GILLON: Minister, thank you for your time.
WONG: Good to be here.
GILLON: What has, if anything, the Tax Forum achieved so far?
WONG: I think its been a really constructive discussion. And as a Finance Minister who keeps wanting people to think about the long term, Ive been really heartened by the way in which people have talked about the need to think about the long term. Theyve talked about where were going to be mid-century, where the budget will be, where the economy will be. People might have different views, and there are some very different views in the room, but it was informed by more of the long-term perspective than much of our political debate has been, and thats a good thing.
GILLON: Were you surprised by anything that you heard at the Forum? Did you learn anything new? Ken Henry said that he thought it was all pretty predictable.
WONG: Actually, I thought that that was a very useful intervention. I think what it did, was, it said to everybody OK, youve got it off your chest because it was quite early in the day now, lets get down to tin tacks. So, I actually thought it was a very useful intervention. And sometimes people have to put their views their very different views before they can then start to hear what other people say. And I think that did happen.
GILLON: Will the Government be responding to the submissions put forward over today and yesterday by Christmas, as Rob Oakeshott has called for?
WONG: There have been a number of interesting ideas raised. This debate, this discussion, will obviously inform what the Government is thinking about tax reform. I dont think we should think that tax reform only started yesterday and will end today. Tax reform is something weve been engaged in for a long time. But certainly there are things which have been raised, which I think are very useful, and can inform our future priorities.
GILLON: But will you be responding to the submissions in writing?
WONG: I think the Deputy Prime Minister will sum up today, and certainly some of the things, as Ive said, will inform our future thinking on tax reform. An example I think is the discussion on payroll tax. I think the harmonisation discussion yesterday, in the state taxes section, was very useful, a very important contribution. And as the Deputy Prime Minister has said, and as other forum members have said, thinking about how we can use the tax system better to support the businesses that arent doing so well in the patchwork economy. And the treatment of losses is one of those.
GILLON: Still though, Im sure that the delegates here would like to see a written feedback response from the Government.
WONG: Actually, we had a function after the discussion yesterday, and that was less what people wanted than an ongoing commitment to reform
GILLON: So there wont be a written response? Is that what youre saying here?
WONG: What Im saying is that when I had discussions with people last night, after the Forum and the formal proceedings had finished, people were more interested in making sure that we had this ongoing process. That we have a vision of where we want to be over 10 years. Thats whats the Business Council have spoken about. And I think thats a good way to see it, because tax reform is not like right, were doing it today and thats it. Its an ongoing process of reform, and we always have to prioritise.
GILLON: Why not look at the GST? Business groups are saying that an increase in the GST is almost inevitable, the country needs it. State treasurers are saying it could be a good trade-off if other taxes like stamp duty, for example are dumped. Is it just that the GST is too politically dangerous? Is that why you wont look at it? Or do you think that theres actually no need to raise the GST?
WONG: Well I think this is a values issue. Were a Labor Government, and we dont think sending the bill to Australian households for tax reform is sensible tax reform, or Labor tax reform. We dont agree with it. We do think you do have to find funding for tax reform. Im the Finance Minister, of course I am going to say that, which is why we have the MRRT funding a tax cut across the economy and funding more superannuation for working people. I mean its kind of odd isnt it? Were in the middle of a tax forum discussion, were in the middle of a whole range of tax reform issues. Tony Abbott says he wants higher taxes for manufacturers and small business, lower taxes for miners, lower taxes for the mining sector. Thats Mr Abbotts view.
GILLON: Well were not going to hear Mr Abbotts view at the tax forum because he says he wasnt invited.
WONG: Well as I understand it, the Treasurer has said this, what we said was if youre happy to leave your wrecking ball at home, you can participate. But I dont think Tony Abbott is capable of that.
GILLON: Was that just a vague invitation from the Government?
WONG: I wasnt involved.
GILLON: (Inaudible) Official invitation? He was saying he wasnt invited which strikes me as odd considering this is the Opposition of this Parliament, and if you believe the polls, soon to be government.
WONG: Well, I wasnt involved in talking to Mr Abbott about this. But I would say this, I dont think Mr Abbott has ever demonstrated since he became Leader of the Opposition any capacity for sensible dialogue with anybody.
GILLON: Looking at a couple of the other submissions, Rob Oakeshott wants an Office of Tax Simplification to be established. Is that a good idea?
WONG: I think trying to simplify taxes is an ongoing task, not an easy task. I think someone said yesterday, find me an advanced economy in the world that has a really simple tax system. I suspect this is a world wide cry, can we please have a simpler tax system. It is an interesting idea, I think - a number of interesting ideas have been raised.
GILLON: But do you think that an office to oversee that process would be a good thing?
WONG: I think the difficult thing here Ash, is I cant respond to every specific suggestion. There were many, many suggestions made yesterday some by Rob, some by the Business Council, some by ACOSS. Very different suggestions and I think they certainly inform the way we are looking at future priorities.
GILLON: One idea that got a lot of headlines yesterday was Bob Browns call yesterday for the Government to look at introducing a fat tax, like weve seen happening in Denmark. Is that something the Government might look at, increasing taxes on fatty foods?
WONG: Not keen. (laughs) I thought Greg Smiths contribution in the debate was really useful. He made the point, youve got to be really clear when youre introducing a tax as part of a social reform, about what role the tax plays and what the rest of the social policy that youre putting in place is.
GILLON: But you did it on alcopops to tackle binge drinking. Obesity and putting a sort of tax on
WONG: I think the evidence is that the alcopops tax did have an effect. Because it is particularly young people who are more price sensitive and there has been a demonstrable decline in drinking of those mixers, the alcopop mixers.
GILLON: So wouldnt logic suggest
WONG: But I suspect, Im not an expert in this area I suspect obesity is not just a price issue. I suspect there are a whole range of lifestyle factors, social factors that need to be dealt with, and the Government is doing a lot of work in that area.
ENDS