2014/15 budget better than forecast:Hockey

Mr Hockey on Tuesday was asked by Labor whether he agreed with comments new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made on Monday about the government not being successful in providing economic leadership.

Hockey replied that “whatever’s planned for the third budget is a hell of a lot better than Labor’s last budget” and that the former government “was a fiscal disaster and an economic disaster for Australia“.

Cabinet reshuffles nearly always occur when a new leader is appointed – the question is how far Turnbull will go to freshen up his front bench.

After hearings featuring some of the world’s biggest multinationals, the Government realised that companies were shifting revenues offshore to tax havens that charged little to no corporate tax in a bid to lower their burden in Australia.

“This undermines the public faith in the tax system and that leaves families and small businesses to unfairly carry the taxation burden”.

The outcome means the budget deficit for 2014-15 will be $38 billion, representing a $10.5 billion narrowing from the year before, when it came in at $48.5 billion.

“I expect more divestment orders will be announced in the future, and once again warn foreign investors in residential real estate that they must comply with Australian law”, Mr Hockey said.

Treasurer Joe Hockey announced a ramp-up in Foreign Investment Review Board investigations as he revealed the forced sale of more properties purchased illegally by overseas investors.

This time, the properties netted by the crackdown are scattered across the country and include homes in the cities of Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane as well as the Gold Coast.

“The majority of those are community referrals, community dob-ins”.

Mr Hockey indicated his willingness to continue in the role, admitting he could always do more to better sell his policies. Watkins said that despite the fact that nothing can be said on how much tax revenue can be raised as a result of these measures, it would certainly induce the multinational companies to rework their tax structures.

“The time-honoured tradition is for the FBO to be released publicly and the Treasurer and Finance Minister to hold a press conference to explain and answer questions on the outcomes”, Mr Bowen said.

Mr Husic likened Mr Hockey to actor Bruce Willis in the movie The Sixth Sense.

“He’s talking in the parliament, he’s getting impassioned, he wants people to listen to him and no one’s paying attention”, he told reporters. “I can assure you that”, Turnbull said.

“It is absolutely appropriate… and I’m sure they will be very good decisions”, Josh Frydenberg told Sky News.

“The treasurer should be acknowledged for his personal leadership of this issue”, he said.