[Swagman]

The refusal to face facts about employment and that it has fundamentally changed in Australia is a indictment on all Australian Politicians. Simply less people are required to make stuff, we don't have an employment problem, we have a distribution of the resources of Society problem. Raising the retirement age will solve nothing but have more people competing for less jobs.

Employment has changed but in the opposite direction that you predict. Baby boomers are going to start dropping out of the work force in large numbers. There is a skewed (or aged) population demographic. More baby boomers will drop out than new generations entering the work force.

That is the reason for increasing the pension age. Of course if you are young and smart you will plan to be self funded and the pension age means squat.

There is nothing inherently unsustainable about medicare or free education. Australia has enough resources to sustain both policies. You can argue about the level of taxation rehired to sustain them and what the benefits /effects of the policies are but just dismiss the as unsustainable is a fallacy. I think that a society with better health and education outcomes is a wealthier society, restricting access to health and education through finical means is a very limiting policy which reduces the overall productivity of the nation.

Medicare is unsustainable for the same reason above. The nation has an aging demographic.

The only way to sustain it (for a while) would be to index the medicare levy to the inflation rate and to the rate of decline in tax payer proportion (there are less people going to be available to actually pay income tax going forward and more 'aged' people utilising Medicare for free) ---> it's a looming financial disaster (already is IMO)

Eventually the levy will just get too high.

Tax take is down. The fundamental reason is tax evasion mainly by wealthy multinationals shifting profits to no tax or minimal tax spheres. fix tehtax system and there would be no real pressure on the Australian budget.

That is one reason. Another is declining productivity.

The main reason is that there is simply less individuals paying tax and that as a proportion of the population taxpayers are in declining numbers.

If you drive away the multinational investment you will have alot more people in the unemployment queue and even less tax payers to pay for the cost of Govt (which is compounding).

Broaden the tax base. Increase the GST and introduce much more user paid government services and provide tax INCENTIVES to business not tax retardants are the only ways to go to get any level of sustainability to this ever increasing welfare State.

[pugsville]

Major international cooperation that make money here (not make stuff) are paying no Australian tax, they cannot go off shore, they sell their stuff here, Apple, News, Starbucks, their computers, papers and coffee are sold here. They cannot simply move elsewhere if they want to sell their stuff it has to be done here.
They pay no tax due to shame paper transaction that has all profit made elsewhere it's costing the Australian government billions every year in taxes avoided.

Tax measures for superannunation outweighs the pension. If we stopped giving money to rich people we could support poor people. The decision to no longer enforce any real checking on 'work' car claims (which Abbot told us would save the Australian car industry) is another case of middle / upper class welfare we can do without.

Medicare CAN be sustained.the costs are not beyond the Australian resources, You don't like it so you say it;s unsustainable but it;s false. It'; choice.

The working population is declining is not primality about the ageing population, it;s just we need less people to do stuff.

[at946]

Someone said to me recently " If the lifestyle problems of the young continue Obesity Diabetes etc, they'll never make it to the existing old age .