Mr SOMLYAY —My question is addressed to the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs. Is the current wholesale sales tax a tax on knowledge, and will the government's tax reform package rid Australia of this tax on knowledge? Minister, can you advise the House of the benefits of the government's tax reform package for education and families wanting to educate their children? Is the minister aware of any comments on this reform, and what is the government's response to these comments?

Dr KEMP (Education, Training and Youth Affairs; Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) —I thank the member for Fairfax for his question. Today is, as we all know, a historic day because today we are on the eve of getting rid of Labor's wholesale sales tax—a tax on knowledge. The member for Fairfax has put his finger on what is one of the great weaknesses of the taxation system supported by the Labor Party, because the wholesale sales tax, unlike the goods and services tax, is a cascading tax. It flows through, adding cost to item after item. When the Treasury calculated the impact of the wholesale sales tax on the cost of delivering education, it found that it added, over a four-year period, almost $1 billion to the cost of providing education in this country.

Labor's wholesale sales tax is a massive tax on knowledge which this government is now going to get rid of. That means education is going to be cheaper to provide. It means that state governments, private school providers, non-government school providers and parish schools will be able to provide education more cheaply to their communities than they can at the present time. There will be a saving of something like $1 billion—$960 million over four years.

But the families of this country who believe in education and young people who believe in education should take further comfort from the historic reform which the Prime Minister has brought through this parliament and which will see success today. This tax will provide a growth tax to the states that will ensure that there is a continuing growth in revenue needed to support the government school system in this country. This tax package will provide a massive income tax reduction to Australian families—the biggest income tax reduction in Australian history. The average family in this country will be some $40 to $50 per week better off as a result of this package. This means that education will be more affordable than ever before.

This is a wonderful tax package for education, and this has been recognised by responsible people outside the government parties in this parliament. As Senator Lyn Allison of the Australian Democrats has said, `Education is a winner from the fairer GST.' It is only the babblers on the other side of the House, the lap-dogs of the Australian Education Union, who are prepared to put up the argument that somehow or other this tax package is not fair for education. Constant negativism and opposition, nothing positive, is what is destroying the reputation of the opposition amongst families and amongst young people. I do not think anyone summed it up better than 19-year-old Katie Hall, who was quoted in yesterday's Australian when she said about the opposition leader:

What's he done recently except bag the government?

That is what young Australians think. Young Australians want an Australia that is moving ahead, young Australians want something positive, young Australians want leadership—and that is why this generation of young Australians is backing the government, backing its tax reform and backing better education in this country.