Yesterday John Howard said Australia is no longer a welfare state. Today John Humphreys lays out the actual truth of the matter:
Under Howard and the Liberals we have the largest Welfare State in Australia’s history. As we have pointed out previously, Howard has increased tax by 34% per person (adjusted for inflation). And this excludes the GST. So Howard’s Liberals are definitely a high taxing government. But they are also a big welfare government.
Adjusted for inflation, welfare spending has gone from $75.7 billion in 1996/97 to an estimated $96.5 billion in 2007/08. Next year it is projected to top $100 billion. That is $100,000,000,000 of taxpayers money going to welfare.
The welfare state increases inflation, diverts resources from the private sector, and undermines employment. It’s just bad for the country, in other words. The LDP 30/30 plan would fix the problems — have a look at my video to learn why.
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