Dear LG Focus,
In my two years as a councillor and having attended two Local Government New South Wales (LGNSW) conferences, as well as a number of similar forums, I have become an advocate of raising the GST, removing exemptions and legislating for a fraction to be allocated to national infrastructure.
Simply amalgamating Local Government Areas of low revenue bases will not allow the elimination of the infrastructure backlog.
Nationally, thanks to the profligacy and incompetence of the former government compounded now by a reduction in mining activity, rampant welfare and a need to restore defence spending to nearer 2 percent of Gross Domestic Product, we are in an era of declining fiscal outcomes.
At our recent conference, one of the delegates had to be reminded from a panel member that government expenditure was in fact taxpayers’ contributions and not some effusion from a money pit owned by politicians!
The perception that governments create money is a refrain we unfortunately hear all too frequently from our constituents.
Other nations have implemented increases in their GST and it has now become imperative that we engage in a bipartisan national debate on this issue as we seek to rebalance the national accounts.
Regards,
Alan Haselden
Liberal Councillor for East Ward
The Hills Shire Council, New South Wales.
