Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Australia has a serious tax leakage problem regarding profits and labour sent offshore that are taxed at a much lower rate than profits and labour retained this country. Australian domiciled businesses struggle to compete with foreign multinationals because of this, resulting in significant erosion of the tax base and our capital reserves. Last night's budget has revealed serious structural issues that need to be addressed urgently, with deficits forecast to occur out to 2035-36. Now that the President of the USA has introduced import tariffs, will the Australian government finally do something about our own self-imposed reverse tax tariffs to stop offshore profit-shifting and help improve the budget position?