Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's great to be able to rise and speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Personal Income Tax Plan) Bill 2018, and I support the bill. I support the bill the way it is, the way the Treasurer delivered it in the budget just a week or so ago, because it delivers a fairer Australia and a better Australia for 94 per cent of taxpayers. Ninety-four per cent of taxpayers will benefit, and I've got to say that the government has a strong plan here: a plan to help the people we represent, to help all Australians, to build infrastructure, to create more jobs and to let Australians keep more of their own money. It's their tax, not the Australian government's tax. Those opposite think that what the Australian people earn they have a right to take, and they want to keep increasing taxes.

The other thing I learnt as a seven-year-old when I started judo in Bracken Ridge is that you never lie even if it means punishment for telling the truth. That was one of the golden rules in judo: you never lie even if it means punishment for telling the truth. I did judo for about 20 years, but I'm amazed that I hear opposition members from the Labor Party come into this place every day and fabricate the truth. We hear members opposite talking about cuts to health, cuts to schools and cuts to whatever. The fact—for you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and for the people in my electorate and the people listening—is that health funding is rising every year. Every single year, health funding goes up, and we're doing some great things in health. We're not doing what the Labor Party said 700 days ago that we'd do, selling off Medicare. In fact, Medicare is strengthened. Bulk-billing is up. State governments right around the country, including in Queensland, are receiving more. We have more funds for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and for schools in my electorate. We hear those opposite talk about a $17 billion cut. What I learnt in judo is never to lie even if it means punishment for telling the truth. The actual fact is that schools funding is being increased by $24 billion, and every single one of the 50 schools in my electorate gets an increase, not last year or the year before but every year. It goes up in 2017. It goes up in 2018. It goes up again in 2019. It goes up again in 2020. For those listening, I just really want to get that point across—that we should be telling the truth.

The fact is that those things go up, and we're only able to do that because the Turnbull coalition government and the budget delivered by the Treasurer, the Hon. Scott Morrison, the member for Cook, have delivered on increased jobs. We know that there have been a million jobs created in the last five years. We've seen increases in income tax come in. We've seen company tax revenue come in, despite the fact that the opposition voted against multinational tax avoidance measures before the 2016 election in the 44th Parliament. So we've had this plan around jobs, the economy and bringing the budget back to surplus, which is important for future generations. All that's being delivered in the budget.

That's in stark contrast to what the opposition are delivering and what their plan is. The people of Australia have a clear choice: lower taxes, better management of the economy, a plan to create jobs, making sure that we have reward for effort for those wanting to get ahead and eliminating bracket creep, or the Labor opposition with a plan for $200 billion in new taxes. They want to continue to keep people down. They want to keep them dependent on the government. I don't believe that. I believe everyone has the potential to do well, and I'll come back to that soon. The $200 billion that the Labor Party want to increase is right across the board. It's on housing, it's on family businesses, it's on large businesses, it's on retirees and it's on income taxes on individuals. That's just some of what they want to do. They're not happy with what we're paying today or the revenue we have today; they want to increase it by another $200 billion.

What does it mean when the Labor Party puts new taxes on housing? Does it mean it will push rents higher for the people in my electorate who are renting—in Deception Bay or in Clontarf where I live? What does it mean for the family that's on $60,000 a year and currently paying $400 a week—or $20,000 a year— in rent, which is a third of their income? Does that mean their rent will go up when Labor scraps all these changes, as it wants to do? Will it lower house prices? What does it mean for a young couple that's newly married that's bought a house for $350,000 and put down a $30,000 deposit and owes $320,000? Let's say the husband or the wife gets a transfer and they need to sell. Is their house still going to be worth $320,000 when these changes come in under Labor or will it go back to $300,000 when they've got to sell, so they make a 20 grand loss? These are the things—policy on the run like the NBN on the back of a coaster that Kevin Rudd did and so forth—that the Labor Party doesn't think through.

How will the Labor Party's attack on family businesses and trusts work out? We heard the previous speaker, the member for Shortland, say, 'Adult kids are rorting the system with trusts.' This is the way the Labor Party thinks: that everyone is out there rorting the system. Running a family business—and I've run businesses—can be tough, and both partners chip in. Children can chip in too; they letterbox drop and so forth for the family. The parents help out with bookkeeping, finances or babysitting. But the Labor Party go, 'No, we're just going to whack up taxes on trusts.' What does that mean for the mum-and-dad family businesses out there that are listening to this broadcast? I'll tell you what it means. It means that they've got a clear choice at the next election not to vote for Labor but to vote for the coalition, which is managing the economy well, and a Prime Minister and government with a plan that we're committed to.

