This is a nice little earner for the Australian Government.

When a person is given extra welfare money they spend it, they have to.

When they spend they pay a minimum of 10 per cent GST on every dollar they put into circulation and then more for special excises on fuel, liquor and a whopping 69 per cent on tobacco.

The government then forces them to give the full amount back to them after the individual has paid the taxes on purchases paid for with money that the never had, so the government gets their full dollar back plus whatever taxes they reaped.

The underprivileged seem to be a good investment portfolio

Terry Sugden, Kiama Downs

Richard Burnett (Illawarra Mercury, February 20) defends the government’s policy of cutting welfare to the bone whilst touting for $50billion cuts in company tax.

Mr Burnett argument in backing the government makes the statement: “Any governments in formulating a budget is severely restricted by the limited resources it has to distribute amongst its constituents”.

I totally agree.

The question I ask is this.

If the government is so hard-up for revenue, why consider, making the situation 50 times worse by cutting company tax revenue by $50billion over the next 10 years?

A better idea would be for the government to make a concentrated effort to close all the tax loopholes making tax avoidance a legitimate business for corporations and the wealthy.

If Mr Burnett takes a good look at the government’s track record he will find the majority of cuts in the last couple of budgets have been to welfare, education, health either by slashing or eliminating funding in its entirety or the other drastic measure of privatisation.

John Macleod, Berry

Richard Burnett talks about the " needy and the greedy".

Is he talking about the Australian youth who can't find a job?

Or the wealthy investors who buy numerous investment properties and take advantage of negative gearing and the capital gains concessions.

Who is the real parasite in this scenario?

It has been predicted that 40 per cent of Australian jobs will be lost to technology in the next two decades.

What are these individuals going to do? Live in poverty I presume. “

Malcolm Turnbull once said that negative gearing was tax evasion.

He also said that climate change was the biggest threat to the world today. What a hypocrite.

Australia is supposed to be an egalitarian society, but it seems that the class system is alive and well here.

William Bielefeldt, Kembla Grange

In answer to Mr Scully’s letter (Setting the record straight, Illawarra Mercury, February 21) ,  I am on the mainline you are on a branch line with your comments.  

You are correct with your comments during 2009-2011.

I agree with this, but my letter was about Bulli getting lifts in 2006 before Unanderra.

This is 3-4 years before the comments you make.

At 2005 peak hour at Bulli was  430 passengers and Unanderra was 350.

The reason for the lower figures at Unanderra was because of the restricted access but was only 80 lower than Bulli.                                                                 

Richard  Cannan, Warilla