Chris Bowen: Objects in the Mirror May Be Tougher Than They Appear

Cash refunds for shareholders don’t exist anywhere else in the world. Their cost has increased tenfold. They are the cane toad of Australian tax policy.

Hindsight makes hard reforms look easy.

In the 1970s, Liberals opposed the Racial Discrimination Act.

In the 1980s, they opposed asset-testing the pension. In the 1990s, they opposed native title.

For decades, they fought to scrap Medicare.

In his Budget Reply speech, Bill Shorten announced Labor’s plan to dramatically reduce the out-of-pocket costs for cancer patients.

It’s the most significant reform to Medicare since Bob Hawke created it.

Cancer makes you sick, but it shouldn’t make you poor.

You can’t have a cancer plan without a way to pay for it.

That’s why Labor has laid out our comprehensive tax reform agenda.

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Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen. Picture Kym Smith

We want multinationals that are hiding their profits in the Cayman Islands to pay their fair share.

We’ll stop the use of family trusts to sidestep taxes through income-splitting.

And unless you’re a pensioner, you will no longer be able to get a cheque from the tax office merely for owning shares.

Cash refunds for shareholders don’t exist anywhere else in the world.

Introduced by the Howard Government, their cost has increased tenfold, to almost what the Australian government spends on public schools.

They are the cane toad of Australian tax policy. If the payments didn’t exist today, no party would be promising to introduce them.

Under Labor’s plan, people getting a pension or allowance won’t be affected, meaning less wealthy retirees are exempt. No-one will lose a dollar from their retirement savings.

No-one will pay a dollar more tax.

The reform will help fund Medicare, so cancer patients get the care they deserve.

Chris Bowen is the Shadow Treasurer. Andrew Leigh is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer.