Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

One-armed push-ups are your speciality; we will spread the word through the streets of Woodridge about that. We are just a bit worried that if the Labor Party get into office, we know where their other hands will be: in everyone’s hip-pocket, taking more tax off them. That is the only thing I will say.

Of course, there is the $486 million increase in research medical grants. Some of the best and brightest researchers, like Dr Ian Frazer, research and find ideas and solutions that will make a difference. I know that the work being done at Griffith University in looking at Toohey Forest and some of the natural fauna and flora, particularly the flora that grows there, and in looking for medical solutions has come as a result of some of the medical research grants made in the past. There is $228 million to extend osteoporosis medicines on the PBS, and an additional $150 million to combat illicit drugs, including ice. Also, there is $150 million to improve nutrition and encourage healthier lifestyles, including the Active After-school Communities Program. I simply make all those points in the context of this legislation. Taxpayers need to know that they are being used as the vehicle for the raising of the funds which, through proper economic management, are redirected into programs which continue to make a difference in so many ways.

The ongoing effort of good, strong economic management has delivered two million additional jobs since 1996, wages up by over 20 per cent, low and stable inflation and a doubling of household wealth. But, through these measures today, we are saying to those at the lower end of the income stream, ‘We’re going to continue to take the pressure off you to allow you a chance to find your way so that you can build for your own future.’ The tax cuts included in this measure show that this is the fifth year in a row that we have cut tax. We now have a budget surplus of $10.6 billion but we are not swimming in a swimming pool filled with money—those opposite like the Scrooge McDuck cartoons—we are investing in the future. We are giving an unprecedented boost to education funding that will make a difference to universities such as Griffith University, and there is greater childcare assistance, $19.1 billion in AusLink 2 transport programs and more investment in health and chronic illness; essentially, we are protecting and securing our nation.

The measures here, though, are about the equity on that journey and about saying to those at the lower end of the income stream, ‘As you make your decisions to perhaps go off welfare or perhaps go from being a single-income household to a dual-income household, your journey will be well supported by the creation of a lower tax environment.’ I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context