Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

And jobs and growth—yes, the talking points have had a good working out today in this place. I do want to talk about who is best set to run the Australian economy in my opportunity of addressing the House about the bills before the House: Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2017-2018 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2017-2018. It enables me to place on record on behalf of the people of Oxley that they are worried about how this economy is running. They are worried about the future of our economic growth in this country and they are concerned, more importantly, about the standard of living as a result of the economic settings of this government. From where I sit and from those I represent, the time for excuses is over. The time for the blame game, which we've heard about from speaker after speaker today, is over. The time now is for this government, the Turnbull-Joyce—for the time being—government, to literally own up and start taking responsibility for the gigantic debt that they are building day by day, week by week.

This facade cannot continue any longer. We know that the Prime Minister is a master of shifting blame. When in doubt, he starts talking about the Leader of the Opposition and Labor, in question time after question time. There's never a narrative about what this government wants to achieve and never a narrative about the values that this government stands by. There's always one default: attack Labor. That's it. No ideas; no vision for this country.

We know that the government, every day of every month of the five years they've been in government, have been racking up the debt on the nation's credit card. Today, I'm asking them to take responsibility for it. Time and time again, we see the government looking to hop, skip and run away from the heavy burden that they are inflicting, not only on the people of the south-west of Brisbane, whom I proudly represent, but right across the country. No more finger pointing and no more what could have been or what should have been; just owning up to the here and now, which is what this government should be taking responsibility for. Instead of saying, 'We need leadership. I am a strong leader,' it's about time the Prime Minister came in here and started owning up to the facts. The narrative or the myth that the Liberal Party, or the Liberal-National Party—the coalition—are somehow superior economic managers when they are instead presiding over a record amount of growing debt—just as they have done for the last five years—needs to be put on the table. Gross debt has already crashed through half a trillion dollars on this government's watch, rising to at least 2027-28 when it will reach a new record high of just under $700 billion.

I can remember, before I was elected, seeing the language around 'debt and deficit emergencies'. I can remember 'debt trucks'. I can remember hearing, 'Under the coalition, debt will always be lower.' Well, it's not. In fact, it has gone through the roof. We know that net debt is also blowing out to reach new highs over the next three years. Despite the never-ending pile of growing debt, this government is hell-bent on its one signature policy. Debt is rising. It's going through the roof. It's the highest it has ever been in this country. We see the one silver lining that this government has of a $65 billion handout to big business. As we have seen, at all costs this is the prerogative and agenda of this government. But the truth is that the tax cuts for multinationals will never, ever deliver anywhere near enough bang for the $65 billion that we are giving away to large multinational companies. They will simply jeopardise budget repair and investment in the productivity capacity of our economy.

We are seeing in the tabloids day after day captains of industry, multibillionaires and multimillionaires demanding that they pay less tax and saying that somehow wages growth in this country will benefit, with no evidence to suggest that, apart from multimillionaires and billionaires saying that it will. But we know, in fact, the advice given by Treasury to the Treasurer shows any benefits of the $65 billion handout to big business are negligible at best and will not be felt for a very long time. The Treasury modelling indicates the tax cut will boost GDP by just one per cent in 20 years time. We are forgoing $65 billion of revenue. Big corporations and large multinationals get a tick, but there will be an average increase of just 0.05 per cent per year. In anyone's language—and we hear this a lot—this is the definition of trickle-down economics at its most ridiculous. It is a cash grab for the government's supporters in the big end of town in the largest proportions, but we see very little for every other ordinary Australian.

Today we see reports that company profit margins have risen to levels not seen since the early 2000s, but wages growth has been slower than at any other time since the 1960s. I will put it this way. Try coming to my electorate and going to the mighty Blue Fin Fishing Club or the Goodna RSL or maybe grabbing a coffee at the Coffee Club at the Forest Lake Shopping Centre and going up to people who I proudly represent and saying: 'We've got an economic plan and the plan is that we are going to give large multinational companies huge tax breaks to allow them to pay less tax. That is the people right at the top. We are going to give millionaires a tax break. But everyone else here sitting in this Coffee Club is going to have to pay more tax.' What sort of alternative universe are members of the government sitting in? If you go out into the communities that the members opposite represent, maybe they get a great reaction when they visit shopping centres and supermarkets and do street-corner meetings and turn around and say: 'Guess what? I have got great news for you. The largest companies in Australia which, as we are already seeing today, aren't paying their fair share of tax are going to be paying even less tax. For good measure, people on extremely high incomes will get a $16,500 tax break. But for everyone else here we're going to increase your taxation. That's for a family on $60,000 to $80,000.' I don't know if they are talking to the same people in the supermarkets, the coffee shops, the newsagents and the post office who come up to me and talk about the rising cost of living, the pressures of insecure work and the fact that they haven't had a wage increase. I don't get that reaction. I certainly do not hear that on the streets from the people I represent.

