Laborials Dive into Sand Yet Again
Tim Morris MP
Greens Treasury spokesperson
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
The Tasmanian Greens today said that recent comments by former Federal Treasury Secretary, Dr Ken Henry, again emphasised the urgent need for the state to tackle taxation reform.
Greens Treasury spokesperson Tim Morris MP said that the refusal by both state Labor and Liberal to tackle state-based taxation reform as a priority was highly irresponsible, warning that the problem would only increase over time.
“State Labor and Liberal have adopted an extraordinary bi-partisan position of keeping their collective heads buried in the sand to avoid state taxation reform,” Mr Morris said.
“Ken Henry is clearly warning that even the resource-rich states will start to feel the fiscal bite, and that the longer states avoid tackling the problem, the harder and worse it is going to be.” [1]
“The responsible course of action is to get on with the necessary work now.”
“Sadly we had been in the position of leading the nation with our tripartite State Taxation Review Panel, but then both Labor and Liberal parties pulled the plug. I would urge them to reconsider and get this important work back up and underway as an urgent priority.”
“That the Liberals continue to scaremonger on this issue, by falsely insinuating that tax reform is just another way of raising taxes, is just demonstrating how negative and irresponsible they have become.”
“The issue of tax reform will not go away and the debate around it should be separate from the other important question of whether there is sufficient tax revenue to provide the reasonable services the community are prepared and reasonably able to pay for.”
“The Greens stand prepared to face up to this responsibility, roll up our sleeves and get on with the job of state-taxation reform sooner than later,” Mr Morris said.
Reference: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-20/henry-warns-of-grim-fiscal-reality/4210786?WT.mc_id=newsmail
Tim Morris MP Greens Treasury spokesperson
