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

Oh, making it up. You are right. You are doing both. David Speers asked some important questions of the shadow Assistant Treasurer about the mix of your new taxes and spending cuts. He said:

… you won't go ahead with the emissions reduction fund, and the baby bonus element—but the lion's share, the bulk of what you're talking about here, is higher taxation.

The shadow Assistant Treasurer said:

We've got a mix of taxes and spending cuts. That's as it should be.

David Speers responded:

What's the mix? 80/20? The bulk of it is higher taxes.

The shadow Assistant Treasurer said:

You're right to say the majority comes from tax.

A majority, of course, is 50 per cent plus one, so we are already over 50. What is it? Of course, the interview went on, and the shadow Assistant Treasurer refused to answer what the tax mix was. That is because we know it is not just a majority; it is $7 billion in new taxes on the Australian people, with $44 billion of expenditure. It does not add up; it is not a tax plan when you are increasing expenditure at four times the rate that you are bringing it in, when we are already saddled with one of the strongest Commonwealth gross and net debts we have ever had and we have a deficit. It is not a tax plan to spend four times what you are bringing in over the forward estimates. It is not a tax plan. To bring this MPI to us today and say, 'Labor has a tax plan,' when it is a tax plan that relies on increased taxation of cigarettes at its core, really does not do it and will not provide for the budget. Let us have a little look at this, because the Labor Party is saying to the Australian people: 'Elect us to office and we will increase the taxation of cigarettes to fund our new promises.' Let us just see what a few people had to say about the taxation treatment of cigarettes. It really does not matter what side of the economic equation you fall on; economists all over the country universally came out to condemn the Labor Party's plan to increase the taxation of cigarettes to fund hugely increased amounts of education spending. Even economists such as Stephen Koukoulas, a former adviser to the former Prime Minister, Julia Gillard—

See this speech in context