Mr KEENAN (2:03 PM) —My question is addressed to the Treasurer. Would the Treasurer inform the House of the urgent need for reform of Australia’s income tax system for hardworking Australians. Have there been new calls of support for the government’s efforts?

Mr COSTELLO (Treasurer) —I thank the honourable member for Stirling for his question. I can inform the House today, 30 May, that if the government’s legislation is not blocked in the Senate every Australian will have a tax cut in 31 days time on 1 July. New voices have added themselves to the call for an improvement in Australia’s income tax system. Mr Bracks, the Premier of Victoria, is reportedly coming to Canberra on Friday to demand that inefficiencies in the income tax system at both ends of the spectrum be attended to. Of course, that is precisely what the government announced in its budget—cutting the rates for low-income earners and increasing the threshold for the top marginal rates. We now have Premier Bracks calling for those reforms. We have had Clare Martin, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, allegedly telling senators not to oppose the cuts. We have had Kevin Foley demanding that the income tax cuts go through, Paul Lennon saying that he would advise federal Labor not to block the tax cuts and, of course, we had Geoff Gallop actually claiming that he is responsible for these tax cuts. I know of not one Premier who is supporting the Leader of the Opposition on this issue. Isn’t that extraordinary? There are eight Labor chief ministers and premiers and, out of eight, not one has yet come to the defence of the Leader of the Opposition.

All Australians can have their tax cuts if the tax schedules are not disallowed. Those tax schedules are now in this House. So, if Labor wants to disallow those tax schedules, it can call a vote in this House. The tax schedules will also be tabled in the Senate the day the Senate next sits. The Senate does not sit until 14 June. If the Australian Labor Party votes for a disallowance in the Senate some time after 14 June, 850,000 Australian employers will be thrown into confusion and all Australians who deserve a tax cut will not get it.

The critical question now is: has the Labor Party made its decision? Has it decided on what it will be doing with those tax schedules? The member for Lilley was asked at a doorstop this morning if Labor had decided to disallow the tax schedules, and the member for Lilley said: ‘No. Labor has made its position very, very clear’—which is what: you will or you won’t?

Labor is still resolutely irresolute in its decision, decidedly undecided, unwavering in its indecision and certain of its doubts. It is determined not to determine whether or not to disallow these schedules. This is a joke. This is not leadership. This is not decisiveness. This is confusion and mismanagement. We call on the Australian Labor Party to announce the position. Do not disallow, do not throw employers into confusion, and let every Australian have the tax cut they deserve in 31 days time.