Before I begin to discuss super and taxes, I was disappointed to see the Federal Court’s decision in the Hanson/Faruqi case.
Senator Hanson’s appeal against a lower court decision to find against her for her “Piss off back to Pakistan” comments against Greens senator Maureen Faruqi was unanimously rejected by the Full Federal Court. I found the ruling strange and not a little disturbing, in that it seems to fly in the face of common sense. I was pleased to see that legal constitutional law expert Anne Twomey seems to agree and felt the matter should be appealed to the High Court. The dreaded Section 18C of the Discrimination Act is central to this.
Several decades ago, it was common for Aussies to tell new arrivals from the UK who whinged about Australia to, “Piss off back to England” – often with the phrase “Ya Pommie bastard” added on. No one seems to have felt great offence at that, let alone regard it as racial hatred. I wonder if a similar utterance was made now, would it be considered offensive and racist? Methinks we are all getting a little too precious.
I agree with Professor Twomey that the case should be appealed to the High Court, and maybe Pauline can launch a fundraiser to cover her costs. And Gina Rinehart might also like to get behind it.
I hear with concern growing concerns that Albo and his Labor/Green mates are looking to change the rules on Australian super to enable the federal government to draw on super funds and use the capital to fund major government projects. This is because the federal government can no longer borrow sufficient money to fund these projects, as we have a trillion-dollar debt.
The law at present charges super fund operators with seeking the best possible investments for their clients.
Paul Keating’s greatest legacy was superannuation for all Australians. It saves the government from having to pay all of us a pension. It means even the lowliest worker can look forward to a dignified retirement with some super, plus maybe a part pension to see him or her through. Apart from the family home, super is the biggest asset most of us have.
The government would, in raiding our super funds, pay less interest to super fund clients, thereby decreasing their nest egg and, with the government’s track record for bad “investments”, would likely just squander the money. One only needs to look at Snowy 2, which was meant to cost $2 billion and is now up to $40 billion and rising. It’s our money they are taking.
The 2025 election saw Albo with a huge majority of 94 seats in the House of Reps and, with the Greens, control of the Senate as well. The government’s huge majority has also seen the demise of the once powerful and sensible Labor Right. The caucus is now dominated by economically challenged left-wing Labor members and few, if any, Right faction members who, in days gone by, could be relied on to exercise a sensible restraining influence on the sillier policies put forward by their left comrades.
It will be interesting to see how the LNP and One Nation counter this.
