Archive for August 18th, 2010

Spot the difference between Greens rhetoric and action

18/08/2010

MEDIA RELEASE: Election 2010: Thursday, 19th August, 2010

Spot the difference between Greens rhetoric and action

The Australian Democrats’ Senate candidate for the ACT, Darren Churchill, is encouraging voters to spot the difference between the rhetoric and action of The Greens when it comes to campaign donations.

Greens campaigning material

“The Greens are not funded by big corporate donors and special interests.”

Fairfax media 18th August

“The Greens have received their largest-ever political donation with a disaffected Victorian blue-collar union giving $325,000 to help the party win the seat of Melbourne and its first Victorian Senate spot.”

Mr Churchill argues that The Greens have obviously got a different understanding of the English language than the rest of the population.

“They have tried to paint themselves as whiter than white, but their own campaigning material shows the truth of the matter: they have accepted a very large donation, and it has come from a very big ‘special interest’ group.

“In their self justification they have shown themselves to be little different to other political parties.

“In accepting money from what is a powerful interest group, The Greens are trying to portray themselves as just a little bit pregnant.

“Hypocrisy just doesn’t wash,” said Mr Churchill

Further comment:

Darren Churchill

Australian Democrats Senate candidate for the ACT

Tel: 0412 196 473

Note: The Australian Democrats have actively sought corporate funding, albeit selectively by avoiding businesses involved in, for example, nuclear and “defence” industries, and have always been very upfront about those donations.

Posted in Accountability, Electoral Reform, Federal Election 2010, Political Donations, Senate Campaign 2010, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

NBN is essential for small business but filter will ruin efficiency

18/08/2010

ANTHONY DAVID

Australian Democrats Senate candidate

Media Release: 18th August, 2010

NBN is essential for small business but filter will ruin efficiency

The Australian Democrats support the National Broadband Network (NBN) project and will support its ongoing rollout.

“We are disappointed that the Federal Government has done such a poor job in selling the idea to the public” said Anthony David, ACT Senate Candidate and Information Technology spokesman.

“Vague references to productivity, Smartgrid and universal access are not compelling arguments”

“The Coalition’s broadband plan would have been welcome if they had released it a decade ago. It will not provide for Australia’s future needs”

“The NBN is good for consumers, good for communities and good for business. It will reshape digital communications and how we interact as a nation”

“The Labor party need to drop the mandatory ISP filter as it runs counter to the efficacy of the NBN.” continued Mr David. “We also need assurances that the current broadband arrangement where the wholesaler of services competes directly with retailers has no chance of being entrenched in the new system”

“Remote communities and farmers need access to national and international information and services as much as those in urban communities”

“For over two decades, small and medium sized businesses in particular have been hampered by overpriced and under-performing wide-area digital communications. The Australian Democrats want to see reasonable prices for business plans with good upload bandwidth. This will enable efficient communications between businesses and their customers, their suppliers and their remote offices”.

In conclusion, Mr David said “Hand-in-hand with these new business opportunities is the need for capital markets in Australia to help fund innovative business ideas, including social enterpreneurs, enabled by this new technology”

Anthony David

Australian Democrats Senate candidate for the ACT

anthony.david@democrats.org.au

Tel: 0414 581 385

Anthony NBN

Posted in Censorship, Federal Election 2010, Information Technology, National Broadband Network (NBN), Senate Campaign 2010, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Income Tax Policy: better, simpler, fairer

18/08/2010

MEDIA RELEASE:Election 2010: Wednesday, 18th August 2010

Darren Churchill – Taxation spokesperson

Income Tax Policy: better, simpler, fairer

The Australian Democrats have embraced radical income tax reform with a plan to improve equity simplicity and efficiency.

The party’s tax spokesperson, Darren Churchill of the ACT, has restated his party’s plans in relation to a tax reform whereby low-income earners are not taxed and the tax base is broadened by reforming Fringe Benefits tax and Capital gains Tax.

“We want to make the tax system fair so that people can live more affordably” said Mr Churchill

“The tax-free threshold has remained at $6 000 since the year 2000. This has been despite Australian Democrats calls for it to be increased. We want to increase it to $25 000 by indexing it over time. This would involve the systematic removal of rebates and offsets, making the system fairer and less complex.

“It would mean that eventually a person earning less than $25 000 would pay no income tax.” Mr Churchill continued. “This will make life much easier for casual and part-time workers, as well as for others on low incomes.”

The Australian Democrats are also calling for indexation of income tax thresholds, more equity in the superannuation system by lowering taxes at the lower end of the earning scale and increasing them for the wealthy.

“Our income tax plan means lower effective tax rates for lower and middle income earners, a more efficient system with less loopholes, and removal of the tax traps for people on welfare who work part-time or who are trying to move back to work.” concluded Mr Churchill.

Further comment: Darren Churchill ph. 0412 196 473

(Full copies of the Democrats’ action plan for income tax are available on request)

Posted in Economics, Family, Federal Election 2010, Income Tax, Media Releases, Senate Campaign 2010 | Leave a Comment »