Mr LINDSAY (6:35 PM) — Madam Deputy Speaker, I can assure you and the House that I do not have my tail between my legs as I stand here this evening. When you have the biggest change in the tax system in Australia's history, it would be pretty incredible if you expected to be able to get everything right the first time round. It was just a huge change in so many areas of the taxation system. I think that the Australian public and Australian business understand that there were always going to be transitional issues. The government said there were always going to be transitional issues. The Labor Party calls it a botched introduction, but I think that what the government is doing with the presentation of the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (No. 3) 2001 before the parliament tonight is entirely sensible. It is to the government's eternal credit that we are prepared to stand up and say, `There needs to be a change.' That is what this bill is about. There needs to be a change. If you cannot get up in front of the Australian people and say, `We agree; it wasn't quite right. We should do something about it,' and then do something, it would be a pretty sad day. The government gets points and gets marked up for being able to recognise that something was not quite right and should be attended to, and that is what we are doing.

It is to John Howard's credit that the Prime Minister is able to say to the Australian people, particularly people in the GST system, that we are going to make a change that makes things better for them. I do not think it is a case of botching at all. Did you notice the content of the member for Corio's remarks to the parliament this evening? I did not hear one suggestion, one idea, about how things might be made better for Australian businesses. I just heard a tirade and a thumping of the dispatch box, but not one new idea. I also did not hear that the Labor Party would be getting rid of the new tax system. Despite all the tirade that we heard, the Australian Labor Party are keeping the new tax system. Hasn't that been their track record all the way? The Australian Labor Party, for their own cynical, political purposes, have opposed a new tax system for Australia.

But what has the new tax system delivered? Is the member for Corio unhappy that at this moment we probably have the best performing economy in the world? Is he unhappy with what the new tax system has done for our export industries in terms of our terms of trade and the returns that our farmers are now getting? You would know about that, Madam Deputy Speaker Kelly, coming from a regional seat. Is he unhappy that exports are up 20 per cent? Our exports are now cheaper because there is now no internal tax on them. Is he unhappy about that? Would he get rid of that? No, of course he would not get rid of it. We hear the emotive words `Costello's curse' but I can tell you that there are a lot of businesses out there that do not believe that the new tax system is a curse. This bill does not say anything about the government's incompetence; it says something about the government's competence. It says that we are prepared to stand up and make a change because we have identified a transitional issue that needs attention.

The Howard government is the only government that has listened very carefully to small business. It understands the importance of their role in our community and it values their contribution. I have come out of small business and I know how hard it is to make a dollar. I know how, as the years go on, it seems to be harder and harder and you work longer and longer, and that the last thing you need is more complexity. That is why this bill—and the amendments it announced—was warmly welcomed by the business community. The bill makes amendments to implement the changes to GST and PAYG reporting as announced in February and further changes that have been announced since.

Late last year the Treasurer came to Herbert, which has Australia's largest tropical city—the twin cities of Townsville and Thuringowa—and had the opportunity to listen to a group of local accountants and to hear first-hand how things were going in our community. He listened; I sat with him. The local people of Townsville were able to access the Treasurer of Australia and tell him what they saw as the transitional issues. Their views were listened to and acted upon, and that is what this bill is about. The accountants in my electorate who brought those concerns to the Treasurer certainly are very happy indeed that their views were listened to. It demonstrates how in this great country of ours local communities can make a difference on the national scene, particularly when we have a government that listens to their concerns. Many people from Townsville and Thuringowa small businesses came to me after the first two quarterly BAS returns and told me that they wanted a simpler option for the business activity statement. This bill gives them that. It cuts red tape, something which we all know small business can do without.

It is important to note that these changes do not and will not force businesses to change the way that they complete the BAS. I certainly know of a number of businesses which, although they are not required to, continue to lodge a monthly BAS. They find that it is just so simple now. They have got into the way of doing it; their computer systems are set up. They say to me, `We want to do a monthly BAS.' They also say to me that they now know far more about their business than they have ever known in the past; that, in management, they have got information that they have never had before, that it has been very good for their business and that they recognise that. But businesses have the choice and, if they want to make arrangements other than reporting monthly, they can do that if they so choose. Businesses with a turnover of $2 million or less are also able to choose to pay an amount each quarter worked by out by the tax office and then to lodge an annual GST return. Taxpayers now have the choice to make PAYG instalments based on an amount notified by the tax office. They will no longer have to make a quarterly calculation of their income unless they choose to. And the bill allows taxpayers who have variable incomes a better way to meet their obligations.

Other changes made by this bill include ensuring that businesses with substituted accounting periods will not have to account for GST on a monthly basis, and that entities will be able to make changes to their current BAS to correct a small GST mistake in a previous BAS. These are all changes for the benefit of small business, and certainly they are welcomed. The bill also changes the quarterly due dates for the BAS and instalment activity statements—and that has been welcomed too, I know, as businesses have spoken to me about the way they operate their business and the timing cycles that they need to adhere to.

The government also recognises that the Christmas-New Year period for small business is always hectic—and it is—and so the quarterly return date has been extended to 28 February. Businesses were saying to me that they could not go away in January for a holiday, because the BAS was due in. This is a sensible change. It is a transitional issue. It is not a botching, as the member for Corio was saying; it is the government responding to concerns of small business and meeting those concerns. You cannot mark down a government for listening to the community and responding in an appropriate and sensible way.

These changes have been embraced by the small business community in Townsville-Thuringowa, and I am very proud to be part of a government that has listened to small business and has acted on their concerns. I am not in here with my tail between my legs at all. I am here to say to the Australian community that the government has listened, has delivered and will continue to deliver. In doing that, I support this bill.