Mr IAN MACFARLANE (10:50 AM) —The amendment that has been proposed by the member for Wills is a half-hearted attempt, as are most of the ALP's attempts, to come to grips with the complexities of the current system. This is also a half-hearted attempt to deflect from the issue, which is that we are continuing not only to deliver election promises to people in rural and regional Australia—and of course to all Australians, particularly in the area of tax—but also ensuring that people in rural and regional Australia are not disadvantaged as we introduce one of the greatest, if not the greatest, tax reforms in Australia's history.

A number of initiatives have been put forward by the Howard government to ensure that there is fairness and equity in regional Australia. I must admit I found it rather interesting to note the member for Grayndler's comments about the devastating effect that we are supposed to have had on regional Australia. I am not sure how much time the member for Grayndler spends in regional Australia, but let me assure him that I have spent a great deal of time there, in fact most of my life. If he wants to see devastation, he needs to go to Doctor Who and go back in time a little to when the Labor Party was in power for those 13 dreadful years when interest rates soared and the bush was completely left behind. It was even acknowledged by previous Prime Minister Paul Keating that the bush was being left behind. I was there when he said it in regional Australia—at Dingo in Queensland. I find it sheer hypocrisy to hear the ALP accusing the current government—which has done so much already and which has promised so much more for regional Australia—of devastating regional Australia, pretending that the ALP has done anything at all. Quite the opposite is the case. As I travel through regional Australia what I hear, despite the enormous difficulties that rural and regional Australia continues to face, is the air of optimism that is flowing from stable, good government—from low interest rates, low inflation and massive tax reform that will remove taxes from primary production in a way they never have been before.

Referring back to the amendment, to where it uses the words `costly, complex and uncertain new layer of compliance', I suggest that the member for Wills, if he ever has the time, have a look at the complexity and compliance costs of the existing sales tax legislation as it applies to rural and regional Australia—the complexity of policing, the uncertainty of knowing whether or not you are within the law and the absurdity of amendments that were carried by the previous Labor government where, for example, if you bought a spanner to fix a bolt on a tractor it was not sales tax exempt but if you bought one for a harvester it was. There must have been logic in that—even Swaziland would have been confused by that—and I can sure as hell tell you that primary producers were confused. It is an incredibly complex system that is open to rorting and that did not deliver anything but revenue to the government when they promised tax cuts under l-a-w and did not deliver but jammed up further the wholesale sales tax rate so that primary producers and regional Australians paid even more.

The member for Wills then went on to misquote—as is not uncommon from that side of the House when they have nothing constructive to say—misconstrue and confuse even more by talking about the Treasurer's intent with this legislation. The Treasurer's intent and the government's intent in making sure that fuel prices in regional Australia fall as a result of tax reform never wavered. It is a sheer mistruth to suggest that he said there were limits within what he could do.

Mr Fitzgibbon —That's what he said!

Mr IAN MACFARLANE —The quote was nothing like that; produce the quote and I will believe you. I guarantee the member for Hunter cannot produce the quote. I have read the quote and the issue relates to the Constitution and it is about the limits of what any government can do to ensure fairness and equity under the Constitution. We have managed to achieve what we set out to do unhindered by the Constitution, and we have done it ethically and fairly. When the member for Wills had finished misconstruing that and other statements by the Treasurer, he then proceeded with the old art form of attacking professional public servants going about their day-to-day duties, calling them a failure. I think that is a disgrace. Public servants do their jobs as best they can and to see their professionalism attacked in this House in such a way is damaging both to their credibility and to the credibility of those who attack them.

The reality in regional Australia is that they eagerly await the coming tax reform. This bill, which is about ensuring that fuel prices do not rise under the GST, is but a small part of the many tranches of legislation that will assist the bush and regional Australia with one of their most costly commodities—that is, fuel. It is not about compensation, as the member for Wills referred to it; it is merely about rebating in advance to those people an unintentional collection of extra excise in the form of a GST. It was never ever our intention to increase the level of excise on fuel. You know that, Mr Deputy Speaker, and we know that. I think the mechanism that we have put in place will ensure that. It is simply a mechanism that will ensure that those people who buy their fuel outside metropolitan areas are not asked to pay any more for their fuel than need be.

Of course, the member for Wills failed to go into any detail about the massive fuel savings that will go on not just in rural and regional Australia. Of course, had the Labor Party supported us, the savings would have gone on right across metropolitan Australia as well but, as usual, they opposed us. But there will, of course, be massive rebates for heavy transport right across Australia and for all transport over four tonnes GVM in regional Australia, to the tune of 24c a litre. There will also be a further 10 per cent rebate under the GST tax credits for all businesses that use fuel. Those sorts of savings in fuel are the sorts of things that business in Australia is crying out for. They do not want to hear the rhetoric, mistruths and failed mathematics thrown up by the member for Wills. I sat here and did the calculation in my head. I think he may have used a calculator to do it but he should not have wasted his time. If you work through the rebate system properly, the grants system and the mechanism, the price of fuel will at worst stay the same and at best, as it does in my electorate of Groom, come down marginally. The reality is that this grants scheme, along with the tax credits under the business tax and GST, will deliver cheaper fuel for people in regional Australia.

