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

The coalition government and the Liberal and National parties are backing businesses to create more jobs and to support higher wages. That's what our policies are about. That's what we're doing. We've always believed that, and we've always acted consistently with our beliefs by backing people in business from small businesses to large businesses. They are the engines of growth in our economy. That's where higher wages come from. That's where investment comes from. That's where jobs come from. That's why, as a government and as Liberal and National parties, we have been committed to following through on our convictions and our beliefs to ensure we do the right thing for the Australian economy so that jobs can be created. And jobs have been created: 420,000 jobs have been created in only the last 12 months. We're only a few thousand jobs shy of the one million jobs that we promised would be created under a coalition government when we came to office in 2013. We are close to hitting that mark six months in advance of the promised period.

So we're sticking to our credentials. We're sticking to our commitments. We're sticking to our beliefs. But the Labor Party, the shadow Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition and all the others over there used to believe in these things. They used to write books about these things. They might even have written songs about them. I've got no idea, but I do know that they used to believe them and, when they are asked to vote for them, they scurry off like rats from a ship. This is the problem with Labor. They used to believe this because they used to listen to people that made sense on economic policy.

So who are they listening to now? Who are they listening to now, and what other ideas do those people who they're listening to about tax in our economies? They are listening to GetUp! They are listening to the Australia Institute, that great middle-income champion of Australia. It's not a left-wing think tank, not at all! Of course it is. What's their view? They take much advice from the Grattan Institute. Here are some policies that the Labor Party are listening to. Put the family home in the assets test for the pension. Death duties. Death duties are what those they listen to propose. They propose scrapping the capital gains tax discount, putting capital gains tax on the family home and putting a tax on business for the fuel they use. These are the taxes that are being whispered into the ear of the shadow Treasurer, and he has demonstrated he has a great capacity to take up numpty ideas.

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