Prominent economists and public service experts will gather in Parliament House for a The Australia Institute’s Revenue Summit on Wednesday 17 October.

This initiative of The Australia Institute will see some of Australia’s leading experts discuss new ways Australia could efficiently and equitably increase public revenue to strengthen both our public finances and our future economy.

Revenue Summit Speakers include:

• Hon. Chris Bowen MP, Shadow Treasurer
• Bernie Fraser, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia
• Dr Mike Keating AC, former head of Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
• Professor Patricia Apps, Professor of Public Economics, Sydney Law School
• Professor Bob Gregory AO, Emeritus Professor at ANU, Former Reserve Bank Board Member
• Professor Carmen Lawrence, former Premier of WA, Gonski Review Panel member
• Nadine Flood, National Secretary, CPSU
• Dr. Richard Denniss, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute
• Crossbench panel featuring Senator Tim Storer (IND), Senator Peter Whish-Wilson (Greens Treasury Spokesperson), and Rebekha Sharkie MP (NXT)

“Tax cuts will not generate the extra revenue necessary to pay for them. Instead tax reform should focus on what are the expenditures that Australia demands as a society, and then consider the fairest and most efficient way to raise the revenue needed to pay for those expenditures,” said Dr. Michael Keating AC, Revenue Summit keynote speaker and Former Cabinet Secretary and Head of Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

“The Government has an over-optimistic view about future revenue, while it has also made insufficient allowance for future spending needs.”

“In Australia today, the term ‘tax reform’ is too often used to conceal demands for more tax cuts,” said Ben Oquist, Executive Director of The Australia Institute.

“Tax is the price we pay to live in a civilised society, but in contemporary Australia we rarely ask how much civilisation we would like to buy, and what are the best new ways we could fund it.

“The Revenue Summit seeks to broaden the tax reform debate beyond any single tax policy and we welcome input from policy makers, politicians, experts and the public.”