Mr HATTON - 2000-02-22
Given the Labor Party’s claim that it would roll back the GST, could the Treasurer advise what effect he would anticipate this would have on the Northern Territory? Is the Treasurer confident that the former Labor Finance Minister, Mr Beazley, would treat the Northern Territory fairly in terms of legitimate shares of the Commonwealth revenue? In the process, perhaps the Treasurer could advise us of the joys of taking a begging bowl to the previous Premiers Conference, what a fair deal we always got out of the Labor governments.
Mr Ah Kit: It’s going to affect private businesses.
ANSWER
It certainly will. To pick up the interjection from the member for Arnhem, notwithstanding the warning that he received, Mr Speaker, it will impact on private business. And that is very much an important point, because the roll back is going to affect every Australian, whether they’re a worker on PAYE or whether they are in business. I am pleased to see that at least the member for Arnhem is thinking about these matters. He doesn't understand it, there is a difference, but he is thinking about the impact that his Labor policy is going to have on the business community not only in the Northern Territory but in Australia.
With our Leader of the Opposition's support, Kim Beazley does say he would maintain funding for the states and territories. Okay, we are pleased to hear that, but we are a bit suspicious given his priors. He was finance minister when, with the then treasurer, he was a part architect of the LAW tax cuts and what performance did he give us then? Put the legislation in place but never applied it. That is the Federal Leader of the Opposition who our Leader of the Opposition strongly supports. He has priors on cutting back funding to the states and territories, but he won't tell us what this roll back is going to be. He is going to maintain funding to the states and territories, but he won't tell us how he will do it. He won't rule out increasing personal income tax. He will obviously have to get into the pockets of people who are going to benefit from reductions in income tax as of 1 July, but if he is not prepared to say he won't do it, clearly he is going to do it on past performance.
He will spend the same amount of money with reduced revenue. It is the road to ruin. What's he going to do? Is he going to take away some of the reductions in the fuel excise? Is he going to roll back the increased child care benefits? Those dual families will benefit to $140 a year. Are they going to have something taken off them? Is he going to take away some of the money, the increase, the 4% increase for pensioners? What is he going to do? And for him to have the gall to say to Australians, ‘I can’t tell you that until I know what the budget is going to be when we get into government’, - this man has the experience of being finance minister. He has the information provided by the Treasury documents that he receives next year. And that raises another point, he can’t read or understand them any better than she can. You give her all the documents and she can’t understand the budgetary process, and that is where we are being led by the Federal Opposition in relation to what his intentions are, his real intentions are.
We want to know what you support being rolled back. We want to know what money you are going to take off Australians and Territorians and how you are going to pay for it? Go and have a talk to your economic adviser. I am sure he has some information for you. He is much more knowledgable than you are. I think he feeds the information in and the default button immediately pops out and you don’t have the ability to retain it. But you need to look at it much more closely because Kim Beazley is taking us down the wrong road.
Mr Ah Kit: It’s going to affect private businesses.
ANSWER
It certainly will. To pick up the interjection from the member for Arnhem, notwithstanding the warning that he received, Mr Speaker, it will impact on private business. And that is very much an important point, because the roll back is going to affect every Australian, whether they’re a worker on PAYE or whether they are in business. I am pleased to see that at least the member for Arnhem is thinking about these matters. He doesn't understand it, there is a difference, but he is thinking about the impact that his Labor policy is going to have on the business community not only in the Northern Territory but in Australia.
With our Leader of the Opposition's support, Kim Beazley does say he would maintain funding for the states and territories. Okay, we are pleased to hear that, but we are a bit suspicious given his priors. He was finance minister when, with the then treasurer, he was a part architect of the LAW tax cuts and what performance did he give us then? Put the legislation in place but never applied it. That is the Federal Leader of the Opposition who our Leader of the Opposition strongly supports. He has priors on cutting back funding to the states and territories, but he won't tell us what this roll back is going to be. He is going to maintain funding to the states and territories, but he won't tell us how he will do it. He won't rule out increasing personal income tax. He will obviously have to get into the pockets of people who are going to benefit from reductions in income tax as of 1 July, but if he is not prepared to say he won't do it, clearly he is going to do it on past performance.
He will spend the same amount of money with reduced revenue. It is the road to ruin. What's he going to do? Is he going to take away some of the reductions in the fuel excise? Is he going to roll back the increased child care benefits? Those dual families will benefit to $140 a year. Are they going to have something taken off them? Is he going to take away some of the money, the increase, the 4% increase for pensioners? What is he going to do? And for him to have the gall to say to Australians, ‘I can’t tell you that until I know what the budget is going to be when we get into government’, - this man has the experience of being finance minister. He has the information provided by the Treasury documents that he receives next year. And that raises another point, he can’t read or understand them any better than she can. You give her all the documents and she can’t understand the budgetary process, and that is where we are being led by the Federal Opposition in relation to what his intentions are, his real intentions are.
We want to know what you support being rolled back. We want to know what money you are going to take off Australians and Territorians and how you are going to pay for it? Go and have a talk to your economic adviser. I am sure he has some information for you. He is much more knowledgable than you are. I think he feeds the information in and the default button immediately pops out and you don’t have the ability to retain it. But you need to look at it much more closely because Kim Beazley is taking us down the wrong road.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016