Smokers' cough upBY BENJAMIN ONG | THURSDAY, 1 AUG 2013 9:20AMIf this proves accurate - there'll be some slippage of course as some smokers cut back on their smoking, some quit altogether and others die - this means that we would be contributing 80.3% of the total A$6.6 billion 2016/17 budget surplus (as projected in the Budget Papers 2013-14). Related News |
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A smoker led recovery. Cheers
Unfortunately, you've forgotten to include smokers' contribution to the expense side of the ledger - estimated at some $31bn in health and social costs! A net -$25bn contribution to the budget is hardly something to crow about.