Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks for the heads up on that! It's nice of you to do that! The tax mix here, of course, has been completely disconnected from the government's expenditure.

We have seen that we do have a fiscal challenge ahead of us. The Minister for Social Services is here and he knows that to fund just the increase in the welfare budget that we have coming up—just the gap from where we are today to where we will be in 10 years—requires great growth in government revenue and also a reduction in our expenditures. That is the challenge the government faces. That is why we are having this conversation with the Australian people. That is why all the mixes are on the table. That is why tax reform is a key part of the government's policy agenda. We have to build that growth and opportunity, and we have to reform the tax system to do that. I think there is not an Australian, a small business owner, a big business or a medium company that will not tell you that they need tax reform to do their jobs better to enable them to grow and employ.

We know that, with some of the highest living standards in the world and the greatest competition in the world, we need to face ways to become more competitive and innovative. That is why we will not be distracted—

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