Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will take that interjection, because this is the deception that the Labor Party were involved in with education funding. The member for Parramatta said, 'All the spending was in years 5 and 6.' Do you know why, Mr Deputy Speaker? Because when you put the spending in years 5 and 6 you do not have to show where the money comes from. It was a complete and utter con job. They had all the spending backloaded because they did not have a clue where they were getting the money from.

If members of the Labor Party want to come into this parliament and say, 'We want to spend, on top of the 38 per cent the coalition has put in, $30 billion more,' they have to say where the money is coming from. What taxes are they going to increase to fund that $30 billion? If they are not going to increase taxes, what areas of expenditure are they going to cut? We hear this hypocrisy all the time.

The member of the Labor Party who spoke first in the debate tonight talked about betraying our children. What betrays our children are governments that get in, borrow money and spend it just for their own popularity. It is our children who we burden with paying back the interest and eventually paying back the money. Already, on the debt and reckless, politically motivated spending of the previous Labor government, which we saw over six years—and I know the member at the table was not here and was not involved, so we cannot blame him, but many members who were are here—we now have to find $1 billion every single month just to pay the interest bill. That continues to increase, and they want us to go and borrow another $30 billion. If those opposite really want an extra $30 billion in education, they should say where the money is coming in. Do not come into the parliament and mislead people that there is some $30 billion cut when the facts are that we are actually spending 38 per cent more.

The member for Parramatta asked why what she called 'the business tax cuts' are spread over 10 years. This shows the poor understanding of Labor members, how they simply fail to understand business and economics. The reason that those tax cuts are spread out over time is so businesses can plan their investment today, spend the money in the years to come, and know that by the time their investment turns a profit they will be paying a lower tax rate. If we are going to make our country richer and grow the economy, we need to get an internationally competitive tax rate. Ken Henry—not a friend of the coalition, a friend of the Labor Party—said last week that even the modest plan we have to get our corporate tax rate down to 25 per cent is not enough. When Ken Henry says that, it is about time the Labor Party listened, because we have to get this economy moving. If they want to get more money put into education, it is all about getting the economy moving and getting more growth.

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