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

I thank the member for Petrie for his question. The Turnbull government is implementing the plan that we took to the last election to grow the Australian economy, which is seeing hundreds of thousands of Australians get off welfare and get into work. More than 950,000 jobs have been created under the coalition government. What this government is building is a working nation, and what Labor wants to build is a welfare nation. That's the difference between the Labor Party and the Liberal and National Parties. We're about seeing people get into jobs to create and build their own destinies.

We also welcomed today the further news about the increased confidence and conditions that we're seeing in business. But we do know this: if you make businesses, through higher taxes, pay more money to the government, it makes it harder for them to pay higher wages to Australian workers. That's why the Labor Party's opposition to us lowering taxes means that the Labor Party is standing between Australian workers and an increase in their wages. That's who's standing in the way of higher wages in this country for workers working hard: the Labor Party. That's who's standing in the way. Now, a key part of our plan has been to deliver and legislate tax cuts for small- and medium-sized businesses. They have been delivered and we are seeing the benefits of those for those small- and medium-sized businesses.

But it is sad to know that the member for Rankin has told the West Australian today that the Labor Party does not support tax cuts for businesses with turnovers greater than $2 million. He said this very clearly. He told the West Australian that Labor only supports tax cuts for genuinely small businesses with a turnover below $2 million—

See this speech in context