With the utmost respect to Kevin the greatest moral challenge of our time is not climate change but the propensity of politicians to raise taxes after they have promised faithfully not to.

They are absolutely shameless. George ‘read my lips’ Bush, Obama and Kevin have all transgressed and now Tony Abbott’s succumbed to temptation with some post-natal financial depression for business.

Politicians are noticeably reticent about tax increases during election campaigns. A promise to raise taxes would have roughly the same impact on the electorate as a promise to sell off their grandmothers into sexual slavery. Admittedly it might not resonate quite so badly with grandfathers.

Deep within the soul of every serving politician is the urge to do something really worthwhile for the community if only to get re-elected. But that requires a tax increase. If only politicians could come to grips with the incontrovertible truth that to do nothing apart from decreasing taxes is an absolute guarantee of staying in parliament long enough for pension paradise.

We already have income tax, surtax, goods and services tax, payroll tax, excise tax, pretax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, property tax and if you forget syntax you can end up with a long sentence.

Governments have even considered a tax on mistresses and lovers as a way of getting a bit on the side.

Which brings us to the Henry Tax Review. Why are Kevin and Wayne so reluctant to release it? It obviously contains conclusions and recommendations which favour taxpayers rather than the government.

For example there is the strong possibility it recognises that Australians are hopelessly over-taxed. Is it too much to hope that this will lead to a joyous federal election in which Kevin and Tony will try to outbid each other in promising tax cuts? Of course it is.

If the Review is to have any credibility whatsoever it must recommend that the Taxation Department becomes taxpayer friendly and appreciates the benefits which can flow from treating taxpayers humanely and gratefully.

It is surely not too much to expect an annual note of thanks from the Commissioner of Taxation for contributing so generously to his coffers. Special commendations and even discounts would not go amiss to taxpayers showing annual increases in contributions of twenty percent or more. Huge tax contributions over an extended period resulting from extraordinary toil or breathtaking brilliance from taxpayers should be recognised by a gong and an entry in the national accounts.

Back in the real world the Taxation Department assails us with horrendously complex documentation, nasty rude letters, innuendoes, demands and threats all of which offer no encouragement for taxpayers to become kindly and charitable towards them. As a result paying taxes promotes feelings similar to paying off blackmailers without police waiting at the drop-off point.

It is crucial that the Review recommends the withdrawal from state governments of any mandate to collect taxes. Politicians who are so indisciplined in spending taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be trusted to collect them. They could soon become as invasive as banks.

Above all the Review should recognise that Australian business would become much more profitable and tax-productive if they didn’t have to spend a considerable amount of time and money trying to decipher what on earth the Taxation Department is rabbiting on about and whether to relocate to Singapore or the Cayman Islands.

Governments can certainly tax you to death. Hopefully the Review recommends a tax-free after-life even for atheists.