Whoodie

Well Kenya can march that too. We have part of the country where roads are used to dry grains. The roads are there because so and so is the presidents buddy but not because there are cars to drive around there. While the real tax payers have to ride/ drive in road close to a scene in World War two.

Sorry mate, I thought the white guy was my reflection. I was looking for someone close to your avatar.

HaagenDas

So my avturd looks like a black guy to you??? Okay, so you got drunk and went to the wrong airport or something. Your story is starting to come apart Whoodie.

Rowan

Yep, if you believe OUR treasurer, Australia is about to usurp the United States' position as moneybroker of the world.

As if...

Anyone knows that the European Union pulls ALL the economic strings...

Mind you, I like the idea that one of ours can now buy three-quarters of an American dollar instead of half!

Rowan

The one part that pulls apart your suggestion about tax is GST.

According to our erstwhile Federal Government, ALL the revenue from GST goes to the States. Not all that much is generated by cars. Some of it is spent on roads. There are other little handouts from the Feds for blackspot funding and the so-called "roads to recovery" program (because infrastructure is so sick that it needs this medication).

As I remember it, cyclists pay GST on bikes and parts and accessories and clothing and some foods and a whole heap of other living stuff. Just like motorists.

Plus, if I am employed, I pay income tax... and on superannuation, when I draw down on it.

And I also have a driver's licence (that surprises those pricks in cars who think I am a DUI victim).

And while I don't own a motor vehicle, there is a good chance I travel in one or drive one (a bus, coach or borrowed car/truck) that someone pays registraton fees and fuel tax and other crap to the government for that privilige. It's just I choose to either ride a bike, or let someone else pay for it.

In Australia, the excise on fuel goes into Federal Government consolidated revenue -- that wonderfully euphamistical term for big black hole.

It is likely that, with the exceptions above and a healthy dose of pre-election pork-barrelling, it never gets to see roads. Rather it goes to Medicare (for obese and other self-inflicted medical challenges) and an assortment of warm-and-fuzzy stuff that doesn't solve the social problems we face.

Take a look at the Feds' cycling strategy -- it shifts all the responsibility (ultimately blame) to State and local government levels to deliver. It provides nothing in terms of resourcing.

Oh dear, another rant. What is it about you, Das, that brings that out in me!!!

Doctor Morbius

I expect to see a mass exodous of cyclists to your shores in the near future. I just don't know how they're going to get there. Bikes don't really ride over water too well, unless you have those balloon tire bikes.

DCCommuter

The "motorists pay through the nose" comment is ridiculous. Let's put this in perspective. Where I live, the combined fuel taxes are 38.3 cents -- 20 cents local, 18.3 cents federal. There is also a 5.75% general sales tax. I own a bike and a car, and I travel about 4,000 miles a year on each of them. To do so, I use about 200 gallons of gas, and spend about $800 on parts and accessories for the bike. So I pay my local government about $40 in taxes to use the car, and about $46 for the bike, for the same number of miles.

However, the impact of using the bike -- both on wear to the road and on other motorists -- is negligible compared to the car.

Who's paying through the nose?

HaagenDas

DC, I still believe we pay through the nose, when you consider that we pay road taxes and only a small portion of it ends up in roads.

Rowan, I believe we see things similarly. I found it absolute Sci-fi that all those unwed mothers all got a healthy chunk of the surplus.

Roody

This could be the declaration of independence for cyclists. Very well put!

Allister

Please come; we can use the numbers. If you can't get a visa, just jump on the next raft and claim refugee status. You should be out of mandatory detention and free to ride within three to ten years.

HaagenDas

Maybe they need a velodrome in Baxter, might shut the ingrates up for a while

Allister

Maybe, but I think it'd be difficult to get their lungs to operate at full capacity with their lips stitched shut.

HaagenDas

cancel the drome, maybe a few exercise bikes will suffice.