Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

Can I also commend the speech that Senator McGrath gave to all Australians—a very good speech. I might say, with respect to Senator McGrath: perfect as it was, it did canvass an issue that is not government policy, and we do not intend to increase the GST. This is a government that wants to try to keep the tax burden on our fellow Australians as low as possible. I understand that Senator McGrath's approach is to increase one tax and to replace other taxes, and therefore the overall tax burden would not be increased. But, having said that, I can inform the Senate and Senator Cameron that we do not intend to change the GST formula. However, can I just observe that it is an absolute delight that Senator Cameron listened to a speech without interjecting. That is why he actually got it and was able to ask his question today. Can I commend him to follow that line in the future. (Time expired)