Federalist party promoting global peace and cooperation

Streamlining government administration by abolition of the states and drastically cutting excess bickering and bureaucracy:
Single chamber parliament will be far more efficient and economical to run as opposed to the current model;
Our republican referendum will hopefully save us many of the billions we now waste on useless and archaic royal institutions;
Saving the Defence department’s astronomical budget alone shall nurse a whole new army of social initiatives
Very few of us may even guess how much we could save from the closure of ASIO, DSD, ONA and other similar spy agencies with hardly known secret budgets. We have no doubt it would be more than enough to provide each of us with free phones and internet for the rest of our lives...
We are not going to take part in any new military campaigns, wars, interventions and other similar adventures. Each of them costs billions of dollars, not counting the casualties, the wounded, the widows, the orphans, the destruction, the cemeteries and the hatred... We've had enough!

Taxation

Taxes are the main source of revenue for every government. We pay one of the highest tax rates in the world, yet we are by no means one of the wealthiest nations. We believe rates for business and personal tax are still very high and we shall endeavor to reduce our taxes to levels similar with other developed countries. This will relieve the burden for many individuals and businesses, as well as boost investment.

Business tax

Taxation under our government shall reflect the social and environmental benefits of each business. Businesses (and their products) shall be categorized on a scale from 1 to 9 (separately for each sector – social and environmental), which shall be reviewed each financial year. Category 1 businesses (e.g. healthy food, most farming, healthcare, education, clean energy, water, etc.) shall be our best in terms of social and environmental responsibility and would pay the lowest taxes – about 10% less than now. Each subsequent category will pay slightly higher tax (most industries shall fall within the average categories and still pay less taxes than now) until we reach category 9 which would be taxed about 20% higher than category 1. The most likely businesses in this category shall be gambling, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, sex, etc. Business categorization shall be carried out each year by the Dept. of industry and based on social and environmental merit calculators approved by the parliament.This policy will provide extra incentives for many investors and businessmen and increase profit margins while benefiting the wider community and the environment. Lower taxes will also result in lower prices and inflation.
Lowering company and other business taxes and simplifying the system by cutting the number of taxes – currently about 50 to no more than 5 (accountants shall be able to count all due taxes by using the fingers of just one hand...)
The tax office (ATO) shall be the sole tax collector and no other institution shall have the right to impose and/or collect any taxes.

Personal tax

Our streamlined, lean and efficient government will enable substantial tax cuts for most Australians. This shall be achieved together with (and not at the expense of) vastly improved social services. Such reform will bring us in line with other developed countries and fairly distribute the tax burden amongst all levels of society.

Personal tax law shall be greatly simplified and fewer people shall be required to lodge an annual tax return. It would also require much less effort, knowledge and time to complete the documentation, freeing valuable resources for other more important or pleasant activities.
We shall also ensure that everyone pays his/hers fair share of tax and close all loopholes allowing some individuals to pay ridiculous taxes on multimillion dollar incomes.
Having a car these days is not a luxury but a necessity. Our employment prospects and lifestyle may be seriously limited if we have no transport of our own (by the way we also encourage you to use it wisely and rely on public transport whenever possible). Buying our first car is a challenge for many of us and may require significant financial resources. We shall help everyone who wants to buy his/her first car (except if you prefer a luxury car over $50 000) by waving all purchase taxes, duties and first year’s registration (incl. TAC insurance) fees.
Many people have to travel long distances (e.g. > 40 km in urban areas and > 80 km in the country) and pay substantial costs in order to get to their work place. We shall reward these people by making travel to and from work a tax-deductible expense. Such measure will redistribute the tax burden in a fairer way, as well as reimburse many people for their time and effort.
Local council rates shall be completely reformed and made uniform for everyone, disregarding where or how he/she lives. The rates shall be incorporated into the personal tax we all pay and collected by the Tax Office. The funds shall be then distributed to the local councils on a pro-rata basis.
We’re aware of how difficult it is for young families to purchase/build their first home. We shall help all these families by waiving all taxes (this means you really pay $0!) relating to the purchase of their first real estate property. This offer shall be valid for all real estate worth under $500 000 (which will be indexed annually, properties over the limit shall only attract taxes for the outstanding amount over $500 000) – house and/or land). An additional 10% income tax deduction for the next 5 years shall supplement the initial help and ease the mortgage burden when it’s at its worst.
We shall help and encourage strong, happy and responsible relationships by allowing family income pooling for tax purposes. Both partners shall be able to pay their tax based on the average family income rather than individual ones.

Our proposed personal tax breaks for 2010 year shall be as follows:

Proposed 2010 Current 2008
< 20 000 0 % < 6 000 0 %

20 000 - 50 000 10 % 6 000 - 30 000 15 %

50 000 - 100 000 20 % 30 000 - 75 000 30 %

100 000 - 200 000 30 % 75 000 - 150 000 40 %

200 000 - 500 000 40 % > 150 000 45 %

500 000 - 1M 50 %

1M - 2M 60 %

2M - 5M 70 %

5M - 10M 80 %

> 10M 90 %

We shall also eliminate tax inflation by annual indexing of tax thresholds –each of them will be related to the CPI (e.g. – if tax-free threshold this year is $6000 and CPI is 5%, then the next year it will be 6000 x 1.05 = $6300

Also see Drugs, Alcohol & Smoking