Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am delighted to speak on Treasury Laws Amendment (Personal Income Tax Plan) Bill 2018 today, because this bill and tax plan more broadly for business and personal income tax cuts really demonstrates very clearly the large difference between the Liberal Party and the Labor Party in our approaches. I don't think we have seen such a clear distinction between our parties on a core issue for hardworking Australians for some time.

The Liberal Party, we on this side of the house, the government—we want hard working Australians to keep their hard-earned money and spend it as they see fit. Those opposite want to take their hard-earned money from them. They want to take the hard-earned money made by hardworking Australians and they want to spend it on behalf of those Australians. I would much prefer that hardworking Australians decided how to spend their money themselves than that it be done by those opposite, who would like to spend it on their behalf. So I'm very pleased to support this legislation that will ensure that the government takes less money away from hardworking Australians and leaves more in their pockets so that they can spend it out in the economy in their local communities, in their local newsagent or clothes shop, employing someone to renovate their house—whatever they might be doing to create economic growth and prosperity for all Australians.

As I said, I'm pleased that we're seeing such sharp points of differentiation between the government on this side and those on the other side, because we do believe in low taxation, personal freedom, small government and economic growth, and it's in stark contrast to the plan of those opposite for high-taxing, high-spending government were they ever to get back into government—and we'll be working very hard to make sure that they don't. I am very happy to be going into an election with this as the point of difference between our parties, because this is about, as I said, letting hardworking Australians keep more money in their pockets so they decide how to spend their money.

The government do have an excellent record. I was delighted to see that just late last week it was announced that we have now created over one million jobs since coming to office, with the highest rate of jobs growth since the Howard years just over a decade ago. Our personal income tax plan will build on our good work by making personal income taxes lower, simpler and fairer. In doing so, we will providing tax relief for millions of Australians, especially low- and middle-income earners. We're doing so while repairing the budget bottom line that we inherited from those opposite, which was disastrous, to say the least—a record deficit, some $48 billion deficit.

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