NSW Premier Mike Baird on why Australia needs to increase the GST

NSW Premier Mike Baird says Australia’s leaders would be abandoning their responsibilities if they don’t strongly consider increasing the GST.

Mr Baird spoke with Neil Mitchell on Monday, saying ‘something’ needed to be done about Australia’s financial deficit.

He has proposed the GST rate be increased from 10 per cent to 15 per cent, with no expansion to the base.

Mr Baird said the proposal would give the federal government about $100 billion up front, while also addressing longer term concerns over the health and education systems.

He said Australia’s leaders could easily ignore the problem for the short term, but it would do Australia no favours down the track.

‘While you could say OK, over the next two or three years you could get through, the truth of the matter is we’d be abdicating our responsibility as leaders because we have to get a position that we start to fund it,’ Mr Baird explained on 3AW Mornings.

Neil Mitchell: ‘So, if we don’t do this, we get deeper into the hole. Is that what you’re saying?’

Mike Baird: ‘Yes. I genuinely believe that. It will become very apparent in the next two or three years. That’s why we need to act now.’

Click PLAY below to hear Mike Baird’s interview with Neil Mitchell.

 

‘We need to do something,’

 

10

15 per cent ? no broadening of the base.

 

While you could say OK, over the next two or three years you could get through, the truth of the matter is we’d be abdicating our responsibility as leaders because we have to get a position where

So if we don’t do this we get deeper into the whole. Is that what you’re saying?

Yes. I genuinely believe that. It will become very apparent in the next two or three years. That’s why we need to act now.