Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian economy might be growing, but workers' share of the economic pie is now at a record low. While business is booming, wages aren't even keeping pace with the cost of living. But rather than fixing stalling wages and ballooning living costs, this government actively employs policies to drive down workers' pay and boost corporate returns even further.

This is a government with some of the most diabolically twisted priorities you could imagine. While those opposite pander to the every wish of big business, they have simultaneously been waging a savage war on workers. Just look at their track record: I note the cut to penalty rates, that they opposed increases to the minimum wage and that they reject plans to reform unfair labour hire practices. They try, relentlessly, to cripple workers' ability to organise and negotiate outcomes for themselves and they refuse to act on excessive tax breaks that largely benefit high-income earners but which aren't accessible to the majority of workers. They spend every last penny of political capital they've ever had in trying to rip tens of billions of dollars out of the budget for corporate tax cuts. And still today they don't have a single credible policy to address the dire wage stagnation facing this country.

Last week, the national accounts revealed exactly what those grossly unfair policies have led to: a dangerously distorted economy, where corporate profits are now growing at five times faster than wages. While business recorded exceptional profits of 8.8 per cent on average, average wage growth was only 1.6 per cent, well below inflation. And anyone who believes the government when they say their income tax plan will make a different is in for a rude shock. Mr Morrison's tax plan will indeed be a boom for the wealthy. But for low-income workers—the people who really need and deserve a tax break? Well, they're expected to be grateful for the offering of the crumbs under the table.

Just take the case of a surgeon earning $200,000. She'll get a massive tax cut of $7,225 a year, while a carer earning $30,000 is less than $4 a week better off. That's it—a measly $4. That isn't fair and it isn't right. Australians deserve a government focused on growth that benefits all Australians, not just the top end of town. That's exactly what Labor's tax plan delivers. Under Labor's plan for bigger, better and fairer income tax cuts, 10 million workers will be better off. With inequality at a 75-year high, our tax plan is unashamedly focused on fairness and helping low- and middle-income workers with genuine tax relief. In my home city of Newcastle, 64,000 workers will be $928 a year better off under Labor than they are now. For the average household, this means an extra $400 compared to what the government is offering. In stark contrast, 60 per cent of the benefits of the Prime Minister's plan will end up in the pockets of high-income earners.

But Labor's plan isn't just better for workers, it's better for the budget. According to official figures published on Friday, gross debt now sits at $534.9 billion. This is a record high, and almost double what it was when the Liberals came to office in 2013. So much for being good economic managers! But for a group of people who couldn't finish a sentence—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 12 : 33 to 12 : 48

But, for a group of people who couldn't finish a sentence without squealing about the debt and deficit disaster not so long ago, they've been remarkably quiet about the state of the books of late. Their tax plan shows that they are much more focused on bestowing billions on high-income earners than on reducing the debt. But Labor doesn't think it sensible or responsible to be handing out tax cuts to top income earners at a budgetary cost of many billions of dollars. We understand that every dollar of revenue you forgo is a dollar you can't spend on health, education or budget repair.

While the Morrison government remains committed to cutting from those who can't afford it to give to those who don't need it, Labor will take a different path. We will deliver genuine, targeted tax relief to low- and middle-income workers and proper funding for critical public services and will pay back more of the debt faster. Only Labor can be relied on to deliver a fairer, more sustainable tax system for all Australians.

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