Mr GEORGIOU —My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister inform the House how the overall competitiveness of Australia's taxation system compares with the rest of the world?

Mr HOWARD (Prime Minister) —Yesterday the President of the Business Council, Mr Stan Wallis, delivered a very important speech on the future of the Australian taxation system. In the course of that speech, he presented a very coherent and indeed an overwhelmingly effective case in support of taxation reform. Mr Wallis not only explained many of the domestic advantages of reforming the Australian taxation system but, not surprisingly, as the President of the Business Council of Australia, addressed his mind and turned his attention to the competitiveness of the Australian economy.

He drew attention to the global competitiveness report which is published annually by the respected World Economic Forum. This latest report found that Australia ranked 17th out of 53 countries in terms of overall competitiveness. But, interestingly enough, what that survey disclosed—and what Mr Wallis's speech also analysed and disclosed—was that Australia's outdated taxation system is a major reason why our competitiveness position is not higher.

The report found that the overall competitiveness of Australia's tax system ranked 41 out of 53 countries. That is the system that the Leader of the Opposition wants to maintain. That is the system that the Leader of the Opposition says does not need any change. That is the system that the Leader of the Opposition is now bound to hand and foot. In other words, the Leader of the Opposition will say to the Australian public, `Although we are approaching the next millennium, although we are going into the 21st century, we do not need a 21st century taxation system.' The Leader of the Opposition is quite prepared to say to the Australian public, `To hell with the competitiveness of the Australian economy.'

By contrast, all of the actions that my government has taken since being elected have been designed to provide greater security, stability and safety through greater competitiveness for the Australian economy. The speech delivered by Stan Wallis yesterday demonstrated that, unlike the Australian Labor Party and unlike sections of the trade union movement, the business community of Australia is looking to the national interest.

There are two prerequisites for taxation reform in Australia. One of them is that the reform should be in the national interest of Australia, and the second is that the structure of the reforms should be fair to all sections of the Australian community. The Australian community is indebted to Mr Wallis for such a penetrating and cogent analysis of the weakness of the present Australian taxation system. What he has done is to look to the national interest. What he has done is to say that we need a tax system that makes Australia more competitive.

We need a taxation system that will take Australia with pride and strength, and in a forward looking way, into the 21st century. It is very obvious, as every day goes by in this tax debate, that the only side of politics that is interested in the national interest, the only side of politics which is looking to the future, the only side of politics that really wants a competitive Australia is made up of the members of the Liberal and National parties.