Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Sure. I know that the Labor Party is quite keen to hear me talk about the government's national economic plan. Maybe we should go into committee on this bill. That might help proceedings. I might be assisted if somebody from the table is able to give me some indication of time. But—

Opposition senators interjecting—

Indeed. The government's national economic plan is focused on making sure that our economy is as internationally competitive as it possibly can be. That means that we have to have an internationally competitive tax arrangement. We have to ensure, as part of that arrangement, that everyone pays their fair share of tax according to our laws. But it also means that, across all areas of government policy, we are focused on making every post a winner—that we are in the best possible position to take advantage of the opportunities coming our way, in particular from being part of the Asia-Pacific, which is where most of the global economic growth will be generated for years if not decades to come. But we also need to ensure that we are as resilient as possible in the face of inevitable future global economic headwinds coming our way.

It is very good news, of course, that the global economic outlook is improving. Indeed, in recent years, I have had the privilege of attending International Monetary Fund meetings. On every occasion, the International Monetary Fund had just downgraded their global economic growth outlook, until April this year. In April this year, based on a more positive outlook for the United States, based on a more positive outlook for Europe, based on a generally more positive outlook for emerging markets, the International Monetary Fund upgraded their global economic growth outlook and upgraded their growth outlook for Australia, which is good news indeed. Given that Australia is an open trading economy, what happens to the rest of the global economy very much matters to us. The stronger the growth in the global economy as a whole, the better the opportunities for Australians, who benefit from the upsides that come with that.

Part of the reason why we pursue such an ambitious free trade agenda is that we want both benefits for our exporting businesses and benefits for Australian consumers. We want exporting businesses in Australia to be able to sell their outstanding products and services into key markets all around the world, the more the better. Australia is an important market, but it is a comparatively small market. Obviously the global economy is a very, very significant market for Australian exporting businesses to access, and we want Australian businesses to have the best possible, most competitive possible access to these key markets around the world. That is why we continue to pursue free trade agreements with countries around the world. In our first few years in office, we were able to finalise free trade agreements with China, South Korea and Japan. We have also been able to further enhance our partnership with Singapore, and Minister Ciobo is pursuing free trade agreements with Indonesia, India and the European Union.

Being an open free-trading economy is also particularly beneficial for consumers, because consumers in Australia are able to access high quality products from around the world at competitive prices. Both of those elements—the benefits for businesses exporting out of Australia and the benefits for consumers in Australia—have contributed substantially to our economic performance as a nation over the last 26 years in particular, and to the lifting of living standards in Australia over that period. It is indeed a great achievement for Australia that we have now been able to record 26 years of continuous growth. The improving global economic growth outlook will stand us in good stead. On top of that our official cash rate continues to be comparatively low by Australian historical standards. Our exchange rate is comparatively low compared to where it has been, which helps with our international competitiveness. On top of that, the Australian government is pursuing a pro-growth agenda across four facets of government policy, whether it is reforming our tax system, whether it is in pursuing pro-growth trade policies, whether it is pursuing productivity-enhancing investments into our nationally significant infrastructure or whether it is indeed the policy work that we are currently doing in the energy space.

All of this is underpinned by making sure that governments can raise the necessary revenue to fund the important and essential services that governments provide sustainability into the future. It is for that reason that, from time to time, we need to ensure that we pursue the necessary integrity measures wherever malfeasance is detected, wherever there is evidence of systemic malfeasance and the policy response is warranted. Our government and governments before us have taken the necessary steps to protect the revenue base of the Commonwealth, and that is what this bill before us is all about. This is what this bill is designed to achieve.

In summary, as I believe I have indicated, this bill does amend the GST law to give effect to changes that were announced earlier this year by the relevant minister, the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, the Hon. Kelly O'Dwyer. The bill does indeed provide that entities buying gold, silver and platinum that have been supplied as a taxable supply for the GST purposes will be required to apply a reverse charge, and they will have to remit the GST to the ATO instead of the seller. The bill also further clarifies that precious metals are not second-hand goods. These changes deal with the types of avoidance activities that have been detected. I think that might have some—