Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer update the House on the progress of the Henry tax review and why tax reform is important to the future of the nation?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Blair for this very important question, because here is yet another example of how this government is prepared to tackle the long-term challenges that we need to tackle to reform our economy and to build prosperity in the 21st century—something that those opposite were incapable of doing when it came to the vital question of tax reform during 12 long years in office. We are all aware that at the height of the mining boom they went on a spending spree and instead of using those valuable resources to invest in fundamental long-term tax reform they simply squandered them. It will fall to this government to put in place a process of long-term tax reform so that we can maximise the opportunities that will surely come to this country as the global economy begins to recover in what is going to be the Asian century.

We need fundamental tax reform in this country. The Henry review is the vehicle. This will be the single biggest review of the tax system in something like 50 years. The review has been out there working closely with everybody who is interested. The review has received over 1,300 formal submissions and over 4,000 pieces of correspondence. It has had something like 200 meetings; it has convened conferences. I am not going to speculate about the outcomes of the Henry review. That report will be handed to the government at the end of this year and we will release it with an initial response early next year.

What I can talk about are the priorities that we have as a government for tax reform. We want to make the system simpler, fairer and more competitive. Individual Australians do not just see a tax system. What they see is a jungle. What we need to do is to make this system simpler. It is a fact that a very large proportion of Australians have to use a tax professional to prepare their tax returns—the largest proportion of any nation in the world. That is why we need to simplify the system. Australians deserve a simpler tax system. They need a simplified form of taxation as well.

Tax reform will be hard. As I said before, those opposite squibbed it. They did not engage in fundamental tax reform at the peak of the mining boom. When the investment could have been made, they did not make it. This government will take the hard decisions when it comes to tax reform to secure the foundations of this economy and make them stronger for the future. Those opposite cannot face up to this reform, to fast national broadband, to educational reform or to any of the other long-term reforms that we have put in place. That is yet another demonstration of why they are incapable of governing.