So if Keating where to say the same about his opposition to Hewsons GST you would love that also Cerhob, though not quite as much i spose.:-)
One of my favourite topics.
How could one compare it to Howard's political decision to support an ETS because the people favoured one and the rest of the world was moving towards it? Then to abandon his support when the rest of the world also did so and the people hated the interim stage - the dreaded Carbon Dioxide Tax?
How indeed.
Keating, on the other hand opposed something that he always believed in, for political expediency, and had, as we all know, argued strongly for a consumption tax in caucus. Worse - he knew it was necessary to fund government spending and that the current system was inadequate, outdated, unfairly targeted, discriminatory and a massive drain on cash flow to those collecting it - and that was it's good points.
Keating took the coward's way and won a Prime Ministerial position as a result. He took the option to tell the voters "If you can't understand it you can't vote for it". How crass. Where was the statesman educating the voters?
