Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

While I am sure that all of us in this House would love to hear the words of Senator Heffernan, I am not sure that unparliamentary language can be aired in this chamber in the words of Senator Heffernan.

If I were an aspiring Treasurer, shadow Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer—if I were a person who wanted to get into high office in the Treasury space in Australia today—I am not certain that I would start my contribution to a tax debate by attacking the record of Peter Costello. I have to say to the shadow Assistant Treasurer: I wouldn't go there. If I were thinking about building a bank of credibility on economic management, on tax, on the delivery into this economy, I would not start by trashing Peter Costello's record—when you are not Peter Costello's bootlaces, shadow Assistant Treasurer. He is the longest-serving Treasurer in our nation's history. He set up a Future Fund to fund the unfunded liabilities of the Commonwealth into the future—all of the Public Service liabilities, which you had no way of funding and no plan to ever fund. He left the Commonwealth with zero net debt. So I would say to the shadow Assistant Treasurer: don't go there. Don't attack this nation's best and longest-serving Treasurer, because you have no credibility to do so. You have no credibility when you look at the Labor Party's record on tax and no credibility when you look at the Labor Party's record on spending. To get a tax lecture from a shadow Assistant Treasurer trashing the record of the longest- and greatest-serving Treasurer in this nation's history is, I think, an appalling way to start. I think it is an appalling way to start your contribution by forgetting that this government, when elected to office, did some important things. It did what it said it was going to do. It abolished the biggest tax on ordinary Australians delivered by any government in Australian history, the carbon tax. It abolished the mining tax.

Here we have the shadow Assistant Treasurer bringing a matter of public importance today on tax design and structure, bemoaning white papers and green papers, telling this government that we have got a terrible record of axing taxes. Cast your mind back just two years ago. We abolished the carbon tax, we abolished the mining tax—perhaps the single greatest exercise in tax design stupidity in world history. We have got the former Treasurer here to agree with it. We have the former Treasurer here on the front bench, making his return to the front bench. I would say to the member for Swan: he should get up and make a personal explanation about what a great design it was to introduce a mining tax that brought in no revenue. Give us a personal explanation about it.

Not only did they bring in a tax that brought in no revenue; not only did they bring in a mining tax that was supposed to tax superprofits—the superprofitable mining sector—that brought in no revenue; they also had an expert on tax, Ken Henry, give them many, many recommendations about tax. Of course, we know the previous Labor government ignored every single one of Ken Henry's recommendations about our tax system, except for a mining tax which brought in no revenue. That is really a great start to your tax debate, I would say to the shadow Assistant Treasurer.

I would also say to the shadow Assistant Treasurer: it is not a tax plan simply to spend and spend more money, when every single day everybody here who is listening, everybody out there who is listening, everybody who understands the Commonwealth budget, understands that the government borrows money every single day to fund the ordinary services of government. It is not a plan to continue to spend and spend with no way to fund it. What do we know about the Labor Party's plans if they are elected to office in a few years time? What are their plans? Let us have a look at them right now. We know that so far they have promised to raise $7.6 billion over the forward estimates—just in new taxes and charges. Of course, if you missed it, David Speers conducted an amazing interview with the shadow Assistant Treasurer just recently about the mix of taxes and spending that the Labor Party's plan comprises. We know that, whilst they are bringing in $7.6 billion in new taxes, over the same period of the forward estimates they are planning to spend $44 billion in new expenditure. So we have over $7 billion in new taxes and charges and $44 billion in new expenditure plans.

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