Lightening Online

Australia is currently abuzz with the announcement that our Government plans to introduce a Flood Levy through our tax system to help pay for the flood damage that has occurred throughout 75% of Queensland and has affected other states as well.  From what I understand, they’re estimating it will cost in excess of $5 billion just to repair and replace infrastructure (I don’t think this includes the cost to private homes and community groups but I could be wrong).

I can’t make up my mind whether I’m for or against the idea but here are my thoughts:

FOR

1.  EVERYONE contributes so it’s a more “fairer” system, which fits with Australia’s basic “ethos”  (not all Australians seem to live by the basic ethos that everyone pitch in and help during a crisis - although many still do.)

2.  It will reduce the amount of debt our country may have to go in to recover from the flood damage.

3.  If you’re on $50,000 - $100,000 a year, we’re only talking $1-$5 a week.

AGAINST

1.  Is the Government spending our money all that wisely?  Is there more that could be cut in the spending to fund this recovery (I know the Government is still contributing a significant amount on top of what the Levy will raise).

2.  Is it true that the Government could afford to pay for this BUT it would hinder their chances of bringing forth the promises surplus by 2013 (and so more of a “politic stunt” than a “need” per se).

3.  What about those who have already been extremely generous and given out of the goodness of their heart?  Is it fair that they give twice.  Will it make people reluctant to be so generous in the future, for fear of a similar thing happening again? (and yes, I know that the money is going to 2 separate recovery efforts but will others know this?).

4.  Will the Government keep to their promise that it’s a “once-off” levy?  We have other levies (like the fuel tax) that apparently don’t always get used for what they’re collected for.

5.  It’s a significantly higher amount for those on higher incomes.  It’s easy to think “they can afford it” but bear in mind, they already pay more tax and many don’t have any more $$ left over at the end of their pay than anyone else does.

HOW DOES IT AFFECT US?

I don’t really mind having to pay it.  I doubt many people do.  Those not affected are so thankful they aren’t in the same boat that they’re more than happy to help out.  Unfortunately the cost of such a large natural disaster can’t help but affect everyone in one way or another (whether it’s spending cuts or more tax - the money has to come from somewhere).

Unfortunately for us, it’s going to cost us a lot more than it really “should”.  This year is the first year in 8 years that we’ll actually make an income.  During that time we accrued a MUCH larger than normal level of working debt (we have plenty of other debt on land and machinery but this is just debt that covers the cost of putting a crop in).  Based on what we live on, our contribution would be about 48c a week.  Based on what we’ll need to “earn” in order to repay said debt, we’ll have to pay around $15 a week.  Such is life when you run a business eh?

At the end of the day, I don’t think I’m really against the idea as such, I’m just not really sure about it.  How’s that for sitting on the fence?  I do think we’re all going to have to “tighten our belts” in the coming months though as combined with the extra cost of recovery is the extra cost of living (through food prices etc) as a result of this disaster.  Whether we like it or not, this affects each and every one of us and will continue to do so for some time.

What’s your opinion and how will it affect you?

Are you worried about how your finances will cope with the extra strain of more tax as well as rising food prices?

Related articles

• The package as summarised by Gillard: (petermartin.com.au)
• Flood bill: rich pay more (theage.com.au)
• Gillard flood levy runs into rough water (theage.com.au)
• Flood levy ‘just plain dumb’: Hockey (theage.com.au)
• Levy ‘will cost jobs’, says retail body (theage.com.au)
• Abbott repeats opposition to flood levy (news.theage.com.au)
• ‘All should pay as all are affected’ (theage.com.au)

There’s only a few days now until the Summer holidays are over for another year.

I need another 2-3 weeks at LEAST!

They just go so quickly and I always have grand plans for what we’ll achieve.

Only to find we run out of time.

Year after year after year.

I think it would be good if we had a 3 month break like the US and the UK seem to (don’t quote me on the exact length of their break, I’m not really sure but it always seems longer than ours).

This years holidays, while being a week longer than some we’ve had, seem to have gone even quicker than usual.

I think between harvest running late and me being in bed for nearly 3 weeks, it’s been doubly hard to fit in the “fun and relaxing” stuff we’d like to.

Not to mention the fact that we did 2 weeks of swimming lessons this year instead of the normal 1 week.

It’s been great though (if you don’t count me being ill).

The kids have been getting along really well.

We’ve had some quality time with pretty much all of our extended family (and with 3 siblings each for Farmboy and I, that’s a few people to catch up with - we have missed seeing my youngest brother and his wife but they’re the only ones).

The kids have had a ball with their cousins (Christmas with my side and New Year with Farmboy’s side).

And we’ve just spent 5 nights away at our nearest beach (about half an hours drive) having some quality family time.  Lots of fishing, cycling, swimming and generally “hanging out” together.  With Lleyton starting high school this year, we’re aware that we need to take advantage of these years.

It was a fitting “end” to the summer holidays.

How many weeks until the next lot?

I feel like I’ve reached something of an impasse with my decluttering efforts.

I’ve done the “easy” stuff.

Stuff that is broken, has pieces lost, is outgrown or no longer needed.

Now it’s time to tackle the “hard” stuff.

