Malcolm Turnbull’s company tax plan left in tatters
CROSS-BENCHERS say the Turnbull Government has gone quiet on their company tax cuts and claim those leading the negotiations have a sense of “resignation” that they won’t get the support to pass the $35 billion package.
NSW
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CROSS-BENCHERS say the Turnbull Government has gone quiet on their company tax cuts and claim those leading the negotiations have a sense of “resignation” that they won’t get the support to pass the $35 billion package.
That follows Pauline Hanson withdrawing her support for the government’s centrepiece economic reforms — her third position in three months.
The One Nation leader torpedoed government hopes by demanding a long list of concessions including lower immigration, a new coal power plant and a major new gas pipeline.
Despite the setback, and after admitting for the first time yesterday that the tax cut plan “may never get there”, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told The Daily Telegraph he was still hopeful of changing Senator Hanson’s mind and the government would take the policy to the next election.
“We will leave no stone unturned to secure the passage of our plan to ensure our business tax rate is globally competitive,” Senator Cormann said. “If we continue to put Australian business at a competitive disadvantage by imposing higher taxes on them than imposed on businesses in other parts of the world we put Australian workers at a disadvantage.”
But Centre Alliance spokesman Stirling Griff, whose support is needed along with One Nation’s to pass the changes, told The Telegraph negotiations with the coalition had “certainly gone quiet, with us and pretty much every crossbencher in recent days”.
“That would indicate some degree of resignation in relation to the fate of the bill,” he said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the company tax cuts — first announced more than two years ago — “vitally important” to securing jobs and investment after similar economies around the world including the US announced they would lower corporate tax rates.
The government is fighting for the second part of the plan, which would extend earlier reductions for small businesses, from 30 per cent to 25 per cent, to companies of all sizes.
The full proposed cut is worth $65 billion, with $30 billion already legislated after a deal last May lowered the rate for businesses with an annual turnover of up to $50 million.
Despite a deal to back the full changes in March, Senator Hanson yesterday pulled her support over concerns the cuts would create problems bringing the budget back to surplus by 2020.
“When I spoke to the government about company tax cuts, at the time, we didn’t see the budget that the government put out,” Senator Hanson said yesterday. “I just feel that they are not addressing the black hole in the budget, and I have got concerns that we are not going to be paying down debt.”
Senator Cormann said higher business taxes meant there would be “higher taxes on jobs in Australia compared to jobs in other parts of the world”.