Mr BROADBENT —My question is addressed to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer advise the House of the principles that the government is following to lower the burden of taxation on all Australians? Will the Treasurer also inform the House of the government's response to alternative propositions on tax cuts?

Mr COSTELLO (Treasurer) —I thank the honourable member for his question and I acknowledge his interest in and expertise on tax matters. He would know that this government believes in a fairer taxation system for all Australians. We actually believe that parents with children should be given more incentive. We think it is better to have an indirect tax system which is fairer. We want a more internationally competitive business tax system, and we want to make sure that people who are currently avoiding their liabilities have to pay them, which I think is only fair.

On Thursday of last week I saw something which we have not seen for a long time; something that gave us all a bit of a shock. We saw from the opposition a policy announcement. It is true; we actually saw a policy announcement from the opposition, and it was in relation to taxation. It was from the so-called economic spokesman of the opposition. He was on Melbourne radio on Thursday of last week and he was asked about the Australian Council of Social Service saying that negative gearing should be abolished, and he said:

Well, that's certainly one option that could be contemplated. . .

Then the interviewer said:

Last time the Labor Government flirted with it, it was a disaster for the rental market . . .

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition said:

Obviously you've got to think about the implications for the property market, but there are ways of addressing that which are not necessarily across the board and that's one of many, many options that we are certainly considering.

So we thought, `Here is a policy from the opposition to abolish negative gearing—the old Keating policy of 1986.' We thought, `Well, that's good. We ought to encourage the opposition to get on with some policy development.' Even though abolishing negative gearing is not a very good idea, it was an announcement and we welcomed it. But that was in the morning. In the afternoon, we actually had a statement from the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. It said:

I was asked today about ACOSS's proposal to abolish negative gearing. We do look seriously at all ACOSS proposals . . . We are not, however, proposing to embrace ACOSS's proposal to end negative gearing.

So AM GMT, they are going to abolish negative gearing; PM GMT, they have given up on the policy of abolishing negative gearing. The policy was announced in the morning and abolished by the afternoon, GMT—Gareth mean time. It is a policy that lasts before lunch and gets abolished after lunch. This was the man who said on 17 August 1997 that he was in favour of states biting the bullet on inheritance taxes. On 25 August 1997, he reversed his position. This was the man who, on 13 May, said that the services part of the economy was not pulling its weight and on 21 May said that he was against the services tax. This was the man who said on 1 October that there was a case for increasing revenues and on the afternoon of 1 October was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald as backing down. This is an opposition which cannot hold a position on tax from the morning to the afternoon. The people of Australia are going to ask themselves this question: why is it that the opposition grub around on every issue except a policy? Why is it that they grub around on all these sorts of things? They grub around because they cannot announce a policy on tax, on health or on any other issue.

We have a Leader of the Opposition who wants to deliver surplus budgets, while his shadow ministers are promising $6 billion of unfunded promises—$6 billion. We have a Deputy Leader of the Opposition who wants to abolish negative gearing in the morning, and then turns against it in the afternoon.

So I was really surprised, after that experience on the Thursday, guess who came out on Meet the Press to announce a new tax policy? It was the old grub man himself, the member for Hotham. He went on Meet the Press on 22 March, last Sunday, after we had had this appearance on negative gearing which had lasted for all of about two hours. He said this: the ability to offer tax cuts is there if we can grow the economy faster. He is out offering tax cuts. So, $6 billion of unfunded promises, a surplus budget, the abolition of negative gearing, and income tax cuts from the spokesman on—what are you the spokesman on?—the manufacturing industry. An R&D syndicate for every Australian; that is what he believes.

Mr Crean —Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order. When are you going to enforce your rulings?

Mr SPEAKER —I think it would be a good idea if the Treasurer were to address his remarks through the chair.

Mr COSTELLO —Yes, Mr Speaker. I did, Mr Speaker. An R&D syndicate for every Australian, and income tax cuts as well—Mr Speaker, no wonder they grub around on this kind of stuff.