Assistant Minister Patrick Gorman has rejected a proposal to increase Australia’s GST from 10% to 15%, warning the change would add to the cost of groceries and fuel during an ongoing cost-of-living squeeze.
The Grattan Institute has suggested widening the tax to cover all food, with the additional revenue used to cut income tax for lower and middle-income earners and increase welfare payments.
But Mr Gorman said he would not support the proposal, arguing that it would impose further costs on working Australians.
“It is definitely a terrible idea in the middle of the cost-of-living pressures that people are experiencing, and, just one example, this would increase the price of fuel by an additional 24 cents a litre – what a terrible idea,” he said.
