MB has been contacted by Joe Hockey’s office this afternoon denying the Shadow Treasurer has any intention of touching negative gearing, the third rail of Australian taxation. The missive from the office reads:
Tony Abbott was clear last Thursday night, saying if a Coalition Government is elected it “will consult with the community to produce a comprehensive white paper on tax reform. We’ll finish the job that the Henry review started and this government squibbed. We want taxes that are lower, simpler and fairer and will take proposals for further tax reform to the following election.”
Mr Hockey nor the Coalition has identified any particular tax that will be reviewed.
Unlike the Government the Coalition is not in the business of introducing taxation by stealth.
If the White Paper makes recommendations the Australian public will be asked to give a second term Coalition a mandate before any taxation reform is undertaken. There could be no fairer or transparent system.
I have asked WA Newspapers for a retraction. The report rewritten and taken off the main web page.
Hockey’s office alleges that the initial article in the West Australian newspaper was a case of scurrilous misreporting. We will take the office at its word but note our disappointment that the Shadow Treasurer did not, or is not, examining the perverse tax with a view to reform.
On one final note, in its two and half year history of cutting edge analysis, not once has MB been approached so quickly about reversing a story. Nnnnzzzzzz.
