Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

a comment used by the Leader of the Opposition before. The member for North Sydney asked a question about the taxation treatment of utilities in this country. He knows full well that, because of the nature of utilities and the accelerated depreciation on large assets within that sector, it has a particular set of taxation arrangements—anyone knows that—because of the fundamental role utilities provide in the economy for the provision of basic services. The member for North Sydney should listen carefully to what people like Peter Costello have said before, when he said in response to the PRRT that that is the sort of tax on profits we need for this country for the future. That is why he kept it in place, for the entire period that he was Treasurer of the Commonwealth, as a resource rent tax based on profits, not based on volume. Not only did he say that but the former Leader of the National Party, Tim Fischer, said that as well. In fact, those of a reformist bent of mind responsible for economic policy on the benches opposite in times past have stood behind that principle as it goes to the PRRT. John Hewson, a previous Leader of the Liberal Party, has come out in support of the RSPT concept as a new resource tax as it relates to onshore resources, as has John Brogden, the former Liberal Party leader in New South Wales.

It is very easy for the member for North Sydney to stand up and just deliver a scare campaign. That is what they seem to do. But when it comes to core economic reform, the serious contributions of the likes of Peter Costello and others in the past, and the commentary by John Hewson and others formerly associated with the Liberal Party on the proposal now before the nation, it is time that the member for North Sydney actually sat down and did a bit of work rather than just engage in populist low-rent politics.

See this speech in context