Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services) Share this | Hansard source

In rising to support the Tax Laws Amendment (Personal Income Tax Reduction) Bill 2008, I realise that this debate is occurring on two levels. On the one hand the government is proposing tax reform and honouring its electoral promises and on the other, listening to the contributions from the opposition, I realise that we are getting a day-to-day display in what could only be described as wool-gathering. There is a forgetfulness about the past which even the shadow Treasurer, the member for Wentworth, cannot deny. The opposition, it would seem—having said that the coalition is the party of tax reform—has indeed chosen to overlook the 300-pound gorilla in the room, the number whose name cannot be spoken, the fact which unfortunately cannot be ignored. This is the simple statistic. In 1995-96, which was the last time a Labor government sat on the treasury bench, the proportion of Commonwealth government tax receipts as a proportion of GDP—in other words, the slice of the action that the government takes from the economy in order to carry out its functions—was 22.3 per cent. Yet in the last year of the Howard government, the proportion which the greedy, tax-grabbing opposition was taking from the taxpayers of Australia had risen to 24.7 per cent. There had been an increase.

Whilst the coalition members opposite may be proud of taking more money from the economy, I suggest that their forgetfulness when they look back in some form of nirvana-like, lotus-eating contemplation about the pleasure of the glory years of the past is much mistaken. In fact, we look at how greedy and rapacious the coalition were when they were in government by taking tax as opposed to returning tax. Using the pea and thimble trick they would say, ‘We’re giving you money back.’ In fact, 2005 and 2006 were the glory years of the coalition tax bandit team. They were taking 25.1 per cent of the economy. By taking 25.1 per cent of the economy the coalition were reaching into the pockets of hardworking Australians and saying, ‘One for me.’ There had been an increase, not a decrease. Indeed, the estimate for this year—not including some of the one-off bargains that the government will always try and offer the electorate—is still 24.6 per cent.

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