Write on: Letters to the editor

Issue 

Tax cheats

Whatever the final outcome of the government versus the wharfies and the unions, one thing is clear — that as wharfies are PAYE taxpayers, they do pay their taxes. Contrast this with the situation revealed in the Age newspaper at the end of February. The Age article on taxation revealed that companies earned a massive $998.30 billion and paid $16.4 billion in tax, an effective rate of just 1.6%.

If this income were taxed at the current rate of 36%, it would produce an extra $343 billion in revenue, enough to fill 34 budget black holes.

More than half of all companies pay no tax at all.

Another revelation in the report is that the growth of trusts used by the rich to minimise tax outpaced the number of new individual taxpayers by five to one. Since 1991-92, trusts earned $117.8 billion in income and paid no tax at all.

Jean Hale
Balmain NSW

Farmers and ecology

One Mr McGauchie was on the SBS mid-evening news on 28/4/98 saying that "The water front has been a disgrace to this country as long as anyone can remember".

Let me paraphrase Mr McGauchie's words from a green viewpoint: "The farming community have been an ecological disaster for this country for 200 years and it is time something was done about them".

Col Friel
NT Greens
Alawa NT

Pay inequality

I refer to your article "Myths and realities of wharfies" (April 22) — in which you state that "anyone who worked two jobs would get this much (i.e. $70,000-80,000 annually).

I work two jobs, as a legal book-keeper and my gross pay for sixty hours per week is $55,900.00, but then again I am female and employed in a "soft" industry — clerical work.

I am not saying that the wharfies don't deserve every penny of what they earn. I am merely commenting on your rather sweeping statement and the inequality of the wages system between men and women.

In future check your facts and try not to expand the particular into the general by saying that "anyone" would, when clearly only some do.

Sue Ellen Stansbury
Merrylands NSW

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