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Talking Politics
- Thread starter Legends of 2017
- Start date
So. One year you get $500 back, and a few years later you get $0 back and are saying there is a $3,000 difference in extra tax.
Maths hey...
I see that the premier is starting to back off on the funding cuts to health. She had to, it was either that or get thrown out of office imo.
I have held off posting on this issue because I have to be careful on what I say given some involvement I have. All I would say is that the government statement of record funding is spin and should be ignored. Equally ignore the opposition, no idea. The media, mostly no idea but some truth.
I also wish the media would stop quoting the AMA and other organisations who are on the periphery and don't properly understand the funding issues. I guess they are easy to get a quote from.
I have held off posting on this issue because I have to be careful on what I say given some involvement I have. All I would say is that the government statement of record funding is spin and should be ignored. Equally ignore the opposition, no idea. The media, mostly no idea but some truth.
I also wish the media would stop quoting the AMA and other organisations who are on the periphery and don't properly understand the funding issues. I guess they are easy to get a quote from.
There is no way that anyone can answer that question without understanding your financial and tax situation.
What can be said is that there have been no changes to the taxation of superannuation funds under the ALP except for an extra tax related to funds over $3 million.
Maybe you fall into that category.
Its hard to believe anything the media says anymore. When the media says the state government has cut health services, I find it hard to believe… most times there is usually some catch that they fail to mention.
So as you work in the industry, let me ask you a simple yes or no question… is the government cutting health services? Yes or no?
And when I say cutting, I am not referring to reducing the amount of admin staff. Are they reducing the amount of oncologists at Peter Mac? Or reducing the number of surgeons at RMH? Or reducing the amount of nurses at The Alfred?
I am going to sound like a politician here because it is extremely complex. To give you an idea I have been in the industry for over 10 years and it took me a year to fully understand it when I first started.
The answer is that it could be either yes or no. Every year hospitals get budgets but that isn't all the funding they get from the state, during the year extra funding comes for things like extra surgery, specific programs or just to keep the system at breakeven and there was a substantial amount given last financial year. That extra money given last year is currently not in the budgets for this year.
So when the hospitals look at budget to budget they see an increase. When they look at last years actual to this year's budget they see a decrease. That's what creates the spin ...depends on what you are measuring!
The negotiations that are going on right now are about that gap, last year's actual to this year's budget. If no extra money is provided then services will be cut from last year but the more money provided then that reduces or even gets eliminated. None of this is unusual but the size of the gap is and why that is the case is a subject that cannot be covered in a post, it is extremely complex.
How individual health services are reacting now is really up to them. Some are conservative and are reducing services whilst they wait to see what the outcome is, some are not. Indications on the possibility of extra funding were dire, which is why all the alarm.
The other thing to understand is that the number of doctors and nurses are largely volume related. For instance nurse ratios are legislated, you can't reduce nurses without reducing services. Many doctors are sessional, which means they are paid for the sessions they work ( especially surgeons). So the answer to (say) less nurses will be yes there will be if there is less volume from less funding but I don't expect redundancies in that space because the reduction would come mostly from less overtime and reduction in agency or casuals.
By the way cuts to admin staff can also effect services. Admin staff do lots of things from booking appointments, to scheduling that have a direct impact on level of service, but admin is not a large portion of the costs of a hospital. That's why so many in the sector get bemused by some of the comments of the health Minister in particular.
That makes a lot of sense.
It would be good if this was explained to the public by the media, but we know that will never happen unless the other mob are in power.
Fair enough. I had to change the date of an appointment at the Austin earlier this week and I was on hold for over an hour. To make matters worse, I have just realised i can't make that appointment and will have to call back and reschedule again.
The tax brackets haven't changed in a negative way, so without knowing the very specific financial circumstances of your income, I'd guess you either earned more this year and therefore need to pay more tax or have less deductions than last year. Also see Sin's response above.
Jim and Albo haven't done anything in the last financial year that would cause that.
In my time in health I have rarely come across a health reporter who has enough knowledge of the funding system to be able to explain it !! There used to be but the media companies cut their reporter quality so much domain specialists don't really exist any longer. They are just looking for a gotcha headline.That makes a lot of sense.
It would be good if this was explained to the public by the media, but we know that will never happen unless the other mob are in power.
Fair enough. I had to change the date of an appointment at the Austin earlier this week and I was on hold for over an hour. To make matters worse, I have just realised i can't make that appointment and will have to call back and reschedule again.
Your issue with Austin is not unusual unfortunately. There are various reasons, one is just staff numbers but the other big one is that the systems are so archaic that they are incredibly inefficient. The lack of investment in IT in the public health system goes back many years and many governments.
This is similar to the industry I've spent the majority of the last 25+ years in.
Regardless of government, the spending has only been on the tangible things people can see and cut ribbons at. The IT infrastructure isn't sexy and no one can see a good news bite cutting a ribbon on a monitor.
The subsequent issues are the lack of quality service able to be provided to the public, who invariably blame the wrong groups. It'd be like giving everyone a shiny new car, but under the hood is some 30yo Shetland ponies to move it around.
I think his math is right. Previously 2 supers with returns btw $500-$1K, say $750 x 2= $1500 return. Then owes $1500 the next year, a turnaround of $3K to the negative. Then ups his tax to account for the turnaround and no return, meaning the $3K turnaround is permanent. As to why it happened, how would we know, he needs to ask his accountant or the ATO.
2021/ 2022 $500.00 plus refund after paying an X amount in instalments above the $500.00
2022/2023 debit to ATO $1500.00 after paying $1118.00 tax instalments which totals $2618.00 for the year.
2023/2024 Paid $2909.00 in Tax instalments P/F throughout the year. No Tax debit no Tax refund.
The only change to my finances are CPI increases each year but I have gone from chocolates to boiled lollies in two consecutive years. The 2022/2023 debit is the first time in my life that I owed the ATO. I am 85 been retired since 1998 do my tax online every year no sweat. Did it this year came up with a Zero which baffled me as you either owe or receive a refund after instalments each P/F. So took it to a Tax consultant she came up with the same result & cost me $99.00.
Without knowing how much you earned, the government did cut the low income benefit of $1500 which I discovered when I got my return done last year. Maybe that was it?
Thank you & have written to ATO for an explanation. Item which is intriguing is I do not owe the ATO & ATO does not owe me anything.
The ALP are in bed with the unions. It makes sense. Easy to talk tough after everything that has been exposed.
Action is what matters.
Funny how Labor are on the back foot since CFMEU are getting exposed ,l guess there won't be any donations this election.
They have for years, to suggest otherwise is folly.
Andrews doesn't get back in without them. Once upon a time the unions did more good than harm but the last 25 years have seen roters and grifters move into them and political parties (both but more Labor) use them as leverage. Pay increases that are off the scale, working conditions that have qualified tradies clambering for labouers job on "Big Build" projects holding stop go signs cause the money is better. That's half the reason house prices continue to sky rocket, you cant get tradies. There are so many things stinking about Victoria at the moment and the biggest one is that there isn't a decent opposition to hold them accountable. Place is a mess.
Oooh so Cindersallan has finally awoken from her years long nap attack n noticed that those naughty little boys and girls from the CFMEU have been playing up the whole time she was sleeping. Such a stern finger waggling letter she has sent them. PHHHHT.
