Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I am happy to talk about debt and I am happy to talk about the debt that you are imposing on Australian households, who commit no crime other than working hard. Let's have that debate, let's talk about the debt and the budget emergency you have created for not only the Australian people but the states and territories right across the country. There are budget emergencies and you and your 'hopelessly out of his depth Treasurer' have created them. As he flails around, trying to sell his budget, he does not realise that the reason he cannot sell the budget is that it is a complete dud. It is a complete dud, which is bad for the economy and is fundamentally based on an unfair set of principles. That is why he cannot sell it.

Go back to the drawing board and start again, then you might have another chance at selling it. The parliamentary secretary might one day give the Treasurer a run for his money. He might step up. You go have another go. Start the budget again and this time start with a premise of fairness. The Australian people are up for a conversation about tough decisions, but we want to see a discussion based on fairness. That is what this government completely fails to do.

The Labor Party will continue to insist on the retention of important mechanisms through our social fabric such as the schoolkids bonus, the income support bonus and the low income superannuation contribution, which ensure more fairness in the system. We will continue to stand up for small businesses, which have done nothing wrong except work hard. They deserve the instant asset write-off and the loss carry-back. This side of the House stands for lower taxes for small business and by their vote today the other side of the House, despite their rhetoric, stands for higher taxes for small business. It is a fact. That is the motion you are voting on and you are voting in favour of more red tape and higher taxes for small business. That is not rhetoric; that is a simple fact contained in your bill.

Government members interjecting—

They do not like to hear about it. They do not like to be reminded of the facts about their own legislation, which includes measures to increase tax on small business. It is a matter of fact, despite the rhetoric we hear of those opposite. They say they are committed to reducing compliance costs for small business by $1 billion a year. What a start we have in this legislation, because the reduction of the threshold of the instant asset write-off is not just a tax increase; it is a very significant increase in red tape burden for small business. Again, this side of the House stands for less red tape for small business and that side of the House, by their vote, their own legislation—

Government members interjecting—

It gets them going, doesn't it? They do not like hearing about the impact of their own policies, their own legislation. Your words are cheap, but your policies are very expensive for small business in this country, because small business is being let down by their government. They were told lots of things before the election, but what they are seeing post election are a government determined to make life harder for small business. The Labor Party will continue to insist that the instant asset write-off and the loss carry-back, which are important tax measures, and red tape reduction measures for small business are implemented, just as the other measures contained in this bill should be.

See this speech in context