Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Finance Minister on Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

Let’s be clear: if he had any option at all he would take it. He would run away—cut and run out of Dickson—but he has run out of options because the LNP has absolutely framed him. He was described yesterday in the Gold Coast Bulletin as ‘the Liberal Party’s poster boy’. Well, a poster boy has just been framed by the Liberal National Party.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I refer you to Budget Paper No. 1 of 2009-10. It shows a historic record of taxes as a share of GDP. I can report that the coalition was the highest taxing government in Australia’s history. Let me repeat that the coalition was the highest taxing government in Australia’s history. The member was talking about misrepresentation. Madam Deputy Speaker, let me take you through the basic figures. In 2000-01, taxation was 24.7 per cent of GDP. In 2002-03 it was 24.6 per cent; in 2003-04 it was 24.5 per cent; in 2004-05 and 2005-06 it was 24.9 per cent; and in 2006-07 and 2007-08 it was 24.6 per cent. So 24 point something high like six, seven, eight or nine is the coalition’s record.

The highest level it ever went to under the previous Labor government was 23.8 per cent, proving conclusively that the coalition is the highest taxing government in Australia’s history. Then the shadow Assistant Treasurer went to the argument of high marginal tax rates. The fact is that when Labor came to office in 1983 the top marginal tax rate was 60 per cent, gifted to the Australian people by the Fraser government whose Treasurer was none other than John Howard. It was a Labor government which reduced the top marginal tax rate from 60 per cent to 49 per cent and further subsequently. So, on both counts of the shadow Assistant Treasurer asserting that Labor is the party of high taxes, he is wrong. The coalition is the party of high taxes.

It is very interesting to go through the whole episode of the stimulus package and the efforts to which this government has gone to support working families in Australia and to support small businesses in Australia. We acted early and we acted decisively to support jobs and to support small businesses. As a consequence of that, we have the strongest growth in the developed world. We are the only country of the major advanced countries that did not go into recession. I say that is good news for working people and that is good news for small businesses. I think that is something of which we can be proud. Indeed, the small business community itself recognises this. The Sensis survey of September 2009 says:

Business confidence among SMEs rebounded during the past quarter recording the strongest rise since the inception of the Sensis® Business Index more than 16 years ago, rising some 20 percentage points during the quarter.

It goes on to say:

This quarter’s strong improvement brought confidence to its highest level since August 2007, before economic conditions started to decline.

And finally:

Support for the Federal Government rose strongly, with small businesses remaining strongly supportive of the economic stimulus package and efforts to get the economy going.

There is the small business community speaking out in support of the stimulus package and yet we have the shadow Assistant Treasurer saying that the stimulus package is too big and that perhaps it should not have occurred at all. What would happen to small business in this country either if the stimulus package had not proceeded—because it is hard to pin those opposite down on exactly their view as to whether or not there should have been any stimulus—or if, indeed, the stimulus was now withdrawn, which is what the shadow Assistant Treasurer just argued?

The consequence of that for working people in this country would be that 100,000 more Australians would have their jobs at risk and small business would be smashed by the reckless, irresponsible policy prescriptions of the coalition saying that the stimulus should be now withdrawn. The fact is that this is nothing more than rank political opportunism on the part of the coalition. They have their self-interests, their personal interests, ahead of the national interests, ahead of the interests of the working people of this country and ahead of the interests of small business people of this country.

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