Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The first observation I would make is that we would not take very seriously forecasts about the likely collection of taxes from the honourable shadow Treasurer. After all, his mentor, the member for Lilley, forecast that the mining tax would raise billions, and it did not raise anything at all. It was a completely revenue-free tax. The fact of the matter is that the base erosion challenge is absolutely related to the internet. The honourable member may not have picked that up, but that is the single biggest element in base erosion, and the challenge of dealing with multinational companies operating, as I said, perfectly lawfully.

In terms of the specific multinational measures, the base erosion and profit shifting measures, the Commissioner of Taxation himself has said that he expects them to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue. Time will tell, but we are very comforted by the forecast he has given.

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