Another AFR Op-Ed piece from 21 November. Here’s the Introduction and conclusion:

More than a year after losing an election with a ‘no-policy small-target’ strategy the Labor Opposition still has no discernible policies, at least on domestic issues. Foreign policy will at best be neutral for Labor. To win, Labor needs to focus attention on basic domestic issues.

…

Labor has similarly concentrated on point scoring in relation to the various levies introduced by the government to fund ‘extraordinary’ items of public expenditure. With at least half a dozen such levies at last count, and more having been mooted, these fiscal expedients provide a tempting target. But despite the dislike of some economists for ‘hypothecated taxes’, special-purpose levies make a valuable contribution to public understanding, by making clear the link between desirable items of public expenditure and the taxes required to pay for them.

Rather than scorning the government’s reliance on levies, Labor should exploit this precedent. A Medicare style levy at a rate of 1 or 2 per cent could fund substantial new expenditure on education and the environment while allowing the ragbag of existing levies to be scrapped. Unlike the spurious idea that the sale of assets can be used to finance current expenditure, the revenue from a levy would provide Labor with a genuine ‘war chest’ for financing election promises, and one that the government would be unable to match.

For the moment, it is probably too optimistic to suppose that any political party in Australia would advocate an increase in standard rates of income tax to finance improvements in health, education and the environment. But ultimately, those who will the end must will the means.