Labor calls on Tim Wilson to quit as chair of inquiry into franking credits crackdown

Tim Wilson has hit back against a Labor push to discredit his inquiry into Bill Shorten’s $55.7 billion franking credit crackdown.

Liberal MP Tim Wilson. Picture: Hollie Adams

Tim Wilson has rejected calls to stand down as chair of the House economics committee, hitting back against a Labor push to discredit his inquiry into Bill Shorten’s $55.7 billion franking credit crackdown.

Mr Wilson said he would “continue to fight so almost one million retirees can have their concerns heard”.

“Bill Shorten wants to silence Australian retirees whom they are robbing blind. Their voices and their stories deserve to be heard,” he said.

“Labor has said they don’t care about them — Chris Bowen said “don’t vote for us” — but these retirees have paid tax all their lives and saved for their retirement and they deserve to be heard. Labor are embarrassed that more and more Australians are finding out about the brutal impact of Labor’s taxes.”

The comments come after Labor accused Mr Wilson of colluding with prominent investment manager Geoff Wilson to undermine Mr Shorten’s contentious dividend imputation policy.

Opposition treasury spokesman Chris Bowen said the Victorian Liberal MP had a conflict of interest which was not transparently disclosed and warned the standing of parliament’s system of committee inquiries had been damaged.

Labor also called on the government to explain whether data collected from individuals who attended hearings of the House economics committee would be used for Liberal party campaigning purposes.

“Tim Wilson has no choice but to resign and if he won’t resign the prime minister should sack him. This is a clear and fundamental breach of convention; of understanding and frankly of standing orders,” Mr Bowen said.

The Opposition also demanded Treasurer Josh Frydenberg reveal what he knew about the establishment of the parliamentary inquiry into Labor’s $55.7 billion franking credits crackdown.

“Josh Frydenberg has to disclose what he knew about the collusion between the two Wilsons; what he knew about the establishment of this committee being co-ordinated with Geoff Wilson,” Mr Bowen said.

“We know that they have met — that the Treasurer and Geoff Wilson have met. They put photos out boasting about it. And did they discuss this collusion at those meetings?”

Tim Wilson is an investor in funds run by Wilson Asset Management which is founded and chaired by Geoff Wilson — one of the most vocal opponents of the Labor policy to end the cash refunds of excess franking credits.

The economics committee chaired by Tim Wilson has been holding hearings across Australia into the consequences of Labor’s $55.7 billion plan to end the refunds — sometimes packing out RSLs and function rooms with concerned self-funded retirees.

Tim Wilson had disclosed his shareholding in funds managed by Wilson Asset Management in his register of interests, but did not declare it in public hearings of the House economics committee. He has now agreed to make the disclosure before public hearings of the committee commence.

Mr Bowen went on the attack after revelations this morning that Geoff Wilson boasted of contacting Tim Wilson to ask for the inquiry to hold one of its hearings at the same time as his six-monthly investor roadshows.

The audio of a September phone call — released by Wilson Asset Management — reveals that Geoff Wilson had claimed speaking with Tim Wilson before the inquiry commenced and had also told the committee chair that “it would be nice if one of the hearings could be on a day we are doing a roadshow”.

“Then we could do a little protest. We could have our placards and we could walk down there”.

A “franking credit roadshow” was subsequently scheduled in Sydney for November 20 — the same time that Wilson Asset Management was holding a “franking credit roadshow”.

Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite, the deputy chair of the economics committee, said the audio recording revealed that Geoff Wilson was the driving force behind the parliamentary inquiry.

He also argued that the hearings were used by the government to “sign-up people to the Liberal and National Parties” and that membership applications were handed out to people who attended.

“We also know that Tim Wilson established a partisan political website and attempted to corral people into making submissions through that website under the belief that they would be making a submission to the house economics committee,” he said.

“And people were required to tick a box to say that they would sign a petition — the Liberal Party petition — against Labor’s policies. All of these actions are highly unethical. They taint this inquiry and the outcomes of this inquiry and they are a massive abuse of parliamentary procedures”.

Mr Thistlethwaite said Mr Wilson needed to resign and asked him to clarify whether the data collected through the parliamentary hearings would be used by the Liberal Party for political purposes.

Wilson Asset Management’s “franking credit roadshow” coincided with a hearing of the parliamentary inquiry in Sydney on November 20.

“I met with a range of stakeholder groups in the lead up to the first round of hearings to promote attendance, and actively encouraged participation, including from Geoff Wilson,” Mr Wilson said in a statement.