Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Another end to a sitting week and yet another bill where I stand here in this chamber speaking about how the Turnbull government is fixing up the mess left by those on the other side. It bears repeating once again that it was a $310 billion bill, plus $123 billion in projected deficits in the following four financial years.

I am very pleased today to rise to speak on the Taxation and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2016 Measures No. 1) Bill 2016. This measure will extend GST to digital products and other services imported by consumers, simplify the GST cross-border business-to-business rules and double the maximum amount that can be held in farm management deposits to $800,000, which, of course, is great news for the hardworking farmers in Wheatbelt and the Mid West in my electorate of Durack.

Consultancy services, accountancy and legal services, financial and insurance services, telecommunications and broadcasting services, online supplies of software and software maintenance, and online gambling are all products which will now pay their fair share of GST under the measure we are discussing today. This bill will create a more level playing field for Australian businesses, ensuring that digital products and services will be subject to the same GST treatment.

Members sitting on this side of the chamber really understand the bush. Recently, I highlighted the work that the Turnbull government is doing in education in the country, such as a 42 per cent increase over the next four years in WA schools and the recent youth allowance reform, which will enable more regional, rural and remote students to further their education at tertiary level.

As well as cleaning up the financial mess that was left by the Labor Party, only members on this side of the chamber will provide the funding that is needed to educate Australia. The measure we are discussing today will go a long way to assist farmers in regional and rural towns of the Mid West and Wheatbelt, as agricultural businesses make up 26 per cent of small businesses in my electorate of Durack. As well as doubling the farm management deposits, this measure will also allow primary producers who are experiencing severe drought conditions to withdraw an amount that has been held in a farm management deposit for less than 12 months, without affecting the income tax treatment of the farm management deposit in the earlier income year.

In a further boost to farmers, not just in Durack but, of course, right across Australia, this measure will also allow amounts held in farm management deposits to offset a loan or other debts relating to farm management deposit holders' primary production business. Farm management deposits, as you well know, Deputy Speaker Goodenough, are a risk-management tool to help primary producers deal with uneven income between years, allowing eligible primary producers to set aside pre-tax income from primary production in a special account, which can be drawn upon in later years when times are tougher. Often, those times are much sooner than a farmer would expect them to be.

As I said earlier, it is unfair that international businesses selling goods to Australians do so without paying GST. It is a smack in the face to hardworking Australian business women and men and the nearly 13,500 small businesses, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, that are in my electorate. The Turnbull government understands this, and my message to the Australian business community is this: we will look after you because we understand you.

This measure we are discussing will bring in an estimated $350 million over the forward estimates—consisting of $150 million in 2017-18 and $200 million in 2018-19—to the federal government's coffers. This is yet another example of the Turnbull government's sound economic management, something which those opposite have failed to demonstrate that they understand.

As we heard from Treasurer Scott Morrison at his National Press Club speech recently, the economy is transitioning well out of the mining boom, with 298,300 new jobs added in the 12 months to January. This complements the government's record in 2015, which saw a 10-year high of 301,300 new jobs created. I am very pleased to say that the annual jobs growth rate of 2.6 per cent is well above the decade average of 1.8 per cent. In the last two years, under the leadership of Trade Minister Andrew Robb, this government has signed the historic free trade agreements with Korea and China, and we know that the Trans-Pacific Partnership will also be a tonic to the improving economic statistics I have just mentioned.

When those opposite were running the show, employment growth was a measly 1,900 per month, with an annual growth rate of only 0.2 per cent. Compare that to this government's record, where jobs growth has been more than 10 times that amount. More than 25,100 jobs have been created per month since we were elected, with an annual growth rate of 2.6 per cent. Job advertisements are at their highest level since July 2012, increasing by 11 per cent over the past year, according to ANZ. This side is truly working to identify ways we can make our tax system more job- and growth-friendly.

Those opposite—well, we have heard what they have been talking about lately; namely, their fabulous negative gearing policy, which will remove around one-third of the demand for established property, killing the value of homes, some of which have been in Durack families for hundreds of years. We think it has been poorly thought out, but do not take our word for it. I am interested in the report that was released by BIS Shrapnel just recently. This is what they say about the Labor Party's negative gearing policy. They say it will raise rents by 10 per cent; push 70,000 extra households into housing rental stress; result in four per cent fewer new homes being built; shrink GDP by $19 billion per year, on average, or one per cent of GDP—not to be sneezed at; result in 175,000 fewer jobs, increasing the unemployment rate by 0.1 per cent; and reduce government revenue by $1.65 billion per year.

This will no doubt decrease consumer confidence and growth, and, as I have said, it is going to smash house prices. So I stand here and I say very loudly and clearly that I do not support any changes whatsoever to negative gearing. I say that because, in Durack, we have double the national average of negative gearers—people in the mining industry, farmers, investors, in Geraldton, in Broome and in other towns, and there are many more that plan to do so. Through negative gearing, or their plan to negative gear, they want to create a nest egg for themselves and their families for the future. That is enough about negative gearing.

Despite the opposite side's scare campaign on the GST, we have said very clearly that this government is not seeking to increase the GST. Treasury modelling shows that raising the GST, in exchange for lowering income tax, will not deliver significantly higher GDP growth. However, our ideas will oversee the expansion of the Australian economic pie. The National Innovation and Science Agenda has been warmly welcomed in Durack. This agenda will help to create a more modern, dynamic economy, which Australia desperately needs. We have announced 24 measures, involving $1.1 billion of spending, to create well-paid jobs and help Australia compete globally, encouraging every business across the country to be more innovative, entrepreneurial and prepared to take risks.

In conclusion, only this government will create the jobs for the future as well as ensuring hardworking Australians pay the least tax possible, with our debt reduction management. The bill we are discussing today will reap a predicted $350 million from international companies, lessening the Australian taxpayers' burden. It will also assist my farmers in the Mid West and the Wheatbelt, who need this helping hand from the government. I commend this bill to the House.

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