Senate debates

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Questions without Notice

Goods and Services Tax

2:00 pm

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

Yes, I thought 'I'll be back' was my line, but Senator Gallagher is back! And it is essentially the same question. And let me tell you something: I have a very high regard for Senator Gallagher's capacity to make a great and fine contribution to Australia in this chamber in the years and decades to come. Hopefully, it will be for a while longer in opposition, but eventually, down the track, I am sure she will make a fine contribution in a future Australian government. Let me give her one very well-intentioned lesson. If you keep asking the same question you will keep getting the same answer, and the answer is that the government does not have any proposal in front of it to make the sort of changes to the GST she is suggesting.

What we are doing as part of our commitment to growth and jobs is engaging in an open and transparent conversation with the Australian people. We are engaging in a good faith conversation with the states and territories on how our tax system can be further improved and how it can be made more growth friendly so that we can strengthen growth and create more jobs.

The premise of the question is entirely false, and what I would suggest to the Labor Party is that this was supposed to be the 'year of great ideas'—remember? And do you know that the three big, great ideas of the Labor Party are three tax increases? They have the tax on people's retirement savings, the tax on business—which will cost jobs according to Treasury—and they have the tax on cigarettes. So the great ideas on the Labor side are more new taxes, but on this side we are thinking very carefully on how we can strengthen growth and create more and better jobs. We would suggest that the Labor Party actually become part of the conversation rather than be part of the problem. (Time expired)

Honourable senators interjecting—

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