Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Families and Payments) Share this | Hansard source

I know they are sensitive on the other side. They have been tumbled. The Australian people are not stupid. They know what your plan is.

We had Mr Hockey come see Mr Abbott with the Treasury officials to talk about the GST going from 10 to 15 per cent. The Sydney Morning Herald article says:

By the time the change was fully phased in over two to four years, this would generate about $40 billion in extra revenue to pay for the other parts of the plan.

It goes on to say:

But the extra GST alone was not enough to pay for the tax cuts. To make up the shortfall, the government would have to make big cuts to spending.