Transcript No. 2000/110

SUBJECTS: Queensland Labor electoral fraud, fuel excise

JOURNALIST:

Have you got a comment on electoral rorting, Mr Costello? The situation at the moment?

Well, obviously the allegations that are now being made are very serious. You’ve

got a Deputy Premier that has recently resigned. It’s clear that in the dominant

faction of the Queensland ALP, which has very serious and senior members, there are

allegations that now have to be answered. And I think anybody who’s been a State

Secretary of the ALP in Queensland, who’s been part of the faction, should come

forward now and tell what they know. I think that is very, very important that they clear

the air, come forward and make a complete disclosure.

Is there, will you be able to make a comment on petrol? Last night at the Senate

Estimates hearing, Mr Evans said that he admitted that, that the Government’s tax

intake does increase since the GST. Does that undercut your argument?

No. Mr Evans put out a statement this morning saying that The Sydney Morning Herald headline

is false, completely false, and making sure that the facts were on the table. And the

excise doesn’t rise. In fact, excise has been cut. Diesel’s been cut for heavy

transport, business gets a credit for input tax, and the cause of rising petrol prices,

rising oil prices – you don’t have your oil price tripling without it flowing

through to petrol prices.

Why would Mr Evans have made those comments, do you know, Mr Costello?

Well the comments that he made, was that the Government’s tax reform agenda has

actually been good for the country. The question you should ask is why would The Sydney

Morning Herald make those comments? And I think that’s the question that Mr Evans

asked this morning and that’s why he put out his statement.

Thank you.