Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I am sorry; I should not use such flattering terms. The Treasurer promised a $1.5 billion surplus and he is delivering what looks to be a $20 billion deficit. Now we know why the Treasurer refused to rule out increasing the cap on government debt, which he said would not exceed $250 billion at the end of any one year—because, in the view of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the gross debt could be $294 billion this year, perilously close to the $300 billion that the Treasurer said last time would never be reached. Here we have a Treasurer that has introduced a mining tax and, as the member for Griffith has so helpfully reminded us on numerous occasions, it was all the member for Lilley's work. The member for Griffith was the one that paid the price, but it was the member for Lilley's work introducing this mining tax package. Five versions of the mining tax, seven sets of revenue estimates and now they will not tell us how much it has actually raised.

This is a test for the crossbenchers as much as anyone else. This is about basic transparency on a particular tax. All we are asking is that the government disclose how much tax is being collected. That is all. The mining tax is a contentious tax and the issue is: how much is being raised? In their monthly statements they should disclose that in the same way they do for every other individual tax. Instead, they wrap it up with the PRRT and it means that the parliament is being snowed under by red tape and obfuscation. This bill will change that. (Time expired)

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