Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the MPI. Like the member for Fadden, I've been here long enough to remember the wreckage that the Labor Party visited on the Australian economy in the six years that they were in government. But, firstly, on the member for Fenner's comment about the member for Fadden: the member for Fadden was completely exonerated, and I think that needs to be put on the record. If you want to muckrake about a member in this place, you should also add that he was completely exonerated. If you'd like to repeat your muckraking outside this place, go for it.

As Liberals, we know that a strong economy is the foundation for everything else. This government has continued to keep our promise of ensuring that the economy works for those who want to have a go. But it has to work for everyday Australians as well, as the MPI says. We on this side of the House understand the economy. We understand that it isn't governments that create all the jobs, but we create the environment that gives employers and small and medium enterprises around the country the confidence to employ people. We've seen record employment over the last few years, and we've created 1.2 million jobs since 2013.

The three million small and medium-sized Australian businesses that employ around seven million Australians are the backbone of our economy. We on this side of the chamber understand that to help all Australians and to help our economy prosper we need to back these businesses every step of the way, instead of denigrating them every step of the way like those opposite do. I know that because I was in small business long enough to know that when the Liberal-National coalition was in government small businesses always prospered. But in 1992, during the Hawke-Keating government, when we had the recession we had to have, we saw companies, wholesale, go under. I'm lucky enough to remember that, but there are plenty of people who don't remember what the Labor Party visit upon the Australian economy every time they get into government. The coalition government is committed to keeping our economy strong, keeping Australians safe and keeping our borders strong.

Our plan for the Australian economy, which affects everyday Australians—and this is what the MPI is about—is to give tax relief to encourage and reward working Australians. Fact: over 10 million Australians received tax relief from 1 July. Fact: 4.4 million Australians received the full $530 benefit of the new low- and middle-income tax offset. The government is backing small businesses to create more jobs. As I said, the government doesn't create the jobs; the businesses do. We create the healthy environment for businesses to grow and employ people. Fact: we've reduced the small-business tax rate from 30 per cent to 27.5 per cent, the lowest level in 50 years, and we're reducing it further to 25 per cent. Our plan is to work with the 1.2 million more Australians in jobs since 2013. We're fixing the budget, with a $4.1 billion surplus in 2019-20, the first since the Howard government. Fact: cumulative surpluses over the next four years will be $30.3 billion, around double what was announced in last year's budget. That is the work being done by the government to enhance the budget and the economy. We are making sure that everyday Australians are benefitting from the strong economy provided by the coalition government.

Now let's look at Labor's facts—and I was here when they had the carbon tax and the mining tax, and what great winners for revenue they were! We know that Labor are going to introduce $200 billion worth of taxes. I don't know how that's going to work for everyday Australians. They will impose a wages tax on Australian workers of $70 billion by repealing the government's legislated personal income tax cuts; reimpose the budget repair levy, around $7 billion—an acknowledgment that Labor never plan to deliver a surplus; and impose new housing taxes on your property, around $32 billion, which will hit mum-and-dad investors. They will create a risk for the housing market with their negative gearing plan and increase to capital gains tax by 50 per cent. That will affect everyday Australians. They will introduce a new tax on retirement savings, a $55 billion retiree tax, by removing refundability of franking credits for 900,000 Australians. They will also impose a $19 million superannuation tax. That is another fact that will affect everyday Australians.

As the previous speaker said: under a Liberal coalition government the economy will be strong; under Labor it will be weak.

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