SSJoe renigs on corporate tax avoidance

There was lots of huffing and puffing a few months back from SSJoe, declaring to all that corporate tax avoiders were "thieves" and that he was going to do something about it. This is the advice he got from Treasury last year:

The practice of global corporations loading up subsidiaries with debt and then claiming relief from the Australian tax man on the interest paid gives an "unfair competitive advantage" over local rivals, Treasury said in 2013.

"When some taxpayers avoid or minimise their tax in a sustained way, the tax burden eventually falls more heavily on other taxpayers," a Treasury issues paper found at the time. more

Labor had already introduced measures to address this, but unfortunately they were still waiting to be legislated when the Lieberals came to power. The Lieberals chose not to legislate Labor's measures. Apparently the poor dear multi-nationals couldn't afford to pay their fair share:

In November last year, Mr Hockey and the then Assistant Treasurer, Arthur Sinodinos, announced they would not legislate Labor's package, saying it would impose "unreasonable compliance costs on Australian companies" with subsidiaries offshore. more

So anyway SSJoe was blowing his trumpet saying that he was going to reintroduce measures to combat this. Even though he'd not legislated Labor's measures that were all ready to go. I guess they were SSJoe's version of tax avoidance measures:

Instead, Mr Hockey – who has trumpeted a global tax crackdown on multinationals through the G20 process – and Mr Sinodinos pledged in November to "introduce a targeted anti‑avoidance provision after detailed consultation with stakeholders". more

But now in the mid year economic bla, he's completely gone back on his tax avoidance rhetoric. With no explanation except this: 

But in Monday's Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, a single line on page 117 revealed: "The government will not proceed with a targeted anti-avoidance provision to address certain conduit arrangements involving foreign multinational enterprises, first announced in the 2013-14 MYEFO." more

True to form, in spectacular lying fashion, somehow this isn't another broken promise: 

In a statement, Mr Cormann insisted "No promise was broken" by the announcement in MYEFO on Monday. more

So nothing has changed. Multi-national companies get away with ripping $bazillions off the gov, with the gov's blessing, whilst the gov wants the poor to pay $5 tax to see a doctor. And apparently because this is stuck in the senate it's all our fault his deficit has blown out. FFS.