Our Policies

But don't be mislead by our name: - We are not a single issue party -

However we believe that by reducing the cost of fuel, the impact on our cost of living and quality of life would be substantial. We will do this by:

Getting rid of the GST on petrol - It is an unfair and exacerbating tax:

Unfair - Because the GST is also levied on the excise, a tax in itself (38.143 cents/litre).
The GST on the excise adds 3.8143 cents to every litre of fuel.
GST accelerates inflation.
Example: When the petrol price increases, because of an increase in crude oil,
from $1.00 to $1.10 then inflation is 10%.
Add the (automatic) increase in GST and the price is $1.11,
making inflation 11%.
Exacerbating - Every time fuel prices go up the GST increases.
When the GST was introduced on 1 July 2000, petrol was $0.84 per litre.
The GST component was 7.6 cents.
At today's price of $0 the GST is 0.004 cents.
That is -7.605 cents more in GST just because crude oil prices went up. It's a windfall for the Government that they never budgeted for.
No government wants to go to the people arguing for higher taxes.
Yet the GST is a tax increase by stealth.
The tax on petrol should be a fixed tax. If the government needs more tax, let them pass a law.
By having a GST on fuel, the Government has a vested interest in keeping fuel prices high.
The higher the fuel price is, the more GST the Government collects.
Crude oil goes up - more tax
Oil company margin goes up - more tax

In the 12 months to Feb 2008 petrol has increased from $1.06 to $1.46.
An increase of 40 cents or 37.7 %.
The GST paid on petrol increased from 9.6 cents per litre to 13.3 cents per litre.
An increase of 3.7 cents or 38.5 %
Average Adult weekly earnings, in the same period, rose from $1073 to $1124 (ABS - Average Weekly Earnings - Feb 2008)
An increase of only 4.8 %

The Government should mandate the availability of Ethanol E85.
However, we feel that unblended fuel should remain available, since some older cars may not be able to run on the blended product (including E10) without modifications.

This would give an incentive to the car manufactures to better develop cars that run on ethanol blends.
Currently there is no incentive, as E85 blended fuels are hardly available.
The use of ethanol would give health benefits
The target of 350ML set by the Howard Government should be met and exceeded
Greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced
Employment opportunities
Reduce reliance of foreign imports
Home grown - reducing balance of trade

Affordable, reliable, safe and clean public transport

People say petrol should be more expensive, not less, to combat global warming.
We say: "Give us an alternative first and we will take public transport".
By increasing the cost of fuel, everything becomes more expensive, inflation rises and interest rates increase. But it does very little in reducing green house gases.

Investment in biofuel technology

Currently we are importing polluting crude oil but exporting Canola oil to Europe and the US for their bio-fuel facilities.
If every truck in Australia used bio-diesel we would not be dependent on foreign oil.
And the more our farmers grow, the more CO₂ is taken out of the atmosphere.
A win-win situation. Better for our farmers, better for the environment, better for our economy, better for our kids.

Mandatory Emission Standards

Introduce legislation to force car companies to sell new cars that meet strict emission standards.
The car industry have set a voluntary target of 222 gram CO₂ per kilometre, which they have vowed to meet by 2020.
Which sounds good until you consider that Europe and Japan have mandated that by 2015 their new car fleet should emit an average of just 120 grams. Almost halve and 5 years earlier.
We are not saying people can't drive larger cars, we are just saying they should be more fuel (energy) efficient.
The new 2.4 litre Camry Hybrid has a combined urban highway fuel consumption of 6 litres per 100km, identical to the 1.3 litre Yaris.

Global Warming

We believe that global warming is a serious problem that, when not addressed, has serious implications for us, our children and future generations.
We have already seen a change in the climate in the form of extreme drought on one hand and cyclones on the other.

The government has to do something about this. Either by spending money now, on drought proofing or by spending money later for the damage of global warming.

Our policy would be to prevent rather than cure.

We want to see more done on alternative energies, like solar, wind, bio fuel, Geothermal, and perhaps even nuclear energy.

Investment in solar technology for the production of electricity

Imagine if every new building would have a solar-panel covered roof.
We want subsidies or loans for conversion of existing houses. Most electricity is used during the day, when the sun shines. Houses that are not occupied during the day would put their surplus electricity back into the grid (reducing your electricity bill) for companies and industry to use.
No means testing for the solar cell rebate.
No need for more coal fired or nuclear plants.

