Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is always terrific to stand in this place after a contribution from those opposite to see their collective amnesia. Six years of their lives have been completely wiped out, have disappeared and did not happen, apparently. It is actually this government that is spending its time repairing what happened in the six years that those opposite seem to have completely forgotten about. I would like to remind the member for Chifley that it was actually this side of the House that has already given the Australian people a genuine tax cut. That is because we abolished the carbon tax that those opposite introduced. They have waxed lyrical in the past about the fact that they increased the tax-free threshold to $18,200 but they always forget the other side of that equation. I remind the Australian people that it was only compensation for the introduction of the carbon tax. It was actually this government that repealed the carbon tax and left the tax-free threshold in place so that is already a genuine tax cut to the Australian people. Those on lower to middle incomes are the ones who have benefited most from the repeal the carbon tax.

The member for Chifley touched on the amount of tax people pay. I will just remind the member for Chifley that in 2014 NATSEM showed that the top 10 per cent of Australian taxpayers pay about 50 per cent of income tax in this country. So I would like the member for Chifley to tell them how much more tax he wants them to pay. They are already paying their fair share of tax.

If you have a look at some work done by Adam Creighton, you will see that it shows that, for those in the lowest income threshold, for every dollar of tax they pay, by the time you take into account the social benefits and all the other things they receive, they receive a return of $324. Our social security system and our support system that we provide to those on lower and middle incomes are world leading and should be maintained and looked after.

All we have heard from those opposite in their three contributions so far is talk about increasing taxes. There has been no recognition of the fact that if you keep increasing the tax burden it does nothing for the economic benefit of this country. It does nothing to assist growth. It does nothing to encourage jobs. All it does is take money out of people's pockets and redirect it elsewhere. It does nothing positive. It does nothing to help this country compete on the international stage.

This is typical of those opposite, because that is all they ever talk about. When they were in government we heard them talk about 'saves'. They loved to bandy that phrase about and say that they had saved this and saved that. In reality, all of those 'saves' were tax increases. They were not savings at all. Those opposite were increasing taxes and putting a greater and greater burden on the Australian people.

It is only this side of the House that we see making a genuine attempt to improve the tax system, to reduce the burden on the Australian people and to ensure that we leave more money in their pockets. Every dollar we can leave in an Australian person's pocket will be spent more wisely by them than any government. We know the record of those opposite when it comes to spending Australian taxpayers' money. We are seeing that those opposite are committed and addicted to continuing spending ever greater amounts of money.

The Leader of the Opposition was asked recently in an interview, 'Where does bracket creep fit into your priorities for tax reform?' The Leader of the Opposition said, 'Well, in terms of tax reform, we are proposing today a way to find revenue and resources.' All they ever talk about is increasing revenue and finding more ways to take money out of people's pockets.

It was the last coalition government, under Treasurer Peter Costello, that announced and delivered tax cuts in 1998, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Not only that, as the Assistant Minister to the Treasurer at the table alluded to in his contribution, he also set up the Future Fund and paid off enormous amounts of debt left by the previous Labor government. So it is this government that is doing genuine work on tax reform. (Time expired)

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