Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is always good to follow a contribution made by the spiritual daughter of the former Treasurer. Part of the difficulty the member for Higgins had in referring to the Prime Minister and the Treasurer by their titles was that her contribution today on the motion of the member for North Sydney on a tax forum was remarkably similar to an article recently written by the former Treasurer. In fact, we could have saved time and not had the member for Higgins make this contribution; rather, she could have just referred us to the article because, clearly, that is where her inspiration has come from to the extent that they had very similar—almost word for word—opening paragraphs.

It is interesting that she harks back to the so-called golden days of the former Treasurer. One has to look at the former Treasurer's record on taxation, because that is what we are talking about here—taxation. We had the highest-taxing government under the former Treasurer not one year, not two years, not three years but four years in a row. Four times, they were the highest-taxing government in Australia's history. The current member for Higgins was the adviser to the Treasurer, so she does know about big-taxing issues. She is an expert on big-taxing governments because that is what she did in her former life. It is little wonder that she comes here today saying 'This is what we should be doing.' She has a history of being a big-taxing person, just like the former government was a big-taxing government, the biggest-taxing government we have seen in Australia's history four times in a row.

For the member for Higgins to come along here today and parrot the words of her spiritual leader denies the facts and the record of what actually occurred. She even talked about interest rates, which are over two per cent lower than when we came to government. So the criticism of us on interest rates does not stack up to reality. Yes, rising interest rates do hurt families. Families knew that more than ever under the former government when they saw 10 interest rate increases in a row.

This government has dealt with fiscal policy in a way which is consistent with monetary policy. We are tightening both fiscal and monetary constraints as Australia comes out of the global financial crisis and moves forward to the mining boom mark 2. It is very important that we do this and it is very important that we are consistent on this.

It is hardly surprising that the member for Higgins shows no concern about the global financial crisis. There was no reference to it whatsoever in her speech and no reference to savings measures that could have been made, because when the former Treasurer was in government we had a willy-nilly blowing of the mining boom mark 1. They spent whatever they could, wherever they could, as long as they spent the money and blew the money.

The former Treasurer, the former member for Higgins, said that he dreaded going to the former Prime Minister with options as to what to do and what to spend because the former Prime Minister would say, 'We'll do all of it!' They showed absolutely no restraint when they were in government, and the way in which they funded spending was to tax the Australian taxpayer. They increased taxes. They made sure their government was the highest-taxing government in the history of this country four years in a row. So it is of little surprise that the member for Higgins comes here with that in her backpack as the way she would deal with these issues. A tax forum is a serious issue and it is one that this government is taking seriously. With the crossbenchers, we have agreed to a forum on 4 and 5 October. It is no secret that this summit is going to be very important. It is going to look at issues of personal tax, transfer payments, business tax, state tax, environmental and social tax, and tax system governance. One thing is for sure: we are going to turn up and be there. We are going to make sure we take it seriously, unlike those on the other side who put up motions in this place and then simply do not turn up and cannot be bothered to make a contribution. It is a disgrace. It is holding this place in contempt that someone could move a motion on tax, say it is an important issue and it is a shame that we have moved it back three months and yet does not even turn up to talk to their motion.

That is how seriously the member for North Sydney takes this issue of tax reform. He is only out for a cheap quick headline. He has no basis for looking at the solid record that this government has in tax reform. He has no interest in looking at tax reform at all. What appears to be his concern at the moment is his personal relationship with the Leader of the Opposition. We understand from the weekend papers that it is at such a shaky stage at this time that he thinks he has been hung out to dry. It is little wonder he will not come here. He is worried about being hung out to dry if he actually says anything on tax. He has been classically caught. He has put up a motion saying, 'We need to look at tax; it is a really important issue,' but then he is a little scared if he has to come and actually speak on the issue because of what his leader might say. Is he going to hang him out to dry on this one again? He cannot actually propose anything. It is a bit like his position on the Henry review—deafening silence. Do they support the Henry review?

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