Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The House should welcome the changes that have been made by the Senate to the Tax Laws Amendment (2008 Measures No. 4) Bill 2008. The Assistant Treasurer has just talked about the savings measures in the bill, but what he did not mention was the compliance costs that they would have imposed on the Australian community. The government has not been able to say what those compliance costs would be. Also, and I think very importantly, would those compliance costs, which would be pushed back onto the community, outweigh the savings benefits that the Assistant Treasurer has just outlined?

During this debate, no-one in the government has seriously defended these silly measures. It is probably one of the silliest tax measures that I have seen the government introduce into this House. The Senate changes are to be welcomed. The opposition supports the amendments as they have been placed before this House by the Senate.

Question agreed to.

See this speech in context