Damian Hale (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

They were, possibly, 20 years ago—that is right, Member for Moreton—but not now. They stand over the top of businesses, and on this occasion the Leader of the Opposition wants to kick businesses when they are at their most vulnerable. And it will only be the Labor Party and it will only be the Rudd government that will stick by small business. That is a 3.7 to four per cent turnaround in tax if Tony Abbott becomes Prime Minister of this country. That would be bad for the country.

But do you know what? You can see, in his comments about the $20 billion surplus, that he has given himself the out. This can only go one of three ways. The first possibility is that he will not bother implementing it at all. He will say: ‘Times are too tough now. We have to pay off Labor’s debt. We will have a look at it another time.’ It will be a bit similar to the phrase, ‘Work Choices is dead.’ Who believes that? Flexibility—

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