Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The hide of the shadow Treasurer! The hide of this man today, to come to this dispatch box and talk about working- and middle-class Australians on a day when he stood up and said to 10 million Australians, 'We want a bit more of your money and we are going to deny you a tax cut.' That's what this shadow Treasurer got up and said today, and now he is desperately trying to scramble and desperately trying to justify it. But, once again, we see a shadow Treasurer who just wants to reach his hands a bit deeper into the pockets of hardworking Australians.

We see it time and time again. We saw the bluster of the shadow Treasurer at the dispatch box—the bluster, the faux-hairy-chested shadow Treasurer, running around the country talking about his faux class welfare. The only people that the shadow Treasurer wants to go after are those who work hard or those who are vulnerable. He is running around the country talking about going after billionaires and millionaires. Who are the groups that he has gone after? Who are the two groups that contribute the most to the $220 billion of additional taxes as proposed by this shadow Treasurer?

Well, it's not all of the millionaires and the billionaires; it's not the Apples and Googles of the world. The two groups that this shadow Treasurer's going after, the two that contribute the most to his cash grab, are retirees, with his retirees tax; and small-business owners, who own small retail shops, who own cafes and who might employ one or two people.

Dr Aly interjecting—

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