The government has called an election and is now in caretaker

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18 August 1998

Doorstop Interview

SUBJECTS: Tax reform

JOURNALIST:

… latest Newspoll …inaudible …

TREASURER:

Well I think that people realise we need a new tax system in Australia and the only way to get a new tax system is to redesign it from the ground up. And that’s what this is all about. If we don’t start redesigning the tax system now, then people are just going to pay higher and higher income tax rates, then wholesale sales tax rates are going to rise and we’ll never make Australia the great economic power, with more jobs, that we want to make it.

JOURNALIST:

Do you feel that the National Party are trying to sabotage your campaign to sell the GST?

TREASURER:

I don’t think so. I think that they’ve been quite supportive actually and made some clarifying comments overnight.

Thanks.