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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 12 Hansard (11 November) . . Page.. 3930 ..

MR BERRY (Leader of the Opposition) (3.46): First of all, I thank the Chief Minister for making this statement promptly after the meeting. I think it is quite appropriate that these statements in relation to the Council of Australian Governments meeting and other meetings which occurred should be brought to the attention of the Assembly as soon as possible. I think the statement is timely. I have a few things to say about the content, though. The first thing that I would like to draw attention to is the issue of tax reform. Clearly, John Howard, though he made the promise not to before the last election, wishes to introduce a consumption tax in Australia and is strongly moving towards it, as are some of the States.

Mrs Carnell: So does ACOSS.

MR BERRY: Mrs Carnell interjects, "So does ACOSS". What Mrs Carnell does not do in her interjection is talk about some of the conditions that go with ACOSS's position. What I would like Mrs Carnell to come out and say at this point is whether or not she supports a consumption tax.

Mr Moore: Do you? You are polling as the next Chief Minister.

MR BERRY: Of course not. Fundamentally, I am opposed to a consumption tax. It is a regressive tax.

Mrs Carnell: It is actually not a regressive tax; not technically. It is actually a progressive tax.

MR BERRY: That is why you are sitting on that side and we are sitting on this side. It is not a regressive tax!

Mrs Carnell: No. You pay more, the more you buy; therefore, it is a progressive tax.

MR BERRY: Mrs Carnell, I would like to get this on the record. You said, "You pay more, the more you buy; so, it is a progressive tax". I would like to counter that by saying that if a kilo of steak costs $10 it costs - - -

Mrs Carnell: If you buy two kilos you pay more.

MR BERRY: I dare say the rich do not eat 20 kilos of steak. They still eat only 10 kilos, and they pay much less tax as a percentage of their income. That is the clearest statement of the Chief Minister's understanding of the consumption tax that this Assembly needs to hear, and I am very glad that it is on the record now. I will be making it public to the rest of the ACT community that Mrs Carnell thinks that a consumption tax is a progressive tax.

Mrs Carnell: No; I said "technically".

MR BERRY: "Technically a progressive tax". That is like manna from heaven. Thank you very much. The very reason that I raised the issue of a consumption tax was that I was hoping to extract that sort of a statement from the Chief Minister. I am happy that I got it so early. My tactics were justified. Mr Speaker, this issue is a very serious

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