Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Four years ago a Prime Minister was elected, and that Prime Minister promised an adrenaline rush to the economy on the government's election. He promised a return to budget surplus. That Prime Minister said that the budget would be fixed just by their very election. He said that the Liberal Party were like a fire truck turning up at an emergency. Two years later—two years ago today—that Prime Minister had to be cut down from office by his own side. What was the rationale for getting rid of that Prime Minister? A lack of economic leadership—that's what we were told by his friends, let alone what we thought of his performance as Prime Minister.

That new Prime Minister promised new economic leadership, fixing up the mistakes of his predecessor, the member for Warringah. What have we seen since then? We've seen the deficit for the last financial year in this year's budget more than triple since their first budget, and we've seen the deficit for this financial year in the budget blow out by more than 10 times what it was projected to be in their first budget. Debt has crashed through the half-a-trillion-dollar mark. I don't know if that's new economic leadership, but it's not the economic leadership the Australian people were looking for from that political party.

We were also promised, consistently, that they were a party of low tax. 'This is the party of low tax'—we still hear it today. We heard it from the member for Reid—not from the member for Mallee, because we didn't hear anything of substance from him. At least we heard the member for Reid say that they're a party of low tax. They are the party that introduced $20 billion worth of tax rises in the budget this year. What we did hear from the member for Mallee was: 'You've got to put out alternative policies. You've got to put your ideas forward to the Australian people.'

An opposition member: He's an ideas man.

Yes. I don't remember the $20 billion worth of tax rises being put forward by those members opposite before the election. They were announced after the election. But of course what the government believe in is different tax, not lower tax—different tax, taxing different people. They have legislation before the parliament, as part of that $20 billion worth of tax rises, to tax every Australian earning more than $21,000. That's their policy. That's their new economic leadership. In fact, the Treasurer's own budget papers show that the Liberals will have increased taxes for every Australian person—every man, woman and child—by $1,906. That is what a low-tax party apparently delivers. I'd hate to see what they would do if they had confessed that they were a high-tax party.

We are seeing tax to GDP go up every year on this Treasurer's watch and under the government's tutelage, and they dare to lecture us. They dare to lecture us—because they actually believe in tax rises. They believe in increasing the tax on every Australian earning more than $21,000. Well, $21,000 a year is not very much money. It's particularly not very much money when you have wages going backwards and when people are having their penalty rates cut. And what's the government's answer? Cut the penalty rates and increase their tax. That's what the government deliver. I don't remember that being promised at any election either. I don't remember hearing about those sorts of policies in 2013 or 2016.

Then we have the issue of the day: the impact on the Australian people and on Australian business of this government's complete lack of control of energy policy. We see this government lurch from one bad idea to the other. We're now told the answer to the energy crisis which is engulfing us today is to keep a 50-year-old coal-fired power station open in five years time. That's what we are told is the answer. AGL and energy companies are meant to make investment decisions when this government can't even deliver them a coherent policy framework in which they will make those investment decisions.

But it's all okay, because the Minister for the Environment and Energy tells us prices are down. The minister for energy's answers are like a Coles ad. 'Down, down,' he says. 'Prices are down,' he tells the House. He tells the Australian people: 'It's all okay. Mission accomplished. It's all good.' Well, the people of Sydney find this a considerable surprise. But we don't, because we know how out of touch this government is, led by the most out-of-touch Prime Minister in living memory. It's permeated down to the cabinet now, to the minister for energy, who says we have no crisis. 'What crisis?' he says. 'Prices are down,' he tells the Australian people. It takes more than the Frydenberg declaration to bring prices down. (Time expired)

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