FED: Govt woos Colston vote with more money for Qld = 2

AAP General News (Australia)
04-20-1999
FED: Govt woos Colston vote with more money for Qld = 2

Mr Costello also accused the Australian Democrats' of inflaming the debate with false
claims that millions of people would lose under the tax plan.

Democrats Leader Meg Lees said yesterday 4.9 million people would lose out under the new
system.

"They're making it up," Mr Costello said.

"They obviously decided that scaring one million people wasn't enough, they upped it
overnight to five million and they're trying to justify a political position.

Asked if the Democrats were lying, he said: "You call it what you like, but they're making
false claims to justify a political position.

"I'm saying that they are exaggerating, that they are politically inflaming and that they
are making false claims to try and justify a wrong political position."

The Democrats said yesterday up to $6 billion in extra compensation was needed to make the
package fair.

Another option would be to exempt all food from the 10 per cent GST, also costing up to $6
billion.

Mr Costello said the other option of increasing compensation by $3.6 billion and exempting
basic food from the GST would eat into the federal government's projected budget surplus and
hit the economy.

"To do that would be to put the budget in deficit, would be to risk Australia's prospects,
it could put pressure on interest rates," he said.

"And the economic consequences of that for Australia could be very bad."

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KEYWORD: TAX COLSTON 2 CANBERRA

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