Yesterday the Opposition Leader again failed to say how a future Labor government would fund rollback of the GST.
He merely said that "the Federal government will bear the burden of any rollback". What does that mean?
It is self evident that rollback must be paid for. Now that a chorus of State Labor Premiers have sworn never to support an increase in the GST rate the ball is back in Mr Beazley's court.
Remember, the Opposition Leader has promised to compensate the States for the cost of any rollback of the GST. If the logic of this is followed, then the cost of rolling back the GST will need to be funded either from cuts in government spending or increases in income tax.
It is Mr Beazley who keeps promising rollback as a response to individual criticisms of the new tax system, no matter how misplaced those criticisms are.
Having committed Labor to rollback, he must now come clean and tell the Australian public how he intends to pay for rolling back the GST.
15 March 2001