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

I thank the member for his question, and I will refer to some comments by the Premier of South Australia in a second. If he were to be truthful about outlining my statements on these matters, previously, he would note that the context of my comments related, particularly, to the retirement phase of the process.

There have been changes, and those changes have been supported by none other than the Premier of South Australia, who said:

… we need a new style of leadership: one that respects people's intelligence, explains complex issues, sets out a course of action and argues the case for it.

What he was referring to is this: he was referring to the choice that sits between the opposition and the government. He said you can sit back and be paralysed when it comes to the issues confronting this country on tax, as those opposite seek to do—off on their smoko, when it comes to tax reform. The only thing they would come up with is a sickies tax. That is their approach. Their approach is to look at tax as a big bag of cash, to chase their spending.

Or you can have the approach of the government that treats the Australian taxpayer and the Australian citizen with respect and understands that they are capable—unlike those opposite—

See this speech in context