FED: Senate should not block tax reform, says Costello

AAP General News (Australia)
04-08-1999
FED: Senate should not block tax reform, says Costello

MELBOURNE, April 8 AAP - Federal Treasurer Peter Costello today repeated his plea for the
Senate to pass the government's tax package.

The government had won last year's October election on a GST platform and, after it had
received a mandate, it was unfair of parts of the Senate to attempt to defeat the tax
legislation, he told a business breakfast in Melbourne.

"There is a party in the Australian Senate called the Australian Democrats who say they are
elected to keep the bastards honest and our reply to them is: 'Yes, please!'" he said.

"But we're now in this extraordinary position where far from being kept to our promises,
some of these parties are demanding that we break them."

Mr Costello likened the tax reform process to a train going into the tunnel of the Senate.

"It's a fact of life that under our constitution you can't reform tax without legislation,
and you can't legislate without the two houses of parliament voting in favour," he said.

"The first carriage is indirect tax reform, followed by personal income tax cuts ...
followed by a complete revamp of family assistance."

"If the train stops in the tunnel, none of the carriages go through and tax reform is
defeated."

He said tax reform had to be treated as an integrated whole and you could not take out food
at the cost of $5 billion and ruin the rest of the package.

AAP hmg/ra/pa

KEYWORD: TAX COSTELLO

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