Senator CONROY (3:13 PM) —The GST is unfair and inequitable, and the Liberals want to pretend that it is not. That is what this debate is about.

The Liberals claim the GST will increase jobs. It does not. There is not any country anywhere in the world where you can show that the introduction of a GST has led to more jobs. The Liberals want you to believe that the GST is going to end the black economy. Again, there is not one single country in the world that you can point to where this has been the outcome. In fact, Canada, which is the most recent country to have introduced this, has actually had a massive increase in its black economy. The Liberals want you to believe that the GST will fix national savings. Again, there is not one country in the world that you can go to where it can be demonstrated that there has been an increase in national savings because of the introduction of a GST. They are the three big claims.

It is particularly cruel of this government to walk around pretending that a GST is going to create jobs. The workers got sacked by Stan Wallis of Amcor last week in Burnie, Senator Watson—and you should be particularly concerned about this being a Tasmanian.

Senator Watson —You know I am.

Senator CONROY —Stan Wallis wants everybody to pay a GST: 10 per cent on food, 10 per cent on bread and 10 per cent on milk. He sacked those workers and he wants to run an advertising campaign in this country saying that the GST will get your job back, that the GST will create jobs for you. There is not one worker in Burnie who just lost their job who believes him.

Business is about shifting the tax burden from themselves to the families and households. Stan Wallis, President of the Business Council of Australia, said on 27 May 1998:

The GST holds out the prospect of significant reductions in the indirect tax burden currently borne by business.

Where do you think that tax burden is going to go if it is not going to be borne by business? It is going to households. Ordinary Australians are going to be paying for their bread and their milk, they are going to be paying on education, and they are going to be paying on clothes and shoes.

Senator Watson —You're in for a big surprise. What about the tax cuts?

Senator CONROY —They are putting a hand in one pocket and they ae going to try to distract everybody with big, glossy advertising campaigns. They are going to dangle these tax cuts around, and they are going to be giving with one hand and taking back with the other. They are going to have their hand in your pocket every time you go down to the shop or to the footy or to the cinema or to McDonald's. They are all going up, and you have been putting them up.

The real test here, as I said at the beginning, is whether this is going to be fair and equitable. There is one test in this country that we can easily apply to determine whether this package is going to be fair and equitable: is Senator Warwick Parer going to pay one cent extra in tax after this package is up?

Senator Jacinta Collins —The Parer test!

Senator CONROY —The Parer test is what we will be calling it, after the man who avoids all his income tax by setting up a family trust. He does not pay income tax; he avoids income tax by distributing his income, passing it around in his family trust. Are you going to tax family trusts? Are the 18 of you over on that side who avoid your income tax obligations by putting your income into trusts going to be worse off? Are you going to be paying more tax once this package sees the light of day? There will not be much time for people to examine it, but that will be the key test. Is Warwick Parer going to pay more tax after the tax reforms that you claim are fair are implemented? I am willing to bet he is not.

The Prime Minister (Mr Howard) told this country that `never ever' would he introduce a GST, then he tried to tell you that he is never ever going to put the rate up. I have a bridge in Sydney I want to sell to anyone who believes that. That is what John Hewson blew the whistle on. John Hewson stood up and said, `You have to put a GST up around 15 per cent because, if you do not, it will always go up.' That is what everybody knows. You can stand there and try to pretend that `never ever' is only three years. You can pretend that all you want, but ordinary Australians are not going to be fooled. No glossy advertising campaign about hidden taxes is going to wash when they know the rate is going to go up, because you cannot promise or guarantee that it will not. If you put it in your budget, if you make it a revenue bill, this opposition has always said we will pass the budget bills. That is how you will do it. (Time expired)