Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In this debate on Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2018-2019, I wish to make a few remarks about the budget, and, in particular, I want to talk about tax. At the heart of this budget is what I'd call the Turnbull trickle-down trifecta—that is, massive tax cuts for the wealthy, very large tax cuts for large corporates and, of course, wage suppression for everybody else. At a time when global growth is closing in on four per cent—at least according to the latest OECD figures—in Australia, GDP growth is struggling to reach 2½ per cent. We've got the best global conditions in more than a decade, and this government is out there celebrating its enduring mediocrity. Over the last five years of Mr Abbott and Mr Turnbull, real wages have flatlined.

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