Water

Responsible use of our water resources
Irrigators take water for their crops from the Murray Darling river system. And that is important. 40 % of Australia's food production comes from that region.
However it is done in open canals sometimes up to 200 km, losing up to 40% in evaporation. Putting it in pipes would stop the waste.
Farmers can still use the water and save the river.
Every new house should have a water tank.
There should be subsidies or loans for those who want to add a tank to their existing house.
For the cost of building a desalination plant ($2 Billion) the government could give us all a water tank for free.
Its good for the economy - its good for the environment
Ask yourself; What would you rather have? - A free rain water tank or a desalination plant pumping out tons of Co₂ plus an increase in the cost of water?

Health and Hospitals

We want more doctors, more nurses.
And we want them "Home Grown".

Its not that our kids don't want to become doctors or nurses.
It is not even the very high fees that is deterring our children from choosing these professions.
The reason why there is a shortage of doctors and nurses is because the government limits the number of places at university.
The previous governments did this and both the Rudd and Gillard governments are not much better.

In 2010 The Rudd Government announced:
"The Rudd Government will raise the number of places available for medical graduates to train to become a General Practitioner to 1,200 per year by 2014." [2]

We feel this is too little and too late

There is an alarming problem with nurses

As at 2008, there were a total of 312,736 registered and enrolled nurses licensed in Australia.
The average age was 44.1 years. (Up from 43.7 in 2007)
Over 50% of nurses will be contemplating retirement within the next 10-15 years.
It is estimated that for supply to meet demand, between 10,712 and 13,483 new registered nurses are required to enter the workforce in 2010.
Just over 7,000 registered nurses graduated in 2008.
There are insufficient university places for those eligible people wishing to undertake a nursing course. [1]
How do we pay for it? Once graduated, these doctors and nurses will pay their taxes, which will well and truly pay for their studies.
Educating them is not an expense; It's called "Investment".
Cut the waiting time for hospitals, not (necessarily) the waiting list.
It does not matter if there are thousands on the waiting list, as long as you get treated within a fortnight.
And the sooner you are operated on, the better your quality of life, the less cost to the community in medication and sick pay and the sooner you start earning (and paying taxes) again.

Ambulance reciprocal arrangements

This needs to be brought back in. We are one country, its about time that some of the State politicians realize that.

At the moment, generally, Health Care Card holders, Pensioner Concession Card holders, Veterans Affairs Card holders and Commonwealth Seniors Card holders are covered for emergency transport under reciprocal rights arrangements between NSW and all other States and Territories, with the exception of Queensland and South Australia. Queensland and South Australian governments withdrew on different dates from the reciprocal rights agreements that existed between those States and NSW. Ambulance services were available at no cost to pensioners, or people who had paid an ambulance levy through their private health insurance, while traveling interstate.

Childcare

We believe that childcare Is an expense which is incurred in gaining or producing an assessable income.
As such we feel it should be tax-deductible.

Education

We agree with the government that Australia should invest more money into education.
Education is not an expense, but an investment in the future. If you like, we pay now for the students of today and they in turn are paying for our retirement tomorrow.

However; we feel that education should be free. There is something immoral about putting a tax on knowledge.

Pensioners

Simple.
We are calling for an increase in the pension of $30 per week.

Health Insurance

Privately insured patient almost inevitably have to pay some "gap" when they have a medical procedure or go into hospital.
Frequently this runs into hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
It is the difference to what the doctor or hospital charges and the cover from your Health Fund and Medicare rebate combined.

The only way to avoid getting these unexpected bills is to check with your Health Fund if they have an agreement with the doctor or hospital, before you have the procedure done.
(Real practical if you need emergency treatment for a heart attack or your child has been in a car accident).
And even then your doctor may need to call an anaesthesiologist, or a radiologist who is not part of the agreement. (Sorry doc, I'll have the operation but skip the anaesthesia; I can't afford the "Gap")

The alternatives are:
Lying about having paid for private Insurance, because then it probably won't cost you a cent (most likely all covered by Medicare),
or simply pay-up (again).

We feel it is totally unacceptable that a privately insured patient ends up being penalized for taking out private cover and has to pay more for the same procedures compared to having no private insurance at all.

The private patient has to pay 3 times: the medicare levy, the private health fund and the "gap".

This should be fixed up immediately.

None of this is rocket science. It’s being pro-active, not reactive. It’s called “Thinking Ahead”.

---------It’s called "Governing"---------

If you feel like we do, Please support us and become a member. Let us know what you think.
We love to hear from you.

[1]Country Report - Royal College of Nursing, Australia (RCNA) September 2011

[2] Building a National Health and Hospitals Network - Training a Record Number of Doctors