Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Competitiveness) Share this | Hansard source

Thank goodness for that. The whole purpose of implementing the minerals resource rent tax is to finance a small business tax break, a company tax rate reduction, investment in infrastructure and boosting the superannuation of 8.4 million working people. The member for Fraser asks the question: What is the impact on competitiveness of introducing the MRRT in order to cut the company tax rate? The purpose of it is to ensure that those businesses that are not in the mining industry fast lane can be as competitive as possible. In order to make them competitive, to support their desire to be competitive, we need to, where we can, implement a competitive company income tax rate to increase the possibility of retained earnings because, out of those retained earnings, you can then get the productive investment that they are seeking to improve their overall competitiveness. This is true for all incorporated entities in Australia.

The member for Goldstein asked a question today about the impact of this measure on small businesses. And the truth is he is clueless. We have a small business tax break that applies to each and every small business in this country—2.7 million small businesses employing almost five million people—which has the same purpose, to encourage investment in productivity-increasing activities. That is the whole purpose of the MRRT—to increase the competitiveness of these businesses.

On this issue of supporting company tax reform, the former member for Higgins said, 'We would welcome the bipartisan support of the opposition if it could rise to the challenge of supporting national interest reform.' They are true words; they should be supported. The fact is that this Leader of the Opposition wants to increase taxes. He wants to increase the company tax rate, thwart these tax cut reductions for small business and for all business. I say to the Leader of the Opposition: What is wrong with you? You are not even good at being Liberal.

See this speech in context