The fact that the member for Wills is concerned that we have not as yet published the detail, again underlines his basic lack of understanding of the situation in terms of what some people in the fuel industry will do to attempt to rort the system. He talked with great eloquence about how systems can be rorted, yet he fails to understand or even wish to acknowledge that one of the main reasons we are not publicising the exact boundaries yet is that people will try to take advantage of them. Let me assure you that there is nothing to be concerned about. This mechanism will work. The reason I know it will work, despite the concerns of the member for Wills and his prophecies of doom, is that I have seen a scheme like this already working in Queensland. It has worked there because that state had the foresight under previous coalition governments not to introduce the state fuel tax that we have seen in other states. I have to give the ALP their due—when their turn in power came they too failed to introduce that tax, and I applaud them for it. The reality, though, is that Queensland is the exception.

When the Constitution required that the tax be levied by the Commonwealth and not by those states wishing to impose the tax, a mechanism needed to be developed and operated which allowed Queensland motorists and fuel users to receive the tax back in their pockets. Let me inform the member for Wills that that mechanism has been in place now for some three years and has worked exceedingly well. There is no complexity for the service station operator and there is certainly no complexity for the motorist, who probably does not even know it exists—all they know is that they pay what they should for fuel. The suggestions by the member for Wills that the detail is scant and that this bill has been developed on the run are far from the truth. The reality is that a great deal of thought has gone into this bill to ensure that the detail had been worked through in terms of delivery, the effect on the consumer and making sure that the scheme is not open to rorting. When it is necessary—which is, I agree, not far away—that detail will be announced, and the scheme, along with the rest of the tax reform package, will come into place.

I think it only fair to say that it is not only regional Australia which eagerly awaits the introduction of this fuel scheme and others; it is in fact all small business. As I said earlier, under the new tax system fuel will be cheaper to business. Whether you run a corner shop or a multibillion dollar operation, fuel will be cheaper for you. At a bare minimum you will receive back under your tax credits the 10 per cent GST that will be imposed on fuel. I have a number of major transport companies in my electorate as well as the largest passenger operation in Australia, McCafferty's buses. They will reap substantial benefits from the introduction of the various rebate and taxation arrangements surrounding fuel. McCafferty's buses' now deceased principal told me before he died that the benefit to McCafferty's Coaches will be $3 million—$3 million less in fuel tax. That is a wonderful incentive not only for that company but also for those consumers and passengers who travel on those coaches. Neil Mansell, who runs a substantial trucking operation out of Toowoomba, and Simons transport are both unanimous in their support for not only the fuel tax changes but also the GST and the new tax system. They, of course, are going to be major beneficiaries. Their trucks and their tyres will be cheaper. They will probably save something like $60,000, maybe $70,000, in the purchase and set-up of a new rig. Then, of course, there will be 24c a litre off their diesel. What more could you ask for? But, of course, we know there is more: like the steak knives, the whole tax package as it comes into being will deliver to small and large business in Australia the sorts of incentives that they have been crying out for.

This fuel sales grants legislation is part of the tax reform package, and it is there to ensure that consumers in regional Australia, who already pay a differential in price for their fuel because of their location, are not asked to pay any more. The differential rates, of course, do not occur for any other reasons other than a lack of competition in their local fuel markets and their geographic location. This grants scheme will deliver to regional Australia the certainty that they will be able to purchase fuel at the same price or even less than they are paying now. It is important that we understand that this scheme not only should work but also will be policed. It will be policed by the ACCC, who will ensure that service station operators and fuel retailers pass on the benefits of the grants scheme to the local motoring community. Compliance costs, contrary to what the member for Wills says, will be minimal and the grants will be paid in advance to fuel retailers to avoid any cash flow difficulties.

It is worth while putting this whole tax and grants scheme into the context of what it will actually do in relation to fuel issues in regional Australia. There will be a saving in rural and regional transport costs and fuel costs of $1.9 billion annually. When you put that into the context of what we announced last night for regional Australia, I have bad news for the member for Wills and the member for Grayndler. I know that, when I go back to my electorate on Friday, my regional electorate will be pleased to see me and pleased to see that our government is still delivering for regional Australia. There was $½ billion or more in last night's budget to ensure that health services in regional Australia are equitable and easily accessible to people who live there. There was an increase in the discount for business and farm assets to allow easier access to youth allowance—something regional Australia has been waiting for, something that I lobbied for when I was President of the Queensland Graingrowers Association and something that I am sure no-one in this House would dispute is going to be a great thing for us.

Of course there are other things. The Jobs Pathway Program that operates so successfully in Toowoomba will benefit from the $10.3 million that will be made available to it over the coming year, an increase over the previous year's allocation. There is $2 billion in the budget for apprenticeship schemes. In Toowoomba apprenticeships are something that are keenly sought after, and when you see that allocation offering some opportunity and some direction for young people it is little wonder that last night regional Australia welcomed our budget. It was also very pleasing to see that the government also found the opportunity to assist in subsidising the cost of digital television. Along with all those measures, plus all the many other measures that we have introduced in the budget and in our policies for regional Australia, this Fuel Sales Grants Scheme is just another brick in the wall that provides stability and certainty that those in regional Australia now have a government that is ensuring that business, farming and social opportunity have equity and certainty and are able to operate with a great deal of confidence.