At the start of a frenetic year for independent Nick Xenophon, the South Australian senator says his new national political party, the Nick Xenophon Team, will fill a vacuum.
Scott Morrison has become a true believer in the cause of raising the GST, determined to drive a major switch in the tax mix. The big question is whether Malcolm Turnbull will end up in the same place…
Last year Joe Hockey was quite clear: he issued a discussion about the Australian tax system, and promised a green paper on options and a white paper on government policy.
Is Labor’s Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Andrew Leigh, right to warn that each household may effectively face the prospect of paying an extra $4,500 a year in GST?
Treasurer Scott Morrison has declared that differences between federal and state governments over tax reform may be “irreconcilable” because states want to use funds from a GST change to spend more.
Despite all the media coverage, don’t expect any clear decisions on national tax reform on Friday. But we should see more progress on other issues, including domestic violence and violent extremism.
It would be easy to misinterpret a recent comment by federal Treasurer Scott Morrison as meaning that states and territories generate 90% of all revenue collected in Australia. That’s not the case.