Senator KEMP (Assistant Treasurer) (5:59 PM) —I know that you would not be part of a deliberate scare campaign. Quite rightly, people in the charitable sector have gone on record today saying that this is just singularly unhelpful and sometimes just politically driven and does not have the real interests of the community sector at heart. I am sure that you are not part of that, Senator.

We have to keep some perspective. We are bringing in a tax system which 156 countries around the world have variants of. This is not reinventing the wheel. Virtually every modern economy has a GST type system. The government is keen to have a world's best practice system. That is what we are seeking to do. You suggest that there is fear and huge concern out there, but you should be careful you do not overstate the case. Of course people are interested. Of course people want to find out what is required. Of course some people are concerned that they have to adopt a new system. We understand that. Of course they want to make sure that they can become compliant. We are determined to assist them. But it is wrong to suggest that hundreds of thousands of organisations will close down or that the people who go to seminars are hopelessly confused as a result. After every seminar, as far as I am aware—certainly after those put on by the tax office—we do a survey of people who have been to the seminar and ask their views.

I have heard this sort of comment before. Someone had said that some seminar went very badly. We went back and checked the fact sheets of what people said about the seminar and we found that the reverse was the case. I think the seminar program is going pretty well. Certainly I have had my staff attend some of these seminars to see how they are going. I do not know whether you have been to one. If you are concerned I would advise you to go to one and listen to what people are saying.

Let me deal with the specifics. The $500,000 is new money. To make it clear—I may have to amend slightly what I said earlier—the $10 million is part of the $25 million organisation delivered assistance. This is money that is delivered typically by, we can classify them as, peak bodies. These are bodies which know their own sectors, which know what people want.

We are going to have a new tax system. It is going to be a far better tax system. I urge you to adopt a positive approach and not join the scare campaign. There are some who are attempting to drive this for political reasons, not to help the community sector or the charitable sector.