Oppn again demands immediate release of tax review
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CANBERRA, March 15 AAP
March 15 2010, 1:28PM
The federal opposition has again demanded the government immediately release the much awaited Henry Tax Review to allow for a well-informed public debate on tax reform.
Treasurer Wayne Swan said on Sunday the review conducted by Treasury Secretary Ken Henry would be made public by the time the budget is delivered on May 11.
Opposition assistant treasury spokeswoman Sussan Ley said the review was widely expected to have been released in March after it was handed over to the government by Dr Henry just before Christmas.
"Now we're told May," Ms Ley said in a statement.
"Business, in particular, needs certainty to make investments. Without the Henry Review on the table all they can do is delay and that puts jobs on hold."
She said the government's reluctance to release the report is purely to delay public scrutiny and will mean less time for Australian taxpayers and businesses to consider the reports recommendations.
"After sitting on the report's recommendations since December last year, Australians will expect the government to do more than just simplifying tax returns," she said.
"Welcome as this measure might be, it is hardly the once in a generation opportunity for reform that Labor has been spruiking for the last eighteen months."
