Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

As my very good friend and valued colleague Senator Colbeck very eloquently pointed out in his answer to questions by Senator Wong, there is no proposal to increase the rate or broaden the base of the GST. There is no proposal. What the government is doing is: we are focused, as we have been for some time, on policies to strengthen growth and create more jobs. Of course, as part of our dedicated and committed focus on stronger growth and more jobs, we are focusing on how the tax system can be further improved. We want to ensure that we have a growth-friendly tax system. That is why we got rid of the mining tax and the carbon tax. That is why we reduced company taxes for small business. That is why we decided not to proceed with Labor's bank tax. And that is why we are now having a look at how the tax mix in Australia can be improved so that we can facilitate stronger growth and the creation of more and better jobs. I know that the Labor Party is obsessed with trying to get ahead of the process. We understand that Labor had a terrible track record when it came to tax reform. They asked Ken Henry to chair a committee behind closed doors, called the Henry tax review. They received the report—