the dockets and exclude the grog related items to claim a tax benefit on the food only items – how the taxation office will treat Bombe Alaska or Flambé truffles in Cogniac could be a bit tricky. So, instantly a forward looking policy from a prospective Leader is fraught with accounting difficulties, reminiscent of the problems then Liberal Party Opposition Leader John Hewson encountered over the GST and birthday cakes.

But hey ! I’m being picky. This is a Dutton economic policy, the only one he has so far developed and designed to give eateries a boost in sales and encourage workplace camaraderie (but not too much); this took a lot of planning by the coalition and we should not diminish the economic vision that lurks beneath the surface.

The Coalition’s estimate, from the independent Parliamentary Budget Office, puts the cost of this at $250 million a year. The tax credit would be claimed by small businesses up to $20,000 a year off their taxable income. Labor had Treasury cost the Coalition’s policy on the basis that all eligible small businesses would take advantage of this bountyt, who said it would cost the federal budget closer to $1.6 billion a year.

The coalition got very sniffy about Labor costing their policies and Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor says he will write to Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy for an explanation of why the costing was produced, calling it “an egregious politicisation of the public service”.

In the meantime Dutton has gone quiet again and in a ‘look over there’ moment that he seems to have taken from our favourite US monarch he is questioning why we have named Tasmania after a Dutch sailor and why Arnhem Land was named after his ship?

As always, Spud has a point!

 

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