The Turnbull Government must come clean about any advice they’ve received about dividend imputation reform after Mathias Cormann pointed to its existence.

The Finance Minister was asked on 2GB about a Treasury dossier on the issue created more than a year before Labor’s announcement:

STEVE PRICE: Treasury has prepared a paper on this in the past?

MATHIAS CORMANN: Treasury at various times looks at what is being talked about among various academics and others.

(Alan Jones Show, 2GB, 14 March 2018)

Cormann’s admission is at odds with Scott Morrison, who said the “Government has never entertained” changes to cash refunds on dividend imputation.

The Treasurer’s claim was despite the Government’s own 2015 Re:think Tax discussion paper stating “there are some revenue concerns with the refundability of imputation credits”.

Let’s save the Australian people a repeat of the two-year long scare campaign that Scott Morrison made them endure with negative gearing while he was sitting on Treasury advice backing Labor’s sensible policy.

If Treasury has done work on this policy, the Liberals should fess up.

Turnbull and his Liberals need to stop their game playing, stop their weak scare campaign, and stop treating the Australian people like fools.