Loose cannons

Wednesday, May 24, 2000 - 10:00

Capacity

"[It is] subject to having the capacity to pay." — Tax office second commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo on why some of the income, fringe benefit and superannuation taxes evaded by high-income individuals via employee benefit schemes might never be collected by the government.

Poverty reduction

"I do think that in some of these countries you need a luxury hotel to attract businesspeople to go there and decide on investments." — Peter Woicke, director of the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, when asked how a $20 million IFC investment in a five-star resort in Egypt qualified as part of the Bank's "poverty reduction" mission.

Bastard instincts

"At this stage my instinct is that it deserves amendment rather than rejection." — Australian Democrats' workplace relations spokesperson Andrew Murray on the federal government's proposal to outlaw industry-wide wage bargaining.

Born again humanism

"The worst a government could do is to forget the human side — it should be the priority and economic policy should come second." — Ken Crooke, a National Party Victoria branch director reflecting on the reasons for his party's thrashing in the Benalla by-election.

Maybe even revolutionary

"Any campaign that sought to increase wages across the board could have serious ramifications for the Australian economy." — Mark Paterson, chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry responding to the threat of a GST-related wages push.