Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Moncrieff for his question. I acknowledge his deep interest in this area and his assistance. The Australian government has commissioned Dick Warburton, Chairman of the Board of Taxation, and Mr Peter Hendy, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to lead a study that will benchmark the Australian taxation system against other developed economies.

The benchmarking will look at the overall level of taxes, the tax mix and the base and rates within each type of tax. It will cover personal, business, indirect property and transaction taxes. It will provide a definitive set of facts which will show those areas where Australia meets international practice and those areas where Australia lags behind international practice. Armed with those facts, we will be able to direct our attention to those areas where Australia lags and, in response to that, be able to ensure that the Australian taxation system meets international practice.

All of the areas where Australia wants to be at the forefront of economic practice can take advantage from international benchmarking. That is why it is important that we do this in the taxation area just as we have done it in so many other areas—such as the conduct of monetary policy, fiscal policy, competition policy, debt policy and balance sheet management—to add to the reforms which this government has already put in place—

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