What does it mean for large businesses under the Leader of the Opposition's $200 billion in new taxes? What does that mean for jobs? We know that the statistics don't lie. The statistics show that since we've reduced company tax for businesses under $50 million we've seen 415,000 jobs created in the last 12 months. Do you think we just want to give away tax for the fun of it? We really believe that by reducing company tax and making it more in line with what's happening in other countries, like our nearest neighbour Indonesia on 25 per cent—remember, we're on 30 per cent and all we want to do is lower it to 25 per cent—or the US on 21 per cent or the UK on 17 per cent, it'll help people in my electorate. It'll help with more jobs. It'll help with more investment, more equipment and more building on the premises to help the plumbers and the tradies and so forth. It helps keep those large businesses onshore too. We want to see more businesses remain onshore. They're already battling higher electricity prices and fairly high wages in Australia, which is good. We don't want to see more businesses go offshore to lower company tax rates overseas. We want to keep them here. The government's aware of that, and that's why it's reducing company tax. So when the member opposite and others get up and say, '$80 billion worth of tax cuts,' they're darn right. We are the party of lower taxes, not just in company tax but in income tax. Ninety-four per cent of Australians will benefit from the coalition government's income tax plan that I'm speaking on here, and that's really important.

I haven't finished on Labor's $200 billion yet. They also want to hit the self-funded retirees—the people who have been saving. They want to hit the retirees as well. I had a lady come up to me in North Lakes the other day. She's one of those people who have done the right thing: she's saved, she's got money in the bank, she owns her own house and she gets about $14,000 a year from shares that she was left from her parents when they passed. That $14,000 a year, she'll lose the lot under Mr Shorten. She's going to lose all of it. Not some of it; the lot, because she earns under $18,200, and that's what the tax-free threshold is. She said to me, 'Luke, what am I going to do?' I said: 'Don't vote Labor, for starters. Vote for me. I'm sticking up for you.' This will be the impact of what the Labor Party wants to do with their high-taxing, high-spending agenda. I'm not for it. I don't support it. I'm saying to the people in my electorate: 'We have a much better plan. We believe in you and that everyone can get ahead.'

They also want to hit high-income earners. They think, 'Oh, well, people on high incomes can afford it.' If you're a family earning $190,000, it doesn't matter that you're already paying $58,732 in tax plus the Medicare levy; the Labor Party want to charge you another two per cent, because $58,000 is not enough. They love to use the example of millionaires—'All the millionaires out there in Australia, they're all getting away with it.' If you're earning $1 million, you're currently paying $428,000 in tax plus Medicare. But $428,000 in tax isn't enough; the Labor Party want to hit you again. Whether it's housing, family businesses, large businesses, retirees or individual income tax, the Labor Party's going to hit you. That's all you need to know, okay? They want to tax and they want to spend. That's what they want to do, whereas we believe in lower taxes and making sure that 94 per cent of Australians will be rewarded for their effort.

What the Treasurer brought down the other night was lower, fairer and simpler. It's in three stages, as we know. There's immediate tax relief in the 2018-19 tax year, the next 12 months, that will deliver up to $530 a week extra to low-income earners. That all adds up. Another $10 a week—if your rent goes up $5 a week, you've still got $5 extra left over. That's what we're delivering right now, and that will affect 66,000 people in my electorate alone. Consider the rest of the country. We're also making sure that bracket creep is annihilated. We know that after $80,000 it used to go up to 37 cents on every dollar you earned. The Turnbull government has already increased it so that you're still on the 32½ cent rate up to $87,000. We're now going to increase it to $90,000. Then, in 2024, six years from now, we want to make sure that 94 per cent of Australians pay no more than one-third of their income in tax. I know a guy who lives in my electorate that just eight years ago was earning about $40,000 a year, and today he earns $80,000 a year. He's doubled what he earns. There's no reason why people currently earning $70,000 won't be earning $130,000 six years from now. I believe in people and the potential to work hard to get ahead, and we know that the Labor Party don't. If you earn over $110,000 or $120,000, you get nothing. Nothing for you; they're just going to tax you more.

Under our plan, it's about lower taxes and reward for effort—after all, it's your money, not ours. I often hear stories of students or a husband or wife that are working, trying to provide for their family. They have a day job and they might do a bit of extra work—they might do a night job, a weekend job or overtime—and they go: 'Sometimes it's not worth it, because I get hit with higher taxes. They're taking a whole lot more out of my pay packet.' Well, our plan kills that. We're saying that you can earn up to $200,000 and pay no more than a third in tax. That's fair, because even if you're earning $50,000, and it was a third—it's not a third, because you get the first $18,200 tax free and so forth—you will pay a lot more even if it's a 32 per cent rate if you're earning $180,000. Those over $200,000 will still be on the 45 per cent tax rate.

It's a vision that we're laying out. It's been well thought out by the Treasurer. We've seen the benefits of our plan in relation to jobs and cracking down on multinationals. We've increased revenue, balancing the budget next year so we're not leaving future generations—my children, your children and younger Australians—with future debt and deficit. That's still on the agenda, but it's making sure that we deliver now immediate relief for those most in need—the 66,000 in my electorate.

It's about the government saying to the people listening: 'We believe in you. We don't want you to be dependent on the government. We want you to get ahead. We're not going to keep hitting you with higher taxes and more effort.' Finally, in summing up, I remember when I was seven being taught at judo the golden rule: never lie even if it means punishment for telling the truth. The next opposition speaker who gets up and says that we're cutting education and health should remember that golden rule.

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