Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

mechanisms in place, which was good news for pensioners and those on fixed incomes.

So on this side of the House we have the form on tax system changes that leave the Australian economy better off and leave Australians better off, and ensure that our economy can grow. This is what this debate is about. It is about: how do we have a better tax system that encourages growth and jobs in our economy? On this side of the House we have a record of delivering on those results. On that side of the House, nothing. There was nothing.

Ms Butler interjecting—

We have doorstops of tax reform. That is all they ended up being: doorstops in the offices of those sitting opposite that produced absolutely nothing, because they did not engage in a serious dialogue with the Australian business community, with the welfare sector, with the public more broadly. What they did is they just gave up; they had nothing to do with it. They just kept spending and spending and spending, year after year after year. As I said before, if we had stayed on the same trajectory as their spending when we came to government, the cost to the budget and the budget and forward estimates would now be $80 billion more.

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