Stuff that we “might” need or use one day.

But is taking up room we really don’t have and giving the house a more cluttered feel than I would like.

Some days I wish I was one of those minimalist type people who holds on to very little.

It would make maintaining a nice home that little bit easier.

But the fact is, I’m not.

I have to fight against clutter on a regular basis.

Otherwise it ends up overwhelming me.

Obviously one of my problems is that I let too much STUFF come into our home.

I’d love to have a “no spend” year.

Problem is, the word “NO” is like a red rag to a bull and the urge to buy stuff will be more overwhelming than ever.

So, I’m just going to work on having a “slow spend” year.  Try to REALLY think about what I’m buying and whether it’s something I’m then going to struggle with getting rid of down the track.

And in the meantime, work on getting 1 or 2 things at a time out of the house in the hope that more goes out than comes in.

My goal will be to get rid of something (or something/s) every single day this year.

I guess I can only try, eh?

How do you deal with the issue of “STUFF?”

I’m sure that comes as no surprise to any of you - that life can be tough.

Some people just go through periods of life where one wave after another of sadness hits them.

Like some friends of ours.

Last year they were forced to sell some of their farming land due to years of drought and low grain prices.

Now this year they have to watch while others around them reap the best crops ever since in the area (sadly, this is happening to 2 different families we are close to right now).

Just before Christmas one of their adult sons (who we are also friends with), was in a nasty car accident where his ute collided head on with a truck on a stretch of dirt road not wide enough for 2 vehicles (annoyingly enough, after years of complaints from locals, the day AFTER the accident the council came out and widened the road - grrrr).

He should have died but was miraculously spared.  In another miracle, his young wife was supposed to be in the passenger seat (which was completely decimated in the accident) but was running late so he’d left her home and told her to bring another vehicle into town.

His recovery will be slow but at least he will recover.

The mother has been driving back and forth between home and Adelaide (he’s home now) to spend time with her dying mother.

Just when they were expecting a phone call to say her mother had passed away, they instead got a shock phone call to say her husbands father had passed away from surgery complications.  Surgery that was supposed to have a 90% success rate.

As our friend said, in this day and age you think of 90% success rate as 100%.  Nobody thinks they’re going to be in that 10%.  It’s almost a fictional 10% isn’t it?

Not that his dad was young.  He was in his 70s.  But I know what it’s like to be watching one family member slowly slip away from this world and have another up and pass away suddenly.  It’s a shock that’s hard to come to terms with.

To make matters even more complicated, the guy was 700km away from any of his family where he has been travelling to work for the past year or so to bring in money for the family to live on.

With dad away half the time and mum also working to keep things afloat, they have been a family in crisis for some time now.

And I particularly feel for their 11 year old son.  The youngest.  A kid who struggles to express himself and has what appears to me to be a very low self esteem.

A kid who is very close to his older brothers.  Who took his brothers accident very hard.  So much so he couldn’t stop vomitting when he first found out.

A kid who’s “Puppa” helped replace his dad when he was away from the family working.

A kid who has to face 2 funerals in the space of a week (the maternal grandmother has also passed away).

Sometimes life just seems more tough for some than others.

It just doesn’t seem fair.

And I feel so powerless to know what to do to help.

YES - I am actually posting!

I am SO sorry.

Unfortunately, even though we have 2 different internet providers - our internet access has been VERY intermittent.

And uploading photo’s pretty much IMPOSSIBLE.

Which makes blogging soooo difficult (and a mite boring when you can’t upload photos).

Anyway, here’s an update on us:

CHRISTMAS…

was spent with my family this year.  It’s been a long time since we’ve been together on Christmas Day.  In fact, this was the first Christmas morning my kids have been with other kids.

It was only an over and back quick visit due to being in the middle of harvest but it was a lovely day.  My ageing grandparents were able to join us too which was also lovely.

HARVEST…

is finally over.  It was a rather drawn out harvest this year with cool and wet conditions as well as higher yields than we’ve had in a while.  We were very fortunate that the rain didn’t cause too much of our crop to be downgraded (it was all very borderline so some loads were downgraded while others just scraped through).  Some not too far from us are having absolute thumper harvests.  Ours is above average without being spectacular BUT with prices up, we’ll still have a very comfortable financial year.  Of course, most of that will go to paying off our rising overdraft from the past drought years BUT it’s wonderful to finally have a year where we can feel like we’re making up lost ground instead of still going backwards.

HOLIDAYS

We’ve just come home from a 2 week “break” at the family shack.  Actually, the kids were there for 2 weeks while Farmboy and I came and went a little due to harvest and illness.  I have to admit I didn’t cope all that well with a crowd of people this year, possibly due to not being very well.  The kids had a ball though!

ME

I haven’t been all that well and right now am on my 3rd lot of antibiotics.  I’ve been doing lots of sleeping and resting and am now at the point where I’m not really well enough to do too much without exhausting myself but not sick enough to stay in bed without getting frustrated.  On the plus side, I seem to have lost a couple of kg’s which will kick start this years weight loss efforts. 

I hope everyone is going well and look forward to catching up on blogs if my internet will allow me.  Hopefully we’ll get it all sorted soon and I can get back to regularly blogging.