POPULAR WORDS

Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has called for the resignation of Federal Small Business Minister Ian Macfarlane and Treasurer Peter Costello over an alleged "Liberal Party GST avoidance scam". "The people who imposed the GST have been caught trying to cheat their way out of paying it," Beazley says. "Macfarlane and Costello have misled the Parliament about their knowledge of a Liberal Party GST avoidance scam, and if John Howard has any standards at all they should both be sacked. "It is quite clear no action would have been taken against this Liberal Party GST scam but for the action of the whistleblower, Mrs Watts. If she had not objected to the rort and sounded the alarm, the Liberal Party would still be pocketing the proceeds of their GST swindle," he says. Soon after the GST was introduced the federal electorate council in Groom gained $800 because the state division claimed GST input-tax credits it was not entitled to, however the money was refunded. Macfarlane has issued a statement completely rejecting allegations of tax fraud.