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

As the former Secretary to the Treasury said when he was secretary under then Treasurer Swan, the principal beneficiaries of a more competitive business tax rate are workers. That is because a more competitive business tax rate will help us attract more investment, will help us improve productivity and will help businesses across Australia hire more Australians, and that will help businesses pay better wages. The reality is that 15 years ago Australia had the ninth-lowest corporate tax rate among advanced economies, but we are falling behind. Today, just five of 35 OECD nations have a corporate tax rate higher than ours, and of course we know that the Trump administration in the United States is about to reduce the corporate tax rate in the United States from 35 to 15 per cent. If we want to be able to attract investment into Australia, if we want to be able to attract capital to grow the economy, we need to be competitive. (Time expired)