It's not unusual to be disapointed with political debate in Australia, but this week past - the first week of real combat in 2011 - has been especially poor in terms of political discourse. Just as a levy breaking triggers the influx of flood waters; so this levy tax debate has triggered a flood of political idiocy.
First, I really dont see why people are so upset with a levy at all. Ás is often the case, Australians turned charity in the wake of the floods disaster into an Olympic sport at which they could claim dominance. The generosity was immediate, unqualified and copious. The total as of the time of writing is $201 million, which is pretty impressive by any standards for a country of only 20 million = $10 for every man, woman and child.
So, you would imagine it wouldn't create that much of a fuss, would be in fact a slam-dunk, if the government wanted to make a levy to raise funds to assist in the reconstruction. $200 Million will certainly help with the compensation of individuals as they rebuild their own lives, but the roads (see picture), the ports and the electricity infrastructure completely wrecked in South East Queensland - not to mention now the Yasi disaster zone - will cost a lot more than that to repair. The total bill is expected to be a staggering $5.6 billion!
The Levy was pitched at a modest level (merely a fifth of the total bill) and is means-tested - for most the equivalent of two coffees a week for a year. To me this addresses a couple of realities: that the huge generosity of Australians will naturally wane after the TV pictures recede with the water levels; and that while some give generously, some simply don't. So the Levy institutionalises that generosity for a year to make sure that the state of Queensland is fully rebuilt, but also equalises and makes the national donation fair. All pay according to their means, the miserly as well as the generous; and the rich pay their fair share proportionate to those less well off.
Not only have many whinged and complained; the political "elite" have seized on the opportunity to make political capital - and have done it very, very badly. First, there is Premier Kristina Keneally, attempting to appeal to New South Wales voters (weeks before her impending electoral doom) by trying to make out that New South Wales voters are worse off than the rest of the country and should be excluded from the full weight of the levy. If it wasn't such a blatant attempt to endear herself to her electorate as the ballet axe begins to fall, I would give the substance of what she said some thought - but it is, so I won't.
Then cue the master of political insensitivity, Tony Abbott, who sees in the levy another opportunity to opportunistically replay his dual broken records of "great big tax" and "school buildings rort" by opposing the levy vehemently; and rather than uniting in some kind of bi-partisanship-in-the-face-of-national-disaster...has gone for the jugular. In fact, in doing so he lost sight of the great suffering at the heart of the debate by sending out a letter asking - instead of donations to flood victims - for donations to the Liberal party in order to fight the levy!
Personally speaking, I gave to the fund but recognise that there's going to be a lot more needed when all the television camera crews have long since flown out of Far North Queensland and people are left to rebuild their lives. So I am happy to pay a dollar a day for a year to rebuild Queensland. Not only mining, but agriculture and tourism all bringing in a mint for the Australian economy. This is important stuff.
One piece of sensible commentary I do want to applaud is that of Tony Windsor, the Independent consistently the making the most sense in Canberra. Lets have a permanent disaster relief fund next time. Every one of the ten years I've been in Australia there has been some terrible disaster. Some worse than others but be it bushfire, flood or storm - this is a continent ever beset by a cataclysm of one sort and we should always be prepared.
So lets go through this debate again please; its very, very, very unseamly.
