With the Ryan by-election only days away, and polls continuing to show growing support for the ALP, Prime Minister John Howard has made a number of speeches and statements in recent days that reveal much about his approach to politics.
With polls indicating that the ALP may secure a swing of up to 13% in Ryan, on top of the 8% it achieved in the 1998 election, it seems clear that the affluent electorate, containing a high proportion of small business operators and professionals, may react strongly against the Business Activity Statement and other compliance procedures of the new tax system.
Earlier today, the Prime Minister mischievously suggested that the ALP would increase the GST rate from the current 10%. Having once promised that he would “never ever” introduce the GST, Howard demonstrates a breathtaking approach to winning at all costs by being prepared to argue that his opponents will increase the rate. This is despite the fact that the ALP has opposed the introduction of the GST at every election since 1993. During parliamentary debate on the GST legislation in 1998 and 1999, the ALP voted against the GST in both houses of parliament.
Mr LATHAM (Werriwa) (9.46 a.m.) — I wish to reflect on the news that Australia’s richest man, Kerry Packer, lost $34 million last month on a gambling spree in Las Vegas. I am sure that most Australians will feel uneasy about this sort of extravagance. Notions of public morality and justice are under threat when it is possible for one person to accumulate such extraordinary wealth and then use it in such an extraordinary way.
Mr Speaker, I move that the Bill now be read a second time.