8 December 2013

Statement on tax legislation

The Coalition will move this week to stop $900 cheques from being sent out to people four years after the Global Financial Crisis.

I promised before the election that the Coalition would stop this example of Labor’s waste.

As it stands, four years after the GFC, these cheques could be directed to people who are overseas, who visited as backpackers four years ago, or to someone who is deceased. When in office, Labor gave 16,000 of these cheques to dead people.

This week, I intend to introduce legislation to stop further cheques being issued.

This emergency economic stimulus is no longer warranted, so it makes no sense to continue to pay bonuses or for the Australian Tax Office to keep administering them, particularly if they are given to backpackers who have returned home.

This is a living, breathing example of Labor’s waste and another sign of the mess they left.

Our Commission of Audit is running a fine-tooth comb over every line item in the budget to cauterise the bleeding caused by Labor’s recklessness.

Of the 15,750 “stale cheques”, the ATO expects 500 of those recipients might present for re-issue and only 200 of those are expected to be re-issued by the time the bills have royal assent.