Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I join with my Labor colleagues, who have spoken extensively in this debate—unlike the government—to oppose this piece of legislation, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Enterprise Tax Plan No. 2) Bill 2017. There have been many Labor speakers in this debate, and hopefully the government will see fit to stand up at some point and defend what is a hypocritical and unfair piece of legislation. It just seems remarkable to me that the government puts forward this legislation but is not prepared to put forward speakers to defend this legislation. Perhaps there is something very much in that.

This bill seeks to implement the remainder of the government's company tax cut plans. It will provide a tax cut of 25 per cent to companies with a turnover of over $50 million. This will create a $65 billion tax cut for business, and that is the fundamental point that every single Labor speaker has made. It's providing an enormous tax cut to the tune of $65 billion to businesses with a turnover of more than $50 million. The previous speaker—and I'm sure other speakers have made this point—mentioned that the diminishing amount that you earn in fact attracts more tax, and it just makes a mockery of the government's so-called commitment to fairness. It is ridiculous that the Treasurer would stand up and use the word 'fairness' when putting forward this piece of legislation. It is anything but fair and is full of hypocrisy. That is perfectly obvious.

It's not just perfectly obvious to people within this side of politics; it's perfectly obvious to the public, particularly those that are struggling with underemployment and those that are unemployed and finding it very difficult to find for work. I was listening to the radio this morning and the point was being made there is only one job for every young unemployed person. There was a young man speaking on the radio who wanted work, who was desperately looking for work but was unable to find it in the community in which he lived. In that context, when we are seeing rising unemployment and youth unemployment rates in some parts of this country that are well into double-digit figures, this government sees fit to provide an enormous tax cut to big business. It is also at the same time we're seeing drastic cuts to budgets for essential services, including the cuts to the education budget at the primary, secondary and tertiary level. It just doesn't make sense, but it does reflect to me the chaos that this government is experiencing. It reflects the lack of capacity for this government to work as a government, and that is obvious in so many ways. That's including the fact the government is so arrogant and out of touch that it doesn't feel it necessary to provide speakers to prosecute this argument of major tax cuts to big business.

I have never seen such hypocrisy from government, and I've been around government for a very long time in one form or another. The hypocrisies are there in terms of cutting funds to things like education, drug rehabilitation and health, yet providing an enormous amount of tax breaks to people and businesses that can most afford it. The government, which lectures the Australian people about the need for budget repair, is in fact pursuing such an unfair piece of legislation. This is a government which was hysterical about the debt and deficit disaster—we all remember that—and hysterical about the budget emergency. Yet it proceeds with what they know to be an unfair tax cut, a tax cut that is perceived to be unfair by so many people. The government has overseen a deficit blowout and debt surging past half a trillion dollars, which is not often spoken about but that is the truth. You could almost say we have a Treasurer who has lost control of his brief. Perhaps that's why every time he gets to his feet he thinks it's necessary to yell at people. Now the government wants to deliver a $65 billion unfunded tax cut for big, multinational companies. As shadow minister for human services, I think about the disgraceful robo-debt debacle and the fact that this government saw fit to accuse at least 20,000 Australians, many of whom are vulnerable Australians, of owing the government money, and yet it proceeds with this $65 billion unfunded tax cut for big multinational companies.

Ultimately, it's ordinary Australians who will bear the burden of the government's lavish multibillion-dollar tax cut—people who are struggling, people who can't find employment and people who are underemployed. The Parliamentary Budget Office projects that personal income taxes will rise by 1.6 per cent of the gross domestic product over the medium term, from 11.1 per cent in 2016-17 to 12.6 per cent in 2027-28. At the same time, company tax receipts will decline from 2023-24 as a result of this bill. That just does not make sense. In 2023-24, personal income tax will represent 12.4 per cent of GDP, while company tax will make up 4.5 per cent of GDP. By 2027-28, personal income tax will represent 12.6 per cent of GDP, while company tax will represent just 4.2 per cent of GDP. It is clear that low- and middle-income Australians are paying for the government's $65 billion handout to big business through rising personal income taxes.

On all counts, this government is out of touch. It is a government that doesn't have a clue about what ordinary Australians are going through, and 21 opinion polls should tell it that. While Australian families are facing rising costs of living, rising electricity prices, falling wage growth and anaemic economic growth, the government is more concerned about giving big multinationals this tax cut. We see the enormous casualisation of the workforce, including using labour hire companies and private providers for Centrelink call centres.

