Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

The member has been set up by the member for Grayndler and the shadow minister for infrastructure. He has been set up to come in here and talk about projects in Victoria. The member for Grayndler, being a New South Welshman, has set him up. No Victorian should come in and talk about or ask questions about funding projects when we have just seen Daniel Andrews and his new Labor state government refuse to proceed with the East West Link, a billion-dollar project—hundreds upon hundreds of jobs going by the wayside and Victoria having no shovel-ready projects to commence. This is quite perplexing. He has been set up to come in here and—bald faced—ask a question like that.

He talks of lowering taxes. I do not know whether he was listening to the member for North Sydney, the Treasurer, on budget night, 12 May. The Treasurer announced that we will be reducing the company tax rate for small businesses, by 1.5 per cent, to 28.5 per cent. That will be the lowest company tax rate since 1967. That is nearly half a century. That is lowering tax rates. He talked about numbers. He said: 'I don't think the coalition acknowledges the fact that we know numbers.' Those opposite do know numbers—the trouble is all their numbers were in red. We are trying to get the numbers back in black, because that is so important for our nation's future and prosperity.

He also asked about the Asset Recycling Fund. The government remains committed to the fund and is continuing to deliver its commitments under the Asset Recycling Initiative and Infrastructure Growth Package. I am glad that the Deputy Prime Minister, the member for Wide Bay, the Nationals leader—and minister for rolling out infrastructure across Australia—visited your electorate on the weekend with the shadow minister in tow. You might be interested to know that I bumped into the member for Grayndler, as I came in here late last night, and we discussed the Deputy Prime Minister's visit to Melbourne. The Deputy Prime Minister is rolling out the largest infrastructure package this nation has ever seen: $50 billion. But get on board—convince your Labor Premier down there to get on board.

Going back to the Asset Recycling Fund, as the legislation to establish it remains before the parliament, the government has made provision for its infrastructure commitments through the annual appropriation bills. Our intention remains to establish the funding in legislation, and the budget papers reflect that. We hope to have it established by 1 January next year. As can be seen in the table on page 60 of Finance's portfolio budget statements, the uncommitted balances of the Building Australia Fund and the Education Investment Fund will be transferred to the Asset Recycling Fund from New Year's Day 2016, with the proceeds from the sale of Medibank Private credited on 1 July 2016. Subject to the passage of legislation, the full proceeds of the sale of Medibank Private will be credited to the Asset Recycling Fund on 1 July.

These are good initiatives. Our government is getting on with the job of making sure that the books balance. Those opposite left us with books which were a complete mess. It was so unfair, because when they took government in 2007 their books were in the black. They had money in reserve to help cushion the blow of the GFC. They had money in reserve to help roll out the sort of initiatives that Labor wanted to get on with. One of them was Building the Education Revolution, in principle a great idea. In practice, it led to some—let's say many—school halls being built right across this nation which were not fit for purpose or which schools did not want. And then we saw that dreadful pink batts program—again, probably in theory a good idea but in practice completely all at sea from what the nation expected. We saw some very dodgy dealers trying to stuff pink batts, fluffy stuff, into ceilings. Unfortunately, we saw four deaths, and that was just such a sad outcome from that particular program.

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