Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, probably a good hope to have. This mess we now find ourselves in with the luxury car tax amendments is a direct consequence of the Labor Party arrogantly pushing through a tax grab without proper consultation and without taking the time to examine the consequences of what they were doing. We would like to think that this is a rare occasion, but of course it is commonplace with this government—rushed legislation that causes all sorts of discrepancies and distortions. But I guess in this instance, unlike in most, we should be grateful that the government has at least admitted its mistakes and come back to try to rectify them in some way.

What the government cannot rectify is the fact that, as a result of this tax, sales in the car sector have fallen 17 per cent. It said to Ford and Holden, ‘You have vehicles that will attract the luxury car tax but here is $8 billion to help you along.’ But now they have not even got the sales to recoup the loss. A 17 per cent drop in sales says to me that the government has no understanding of the consequences of what it does. It knows from its record that you stand for three things when you are a Labor government. You stand for higher taxes, higher spending and deficits. What we see from this legislation are higher taxes which are affecting consumer confidence. At a time like this, we really should be wondering if this government has any understanding at all of what is going on. An increase in the luxury car tax is a sign of a tax-hungry government and is a sign of things to come. It is a cash grab against 105,000 vehicles owned by 105,000 Australians and their families.

It is a sign of things to come, as Labor rushes ahead with this reckless approach on a whole range of issues. Compared to some of those issues—some of which are yet to come—this is minor. But, if it makes these sorts of fundamental mistakes in this legislation, one can only wonder what will happen when it introduces the greatest economic change Australia has ever seen in the form of the emissions trading scheme, which we understand we will see legislation on next year. There is a growing concern in the financial and banking sectors in Australia but most importantly among the men and women on the street that this government does not know what it is doing. This is just another example of that.

I have no doubt that this is not the last time you will see us in this House mopping up the errors of the Rudd Labor government. We are going to see from this government more mistakes and more increases in taxes. This is bad legislation. It is a bad tax. It is a sign of a government that does not know what it is doing and does not have a strategy for the economy. Labor is tinkering on the side of this legislation to try and fix it before it moves on to even bigger mistakes.

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