Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

In relation to the GST, the government has had a consistent position that we will not be extending the base nor increasing the rate. I note that the opposition has had a number of positions on this, including the shadow Treasurer geeing on the premiers to argue for it but I understand he may have been pulled into line more recently, given his public comments.

That is the position of the government. We understand that you have to have a sensible approach to policy in terms of the tax system. That is why we have undertaken reforms, such as the changes to the tax-free threshold, which are beneficial to second income earners particularly and will increase participation. That is why we have put in place policies such as loss carryback, which is designed to particularly help small business. These are the sorts of tax reforms the government is committed to.