Treasurer Scott Morrison
said any change to the GST would only be considered if
put forward by the states and territories.
"Such a proposal would
also have to reduce taxes, such as personal income tax,
and increase income support payments to ensure
vulnerable Australians were not adversely impacted, as
occurred when the GST was introduced," Mr Morrison said.
Mr Andrews said one option
being discussed around a GST change was to put half the
new money raised into compensation for low income
earners.
Under the plan, he said,
the other half of the additional revenue would be spent
on personal income and company tax cuts, with the
remaining money to be spent on the health system.
"To potentially have an
outcome where just the crumbs, or just the scraps of
that process, gets allocated to the thing that brought
it about, a crisis in the sustainability of our hospital
funding, that I don't think is reform," Mr Andrews said.
"Our doctors and nurses
need more money to treat more patients."
Tax reform, he said, was
not simply about changing the rate of a tax.
This week's Fairfax/Ipsos
poll found that if adequate compensation was paid to the
poor and other taxes trimmed more than half of all
Australians would back a GST increase.
Mr Andrews attacked the
Turnbull government for lacking clarity on the budget
and tax reform.
He also called on the
Commonwealth to recognise that the major productivity
levers in Australia were actually controlled by state
governments, not Canberra.
"Until we get a federal
government that is not so much interested in intruding
and imposing, but instead partnering with states to
realise the productivity potential… then I think we will
always fall short."
He called for better
partnerships with the federal government on
infrastructure and education.
Opposition Leader Bill
Shorten said under the Liberals' plan for a 15 per cent
GST, every single Australian would have to pay more.
"That's why Labor will not
support Mr Turnbull's plan to raise the GST because it
will push up the price of everything and hurt the very
families who can least afford it," Mr Shorten said.
Source:
The Age, dated 20/11/2015. |