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

I thank the member for Mackellar for his question. He knows that the personal tax plan that we put in this year's budget will ensure that all working Australians get the benefit of tax relief. That's what our tax plan is designed to do for some 70,000 in the member's own electorate, which is replicated in the electorates of members all around this chamber. All working Australians under our tax plan will benefit from tax relief. This tax relief starts, most importantly, with supporting low- to middle-income earners. That's where the first priority is. But, as we know, our tax plan then goes on to deal with genuine and real problems in the tax system over the period of the plan.

There's a key difference when it comes to what we're doing on tax and what the Labor Party are doing. Our tax plan does not rely on taxing other Australians higher. Our tax plan does not seek to pit one group of Australians against another group of Australians. What our tax plan does is benefit all working Australians. It doesn't depend on ramping up taxes on some people and seeking to demonise some people. What it does is recognise that all Australians work hard, all Australians are making a stronger economy in Australia and all Australians deserve to benefit from that tax relief. Having started with low- to middle-income earners, we move on to deal with the issues of bracket creep and lower taxes—and the member for Corio, I'm glad to hear, enjoys that same view. I've found my long-lost twin, perhaps, on the other side, Mr Speaker! He shares these views so much that I welcome him to come and join us on this side. There are no butter knives over here for you to have to worry about!

What's important is that our plan delivers for all Australians; it's not about creating winners and losers. The Leader of the Opposition's entire approach is designed to try and set Australians against each other by creating winners and losers when it comes to tax. He wants to tax some more; he wants to rip into their pockets. Let's think about whose pockets he's ripping into. Is he ripping into big multinationals? No; they voted against multinational tax reform. Is he ripping into big corporates? No. He's ripping into the pockets of retirees and pensioners, and he's saying, 'I'm going to tax you $5 billion more every year.'

Mr Khalil interjecting—

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