David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

There we go. We've just had a succession of speakers from the other side talking down the Australian economy. I feel for the member for Rankin. The opposition budgetary plan that they brought forward to the last election was wholeheartedly rejected by the Australian public. I'd like to congratulate the Australian public for showing good common sense. They realised that the plan was to bring in taxes on their retirement savings, taking their franked dividend refunds away, to change the super rules and to change negative gearing on their investment properties. There were all these taxes that the opposition were going to bring in. That was their plan.

But what we have actually done is grow the pie. We have grown the economy. We've got over 1.4 million jobs over the last six years. In the figures last August, there were 34,700 more jobs. That's more people in employment. Economic growth figures show 1.4 per cent growth. We have also achieved, as previous speakers have outlined, getting people off income dependence on the government. We have the lowest number of people on income support, by about 200,000. We've grown the pie. Our revenue has increased even in the face of global headwinds.

We are a trading nation. Our biggest trading partner, China, is in the middle of a trade war with one of our biggest investors. Lots of economies are being affected by that, but we have still managed to grow the economic pie. That's not to say that people aren't under mortgage stress; they are. People have big mortgages these days. But we have grown employment. We have got many more people working. Even in my electorate, the small area labour market figures show a reduction in unemployment across the board, and I hope it will continue. A lot of small businesses that depend on mums and dads are going to have mums and dads in our electorate who are getting a tax refund because of our low- and middle-income tax offset.

Most people in my electorate don't earn $90,000. Most of them earn less than that. We have a much lower profile in total income compared to some of the metro electorates. These low- and middle-income tax offsets will be a great help to them. Getting $1,080 in their tax refund will be a big bonus. If both partners are working, that's over $2,000 that they can use to pay off their mortgage or put into other goods and services that they require for their family. I feel sorry for the member for Rankin. He was lumbered with trying to sell $387 billion worth of extra taxes on the economy.

We've also stimulated a lot of the small businesses, which are the biggest employers in my part of the country, with lower tax rates. Businesses with turnover under $50 million, which is just about every business in my electorate, are getting the ability to instantly write off assets of up to $30,000 that they purchased in one year. That will improve their cash flow.

One in five jobs come out of us being a trading nation. International trade grows jobs and grows employment. What have we done over this last 6½ years? We've got free trade agreements with China, Japan, Korea, Peru and Hong Kong, and we're negotiating with the EU. In particular we are still managing—even in the face of the drought—to grow agriculture, which is one of our big earners.

All through this period, we have defied what the other side are trying to get across in their narrative. They're trying to talk the economy down. They're not doing anyone any favours. But we have got the basics right. We have reduced the deficit down to zero this year, ahead of schedule, by increasing our tax takes from multinationals, who are now paying their fair share of tax. We have got many more people earning a wage, and so they're paying tax. And the biggest growth in employment has been in the small-business space, which is usually the engine of local economies in regional Australia. So hearing the other side talk down our achievements— (Time expired)

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