of the Hawke Government in particular, in 1984 he was awarded the Euromoney Finance Minister of the Year, an award which became colloquially known in Australia as the "World's Greatest Treasurer", becoming the first Australian Treasurer to be presented with the award. Microeconomic reforms Throughout the second and third terms of the Hawke Government, Keating led a significant overhaul of the long-stagnant Australian taxation system. In 1985, he became a passionate advocate within the Cabinet for the introduction of a broad-based consumption tax, similar in nature to the goods and services tax that was later introduced by the Howard government, as a means of addressing Australia's chronic balance of payments issue. In the build-up to the 1984 election, Hawke promised a policy paper on taxation reform to be discussed with all stakeholders at a "National Taxation Summit". Three options – A, B and C – were presented in the paper, with Keating and his Treasury colleagues fiercely advocating for C, which included a consumption tax of 15% on goods and services along with reductions in personal and company income tax, a fringe benefits tax and a capital gains tax. Although Keating was able to win the support of a reluctant Cabinet, Hawke believed that the opposition from the public, the ACTU, and the business community would be too great. He therefore decided to abandon any plans for a consumption tax, although the remainder of the reforms were adopted in the tax reform package. The loss of the consumption tax was seen a defeat for Keating; he later joked about it at a press conference, saying, "It's a bit like Ben Hur. We've crossed the line with one wheel off, but we have crossed the line." Whilst the remainder of the package represented the biggest overhaul of the Australian taxation system for decades, Keating continued to agitate for further changes to address the balance of payments problems faced by Australia. On 14 May 1986, frustrated at the slow pace of dealing with the issue, Keating caused considerable public comment and a degree of controversy when he declared on a radio programme that if Australia did not address the problem, it risked degenerating to the status of a "banana republic". Although the remark was quickly disowned by Hawke in public, the Government increased efforts to deal with the growing balance of payments crisis. With no consumption tax to generate a significant increase