What have those opposite put on the table to pay for the $65 billion handout that will give an economic boost of just 0.05 per cent per year? How do we do this? Well, we make cuts to families through changes to family tax benefits and we make cuts to pensioners through scrapping the energy supplement. We make cuts to jobseekers, forcing them to wait for support from Newstart. We make cuts to young people by forcing them from Newstart onto youth allowance, and we make cuts to new parents and families through changes to early childhood payments.

Sadly, in my electorate of Oxley around one in four families will be worse off under this government's childcare proposals. But we know it doesn't stop there. As we know, through the media today, those opposite, representing the parliamentary friends group of payday lenders, aren't even interested in implementing commonsense reforms to protect vulnerable Australians. And I want to put this on the record, because it is a burning issue across my community. I know they are feeling the pressure, and I can see my friend the member for Perth and shadow minister for consumer affairs, who is really leading the charge on this to help the people who are feeling pressure—the 1.8 million families who are feeling financial distress.

We are seeing record numbers of people taking out payday loans. Why? Because of the facts that I spoke about earlier in my remarks today. Under this government, if you're doing well and you are earning a heap of money and you are a captain of industry or you're running a corporation, you do very well under this government. You do extremely well under this government. But if you're a pharmacy worker, a retail worker, a cleaner, a teacher's aide, a police officer or a nurse living in my electorate, you don't do so well under this government. In fact, you're going backwards.

So, regarding the real pressure for families, who are turning to payday lenders to make ends meet—the research is up, and we know that the government knows this as well. In fact, the minister for revenue endorsed a package of recommendations and delivered a draft bill to explain the government's agenda. From what we understand, it passed through the cabinet processes. Minister Keenan is at the table. He would have signed off on it. We know that this was approved and delivered by the then spokesman for the government, who said that this will be law by the end of the year. But what has happened? Nothing. The extreme right wing of those opposite, the economic rationalists, have got their hands on this to roll the minister for revenue. They've rolled her. We know that the parliamentary friends of payday lenders in this place have enormous sway. They've got the sway, but as for the consumers and the battlers who are being preyed upon by some of these practices: if members of the government think it's reasonable and fair for a low-income earner or a pensioner to have to spend over $3½ thousand on a fridge or a washing machine that should cost them a couple of hundred bucks, they are in fantasyland. They are so far beyond the realms of what is happening in the community.

We often say, with the Prime Minister being described as Mr Harbourside Mansion, and given all the trappings that go along with having millionaires running this country, that the government are not in touch with the community. I've witnessed that by listening to speeches from those opposite. But here is a bill, here is legislation to deal not with looking after the top end of town but with real people and real lives, and this government has signed up to it. They've agreed to it. They've signed on the dotted line and have said, 'This is a way forward to deal with these unscrupulous practices.' The minister for revenue has been delivered a report with 24 recommendations, with bipartisan support, as well as an exposure draft of a bill to set the record straight, to deal with all of this. So what has happened? What's the hold-up? That's the question we want to know the answer to, and we will continue to ask it. On this side of the chamber we stand for action. We stand for protection for vulnerable Australians. We're not going to stand by and do nothing. We hear often that we need bipartisanship: 'We want the opposition to work with us. Why won't you come in and join with us?' Well, we are joining with you. We are going to stand with you.

My question to the ministers at the table and the government members is: why aren't you standing by your own bill, which has been endorsed by the cabinet processes of this government? It has been ticked off by the cabinet, ticked off by a cabinet minister, the minister for revenue—who, I may add, was silenced by the Treasurer when I and the member for Perth asked basic questions about where the legislation is and why the government won't protect vulnerable Australians. She was muzzled. She was silenced. We haven't had an explanation as to why that was the case.

We know that this government is looking after one section of the community, but we know Bill Shorten and Labor will look after everyone else in the community as well. The Liberals were once known as the party of economic managers; we know that they've crumbled to be a party of handouts and hope and tax cuts and, simply, more talk of growth. While I'm talking about the tax cuts, where are they? What is the government's plan for delivering tax cuts? When this government gets into trouble and there are crises engulfing it—as we see on a weekly basis now, whether it be a dysfunctional Deputy Prime Minister or a backbench that is revolting against the government—we know that, when it comes to tough times and, in particular, when Australians are dealing with the very tight wages situation of record low wages growth and income inequality in Australia, this government has one trick: look after big business and then vaguely talk about tax cuts for everyone else.

We know that even small businesses are deserting the government in droves. The latest census business index confirms what we and business owners at the coalface have known for some time: the Prime Minister is nothing but hot air when it comes to backing small business. We know that, when it comes to delivering fairness, only this side of the chamber will deliver an economic plan to deliver that. (Time expired)

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