Unlike some of its successors, the Howard government was dedicated to policy reforms, not internal power struggles and childish factionalism. It was a government of grown-ups.

One of its great achievements was taxation reform. On Wednesday it will be 20 years since the GST and its attendant reforms were introduced. It was the last great reform of the Australian taxation system. But it is unfinished business. Our GST is too low and too porous, our income and company taxes are too high and state taxes are a mess. We need to fix that.