Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

It is, Mr Speaker. I second the motion. It is a big day for the Turnbull government. It is a big day for this Treasurer. The government are doing what they do best: they are engaging in recklessness and engaging in unfairness, and they're not very competent as they go about it. This is a government which insists on its will. Last night the Senate carried legislation which provides income tax relief for all Australians from 1 July—a good thing. But the Senate said, 'Enough is enough; no stage 3. We're taking stage 3 out. We say we're not supporting legislation which has $42 billion in costs, which grows at 12 per cent a year and which then goes entirely to the top 20 per cent of income earners. The Senate said, 'No. Enough is enough.' And the government say, 'We insist.' And not only do they insist, but they are incompetent as they go about it.

As the Manager of Opposition Business said, they voted for zero tax rates from 2024. That's what they did, with One Nation. The Labor Party and I pay tribute to the Greens for voting with us to protect tax in Australia—more economically responsible than the government of the day, the Liberals and the National Party, who said, 'That's okay.' No wonder the Treasurer wants the amendments disagreed to; he's realised what his senators have done in abolishing income tax. We know that this government is irresponsible, we know that this government doesn't want to fund essential services into the future and we know that it wants to give away this tax base for Australia's future.

This is a Treasurer who says, 'This is so urgent. It is so urgent that we pass these tax cuts for 2024.' Well, the fact of the matter is that 1 July 2024 is 72 months away. It is two parliaments away. It is 12 budget and mid-year economic statements away. This Treasurer, more than anybody else, should know that a lot can change between budget statements. It was the last budget statement where he was telling us that we needed a $44 billion tax rise, that anybody who opposed it was un-Australian and that anybody who opposed it was irresponsible. Now, in between that budget statement and the following budget, we've gone from a $44 billion tax rise to a $140 billion tax cut—a $184 billion turnaround—but this Treasurer seems to magically know what he can afford in 2024. I'll tell you why he knows it: because he knows who it is going to. It's going to Australia's high-income earners, and that's his No. 1 priority. He has the gall, he has the hide, to go to the Senate crossbench and say, 'I will hold a gun at the head of tax relief for low- and middle-income earners.' It is moderate tax relief, $10 a week, but this Treasurer is willing to hold a gun to the head and say, 'I will not let that tax relief pass unless you give me the reckless policy of stage 3.' They even got stage 2 through, but that's not enough for them. Oh, no. They want the lot. This Treasurer wants the lot. I don't think this Treasurer will be in the House in 2024, let alone be the Treasurer of Australia. He is determined to deliver it now. I'm not sure that this Prime Minister will be here in seven weeks, let alone seven years. But they are determined to deliver this, because this says it all about their priorities. They are a government who are prepared to vote against Labor's better, fairer tax cuts but insist on their own.

Under Labor's better, fairer tax cuts, I'll tell you who is better off: 73 per cent of taxpayers in New South Wales; 74 per cent of taxpayers in Victoria; 75 per cent of taxpayers in Queensland; 71 per cent of taxpayers in Western Australia—you might have heard of the voters of Perth and Fremantle, although you're not turning up; 76 per cent of taxpayers in South Australia; 77 per cent of taxpayers in Tasmania—many Tasmanians will have the chance to have a say about this in a few weeks; 75 per cent of taxpayers in the ACT; and 76 per cent of taxpayers in the Northern Territory. All those taxpayers will be better off under Labor's tax plan, and they don't need that tax relief held hostage so that this Treasurer can engage in his fiscal recklessness.

History will not judge this government well. History will not judge this Treasurer well. When tax cuts are baked into the budget numbers, this Treasurer's incompetence, recklessness and addiction to unfairness will be judged by history.

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