Ordinary Australians are doing it tough. As has been articulated, 1.1 million Australians are underemployed. University graduates are less likely to find full-time graduate entry work today than they were a decade ago. The government is more interested in driving down the bargaining power of workers, with stagnating wage growth. The government is more interested in slashing penalty rates, while seeking to raise income taxes on all taxpayers with incomes above $21,000. As the previous speaker articulated well, a worker on $55,000 will pay an extra $275 a year and someone on $80,000 will pay an extra $400. The government is more interested in attacking ordinary Australians in need of income support, slashing pension eligibility and making it more difficult to access income support when they need it. The government's multibillion-dollar tax cut for multinational companies simply adds insult to injury for ordinary Australians.

The government's cut of almost 12,000 jobs in the Department of Human Services speaks loudly. It has overseen 42 million missed calls to Centrelink, which is completely unacceptable. There is a 10-month wait period for people wanting to access age pensions, and, as I said earlier, we all know about the robo-debt crisis. The government and the minister are completely unapologetic about the fear, stress and anxiety they've put thousands of Australians through, sending letters with the police logo, threatening prosecution and imprisonment.

Over the past year I've heard countless heartbreaking stories about older Australians and those with a disability being forced to wait almost a year to receive the pension that they are rightfully owed, and yet we see this multibillion-dollar tax cut going forward. The truth is that the government's track record on supporting ordinary Australians is awful. It is completely atrocious. The government is interested in attacking and victimising Australians in need of income support. It is placing the burden of its own financial mismanagement on the backs of vulnerable Australians. It is more interested in defending negative gearing or capital gains tax concessions for the wealthy. It is only interested in making it difficult, painful and fearful to claim income support, to the point where people just give up.

I want to finish up in the last five minutes by saying this: Labor believes in ordinary Australians—they should be a priority—and so should any government. Labor knows there is inequality that needs to be dealt with. Fighting inequality and fighting for ordinary Australians means proper funding of schools, investing in infrastructure, a fairer tax system and dealing properly with superannuation tax concessions. Labor will level the playing field for first home buyers through reforming negative gearing and capital gains tax, and Labor will ensure a strong, comprehensive social safety net. It can and should be accessible and accountable to all Australians when they need it. People should not be made to feel frightened, anxious or intimidated. We should provide departmental staff with the necessary support they need to ensure they deliver a quality product.

Labor is committed to embracing policies which ensure that all Australians benefit from economic growth. This piece of legislation does none of those things. This piece of legislation says clearly to the Australian community, broadly: the government has walked away from you. Despite the fact that there have been so many cuts to essential services by this government, they are pursuing this incredibly huge tax break for big multinational companies, which just does not make sense to me—it does not make sense to me electorally, it does not make sense to me politically and certainly it does not make sense to the many, many, many, many thousands of Australians who will look at this and feel left behind. What do you think happened in Murray, Cootamundra and Blacktown at the recent by-elections in New South Wales? Seats like Cootamundra and Murray were firmly National Party seats, jewels in the crown of the New South Wales government. People voted in their thousands against the ruling parties because of issues like this. They feel they've been forgotten. They feel that the government no longer understands what their concerns are.

Labor is committed to ensuring that our industrial relations settings ensure a living wage and safe, productive workplaces. Australians are Labor's priority. Fairness is Labor's priority, not unfunded multibillion-dollar tax cuts for multinationals. I will finish by picking up on the point that the shadow minister raised, which was the obsession of this government to attack the union movement. I'd ask this government and members of this government to think about what the union movement has delivered for this country. It has delivered safe workplaces. It has delivered decent wages. It has delivered humane workplaces, and it just seems inconceivable to me that these cuts are not about demonising the union movement. The government should understand that, by demonising the union movement, they are demonising many Australians.

Yesterday morning I attended a forum for Catholic Social Services which talked about this issue—that this government, in search of a narrative, is demonising poor people. In fact, a government's responsibility, whether they be Labor, Liberal or anything else, is to lift up people, provide people with hope, provide people with choice and provide people with a decent—although frugal sometimes—living wage. It does not and should not include these enormous tax cuts which have been pursued ideologically and despite the fact there have been such massive cuts in other areas that affect the lives and wellbeing of people. I would also add that it affects the economic future of this country when you're attacking schools, when you're attacking tertiary institutions. I join with my colleagues in opposing this bill.

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