Month: August 1997

After this week’s High Court tax judgment what the economists call the vertical fiscal imbalance is now so great that the autonomy of the states is on the verge of toppling over.

Vertical fiscal imbalance is the technical term for states whingeing because the Feds don’t give them enough money and the Feds whingeing because the states misspend what money the Feds give them.

The Feds raise about 70 per cent of total federal-states revenue but directly spend only 50 percentage points of that; the other 20 percentage points they give to the states to spend.
Continue reading “1997_08_augustl_excise for forum”

After this week’s High Court tax judgment what the economists call the vertical fiscal imbalance is now so great that the autonomy of the states is on the verge of toppling over.

Vertical fiscal imbalance is the technical term for states whingeing because the Feds don’t give them enough money and the Feds whingeing because the states misspend what money the Feds give them.

The Feds raise about 70 per cent of total federal-states revenue but directly spend only 50 percentage points of that; the other 20 percentage points they give to the states to spend.
Continue reading “1997_08_augustl_excise for forum”

About 18 months ago a woman sat in front of the mirror at the ACT Cancer Society’s wig library in a small room at Canberra Hospital.

She was trying on a grey wig.

“”But my hair was blonde,” she said. “”Haven’t you got any blonde wigs.”
Continue reading “1997_08_augustl_chemotheraphy”