Tammy Franks ten-year time out on tax

We live in a time when privileges are confused with rights and urban myths rule. Unprincipled action and sheer stupidity are undermining probity and commonsense in public life.

A recent example was the conviction of South Australian Greens MP, Tammy Franks, for failing to lodge ten tax returns from 2000-2010.

The Adelaide Magistrates Court rejected the argument by the 43-year-old member of the state's upper house, that she was incapable of lodging tax returns from 2001 to 2010 because of the breakdown of her marriage.

Whether she will keep her seat in parliament is unknown.

The Court had previously heard Franks had also failed to lodge tax returns from 1994-2000 but was not facing any additional charges.

Last year Franks had initially pleaded guilty, apologized to the Greens and her supporters for her behaviour but then, at a later date, changed her plea to not guilty. This did not endear her to the Prosecution.

Readers may remember that Franks was the recipient of a Paul Keating broadside when she was a member of a protest at Adelaide University back in the mid 1990s. Keating told her to "Get a job!" He should have also added "and pay tax."

Franks has worked as a policy officer for the South Australian Mental Health Coalition, which survives on Commonwealth and state government grants sourced from taxation.

She also worked as a researcher for the Australian Democrats in Adelaide, a political party whose staff were paid by the Australian taxpayer. In 2004 Franks ran as a Democrat Senate candidate in South Australia. At the time she released this statement:

"The Australian Democrats believe that young people are not just the future of the nation … they deserve the same freedoms and opportunities as other Australians," Franks said.

She should also have added "as long as they pay tax". Franks is a bullet the old Democrats dodged. They ran headlong in to most of them.

In Court, Franks said she believed an "urban myth" that she didn't have to lodge a tax return because, she alleged, the ATO owed her money. How did she know that if she didn't lodge a tax return?

Where do these people come from? If you live in Australia and earn money, you pay tax to the Australian Government. There are very few exceptions. Failing to lodge a tax form can be a serious offence. Failing to lodge ten consecutive tax forms seems not so much like recklessness but idiocy – or craft.

Franks said that apart from the urban myth and her belief that the ATO owed her money, she did not believe she had to file a return because she paid tax from her salary (PAYG).

As any Year 10 student knows, income is not only derived from salary. Income may include monies from bank interest, shares, inheritances, rent, divorces, property sales and more. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) likes to know this information to determine one's taxable liability.

Franks said that she had gone through a "nasty" divorce and did not have access to the necessary paperwork. She testified that she had been "… overwhelmed with anxiety."

This is the 'victim defence' and as a Green politician, she would know it backwards. Divorce can be a traumatic time but one wonders whether the divorce was so protracted that it lasted from 2001-2010? Also, most women I know can also do two things at the same time: lodge a tax form and get a divorce.

The ATO had at least one amnesty for non-tax payers in 2010. Why didn't Franks take advantage of that?

Franks greatest crime was gross stupidity. In some parts of Adelaide, and especially amongst the tree huggers of the suburbs and Adelaide Hills, the news of the Japanese defeat still hasn't sunk in, so she's not alone.

Will she resign? Probably not. She is on a sinecure of about $150,000 a year. The days of falling on one's sword are long gone. What sort of message does this send the legislators of tomorrow?

The purpose of the Legislative Council - which Franks is currently a member - was to safeguard the long term interests of the state, rather than reacting to short term ephemeral issues of the day. Now they should just call it the Council as Franks has besmirched the legislative component.

Franks is an albatross around the neck of the new Federal Greens leader, Christine Milne. The Greens are desperately trying to convince the public that they are not just a pack of inner suburban "ferals" whose policies would drive the nation to bankruptcy.

The Greens have established themselves as the Red Guards of our conscience but their values are as hollow as Frank's defence if she stays.

In what has to be one of the greatest understatements of the year, as Franks left the Adelaide Magistrates Court she told The Advertiser reporter that the conviction was "not ideal, but certainly I'll do my best to work as a representative and overcome that."

Not ideal? It's a long way from ideal. The conviction completely undermines her moral and ethical position to represent the people of South Australia - and especially young people.

Probity is an old concept. It goes back to ancient Greece. The standards we hold for our politicians are in free fall. Legislators must face the consequences of the laws they make.

Franks is simply a manifestation of the dumbing down of Australian politics. If we vote for ignorant people who are not cognizant of the most basic civic functions, we white ant our future. Franks must go.