I was surprised there wasn’t more in the media this week when Treasury's annual Tax Expenditures Statement, required as part of the charter of budget honesty, was released. Peter Martin writing for the Sydney Morning Herald reports that the 25 tax breaks that were identified, each cost more than $1 billion and together cost $150 billion. The private health insurance rebate costs the gover... read more>

I recently drove out to the NSW country town of Parkes for the annual Elvis Festival with my elderly mum and teenage daughter. In the course of the 2 days we were away, I think we visited every McDonalds restaurant between home and Parkes. Each visit cost between $20-$30 and by the end of the weekend I think the total cost was around $150. When I was growing up, like a lot of Sydney-siders, ... read more>

Australia is a nation with unique attributes to celebrate:  critters as cute as koalas, tucker as fair dinkum as vegemite and even a ridgy-didge health system. Excuse the seasonal ‘Strine but if I needed hospital treatment almost anywhere in the world I’d take my chances here. One of the advantages is the choice of public or private hospitals and while that’s not unique the way we pay for... read more>

Many people, not just older demographics, like to go into a store and personally speak to someone about their account. This could be for a number of reasons; sometimes it can be difficult to understand the person on the other end of the phone if they are in an offshore call centre; some older people are not tech savvy; or maybe you just want something explained to you in person. With many telco... read more>

I have two teenage sons. They have very different personalities. One is happy to wear department store clothing, the other likes designer brands. One is a clean freak, the other is messy. One eats well while the other eats rubbish most of the time. One has bought himself a car, a bomb that cost $1900. The other son bought his first car this week at a cost of $4500, complete with spoiler, mags a... read more>