Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I met a couple with the member for Cowper in their late 80s—of which there would be many counterparts in the honourable member's seat of Richmond up there on the Tweed—who had very carefully saved, counting every penny. The Labor Party's policy would result in their income being reduced by 17 per cent, or about $3,500 in net terms. And do you know what their solution was—how they felt they would afford that? They would cancel their private health insurance. That's what the Labor Party, with all of its compassion, with all of its determination to chase after millionaires—that's what it's doing.

The Labor Party has gone after the pockets, the purses, the bank accounts of hardworking Australians who've saved all their lives, who have complied with an encouragement to put their money into blue-chip Australian shares that pay franked dividends—a policy that the Labor Party campaigned on 20 years ago and welcomed the introduction of in 2000 by the Howard government. They're going after them. It will not hit multimillionaires with big portfolios. You know why? Because they've got income that is not franked income, because they've got rents, they've got interest and they'll offset the franking credits against that other income. The honourable members' opposite tax policy on pensioners and retirees is going to hit people on low incomes, hit the most vulnerable people— (Time expired)

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