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

with other revenue measures. That is how you actually drive yourself towards a budget balance. But those opposite are a one-trick pony when it comes to the budget, and the only thing that they are able to come up with is to tax people more. They are addicted to tax and, rather than try and ease the burden on Australian businesses so they can give Australians more opportunity for more hours, they just want to keep squeezing that tax lemon as hard as they possibly can. That presents a great threat to our economy.

The United Kingdom will bring down their autumn statement tonight, and we already know that they have put the UK on a trajectory to one of the lowest tax rates in the advanced world. We know that the Trump administration will be seeking to do exactly the same thing, and we have already moved in our budget to take Australia down a similar path. Those opposite plan to strand Australian businesses in a high-tax environment where they cannot invest, where they cannot attract capital and where they cannot provide additional working hours and additional wages to working Australians.

This is a leader of the opposition who, rather than following the economic policy advice of Bob Hawke, has become an acolyte of Bob Brown when it comes to economic policy. He is the Jeremy Corbyn of Australian politics, appealing to the Bernie Sanders and all the rest of them. This is a leader of the opposition who is so indulgent in cynical politics that he cannot find his way to the surface again.

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