The Senate has referred Labor’s franking credits changes to an Inquiry conducted by the Senate Economics Committee.
During the election, Labor gave emphatic assurances they would not touch franking credits.
The TLAB 1 bill is a dangerous and underhanded measure to stop the payment of franked dividends in Australia.
The Labor Party wants to destroy franking, by barring Australian companies which have raised capital from paying franked dividends. That will be most companies.
If this was Labor’s intention, they should have been honest with Australians during the election.
Instead, we were given emphatic reassurances from the Prime Minister and Treasurer they would not touch franking credits.
Now we know these reassurances were not made in good faith.
If legislated, these measures will result in grave consequences for the competitiveness of Australian companies.
It will deter investment in Australian companies, making it harder for them to raise capital, and more reliant on debt.
We will scrutinise the provisions of the bill in detail throughout the Committee’s Inquiry.
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