David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer ) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hindmarsh for his question. This Labor government has delivered real tax reform that has given Australian families a fair share. Apart from delivering the $47 billion worth of personal income tax cuts, we have also cut taxes for small business, cut taxes on superannuation and acted upon more than a third of the recommendations of the Henry tax review.

Of course, those opposite have no interest in these tax reform measures, because they are more interested in three-word slogans or three-letter taxes. When the Liberals introduced the GST they originally intended to apply it to everything, including fresh food. Now we see them lining up, champing at the bit, hoping to come back and finish the job.

It is interesting to go back and have a look at the Hansard at the time when the GST was being introduced. Those opposite fought tooth and nail against exemptions that were put in place on the GST. In fact, the member for North Sydney said at the time that the biggest losers from any exemptions would be:

Consumers, hardworking Australians, families, pensioners and disadvantaged Australians … who will bear the cost of a complex taxation system.

He said complexity hurts those people. We know that he has a really simple plan. He wants to put the GST on everything, including fresh food, and he wants to make people pay more tax. Indeed, there are many others on that side who endorsed his comments. But my personal favourite was the contribution of the member for Boothby. He said:

If you exempt food, the benefit goes much more to people on higher incomes than people on lower incomes.

Go figure that one out! He is out there on the side of the low-income earner; he wants to make you pay more tax. He wants to put the tax on fresh food and so do his colleagues. And all the consumers, all the low-income earners out there are meant to say: 'Thank you very much for that.' You can see them now—they are all out there dancing in a supermarket aisle near you, thanking the member for North Sydney and the Leader of the Opposition, saying: 'Thank you very much. Thank you for proposing to put the GST on fresh food; thank you for proposing to put the GST on healthcare products; and thank you for proposing to put the GST on education products like school fees.' When it comes to the GST, we all know that the coalition have always wanted to put the GST on everything. They tried it when they had a go last time and they want to come back and have another crack. They want to drive up prices on food, drive up prices on health care and drive up prices on education costs. When it comes to the GST, only Labor can be trusted to stand up for working families.

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