29 October 2014
Abbott determined to fix the tax system
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has declared his determination to usher in significant tax reform, dubbing the system a “dog’s breakfast” that will take five years to fix.
Speaking at the Business Council of Australia’s annual dinner on Tuesday night, Mr Abbott said “darker times” globally meant it was urgent for government to create the conditions for businesses to prosper.
“No reasonable person thinks that our tax system is the best we can do (but) serious reform takes time,” he said.
“That’s why it must start now...”
Mr Abbott said the government’s white paper on tax reform was not about extracting more revenue but creating a simpler, fairer system to help motivate businesses.
He urged the business community to support the job ahead. “The age of economic reform is not over, it had just been interrupted and is now returned,” Mr Abbott said.
“Economic reform is not just a job for government — it’s a job for all of us.”
BCA president Catherine Livingstone nominated tax reform as the next challenge.
She said the next five years were “crucial” for the economy in transitioning to new sources of growth and “generating the jobs of the future”.
“In the coming year, (the government's) reform agenda will encompass reform programs around the tax system and the operation of the Australian federation,” she told more than 400 guests in Sydney, including Westpac chief Gail Kelly and Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens.