The claim made by the Leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley, that the Coalition Government is the highest spending, highest taxing government in living memory is plainly wrong.
In making any such comparison over time, account must be taken of growth in the overall economy. The truest measure, therefore, is government spending and taxation as a proportion of GDP.
While acknowledging the difficulties in creating a consistent series across years, the 2001-02 Budget Papers show that Commonwealth tax revenues and outlays, on a cash basis, have fallen as a proportion of GDP in recent years.
Commonwealth cash taxation revenues have fallen from 22.8 per cent of GDP in 1995-96 to an estimated 21.5 per cent of GDP in 2000-01. Commonwealth Government cash outlays have likewise fallen, from 25.9 per cent of GDP in 1995 96 to an estimated 23.3 per cent in 2000-01.
These figures are also well below the peaks recorded by the previous Labor Government in the 1980s.
Importantly, the 2001-02 Budget also projects lower taxation and spending as a proportion of GDP over the forward estimates period.
27 May 2001