Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank very much the member for Barker for his question. He refers, of course, to Woolworths. There is a big distinction between what Woolworths would pay in company tax under this government’s proposals and what it would pay under those opposite. We would bring Woolworths’ tax down two percentage points; they would put it up two percentage points. That two percentage point increase is to fund the universally supported proposal for paid parental leave by the Leader of the Opposition, whereby he would whack a 1.7 per cent levy on Australian companies who have a turnover in excess of $5 million. Last time I looked, Woolies had a bigger turnover than five million bucks. Therefore, there is a four percentage point difference in the tax between what the member for Barker’s party proposes and what this government has put forward by way of tax reform. I also refer the member to my answer to the previous questions from the Leader of the Opposition and the member for North Sydney.

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