James Paterson says Labor must realise it has 'no mandate for tax increases' ahead of reform round table
From August 19 to 21 the government will convene a group of 22 representatives from business, industry, unions and politics to discuss proposals aimed at kickstarting the economy and boosting Australia's record low productivity slump.
The government has become increasingly concerned about the growing expectations attached to the three-day summit, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Mr Albanese then dampened expectations on Monday and said: 'to be very clear, it's not a meeting of the cabinet … it's a meeting in the cabinet room.'
With the Productivity Commission's five pillar platform having already received hundreds of ambitions tax submissions from a range of bodies, Mr Chalmers appeared to shift the goal posts of the roundtable on Tuesday, reorienting his priorities to reducing red tape and regulation and bolstering housing supply.
The Coalition's finance spokesperson said the Treasurer had 'got ahead of himself' and that the government was now scrambling to alleviate mounting alarm in the business sector that the summit could be used to roll out sweeping tax hikes.
'It's very clear that the Treasurer has got ahead of himself, and the Prime Minister has pulled the reigns and brought him back to where he wants him be,' Mr Paterson told Sky News.
'I thought it was very pointed the other day when the PM said that just because this is a meeting in the cabinet room, it doesn't mean its subsuming the role of the cabinet – he is clearly very unhappy with how Jim Chalmers has allowed the scope to creep here."
Although the purpose of the roundtable was aimed at lifting plummeting productivity, the ACTU used its submission to call on the government to limit negative gearing and the capital gains discount to one investment property.
Mining giant Rio Tinto urged for the reimposition of an economy wide carbon tax.
Mr Paterson said the Treasurer's sudden shift in tone showed the summit had become 'far bigger than the government intended it to be' and that ideas were being put on the table which 'the government had no mandate for.'
'It was also very illustrative yesterday in the Treasurer's walk back that he still said the government was going to use this exercise as a mandate for reform,' he said.
'You dint earn a mandate from a handpicked group of experts meeting in the cabinet room, you earn a mandate by taking policies to an election.
'This government has no mandate for any tax increases, and we will not be supporting them to increase taxes on Australians that they didn't have the decency or the honesty to put to them at the last election."
Mr Paterson said the Prime Minister was slowly realising it would be 'unwise' to construct a process to make it appear that the government had a mandate for vast reform and vowed the Coalition would oppose a 'secret Labor agenda' to amend the taxation system.
'We will be constructive in the room as part of this process but that doesn't mean we are going to sign up to a secret Labor agenda or a union agenda of raising taxes,' he said.
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