Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Community Housing, Homelessness and Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Brand for bringing forward this MPI, because we on this side of the House, as Liberal-Nationals, know that a strong economy is essential for all Australians. It funds all the essential services that so many people rely on.

Before coming into this House, I ran my own small family-owned business and employed between 15 and 20 people. As a small business owner, I know the pressures that many small, medium and family businesses are under when employing people. When the economy slows, when times get a bit tough or when you have 6.3 per cent unemployment like we do in Queensland, the highest in the country, it's tough on small and medium businesses. We appreciate our staff. We value their contribution to our businesses and we want to make sure that they have a job going forward.

Today the Treasurer mentioned that it was the 24th anniversary yesterday of the Howard government coming to office in 1996. Those on this side of the House remember that the Keating government left the Howard-Costello government a debt of some $96 billion. Nothing has changed. Howard and Costello paid off that debt, left $50 billion in the bank, grew the Future Fund and so forth. When we came to government in 2013 the situation was far worse. We had a much higher debt, which we inherited from the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government, a fact that those opposite don't like to know. They went on an unnecessary spending spree that they claimed saved the country. What saved the country was 11 prudent years of the Howard-Costello government balancing the budget and leaving money in the bank for those opposite. Australians know this.

The reason why our government won in May was that we had a plan around the economy and that plan didn't involve taxing Australians another $387 billion in new taxes. Can you imagine where retirees would be today if this mob opposite had got in and taken away their dividend imputation, taken away the extra money they had? Where would people trying to rent in this country be if those opposite had introduced negative gearing and all the other new taxes that they wanted to implement?

No, it wasn't luck that the coalition won; it was a plan around the economy. Since we were elected in May, we proceeded with $300 billion in legislated tax cuts. That will mean that many Australians earning $90,000 a year—$95,000 a year very soon—will have their 37c tax bracket eliminated completely. What it will mean, in the not too distant future under the legislated tax cuts that have gone through, is that people earning upwards to a higher income will only pay 30c in the dollar, and that will mean more money in people's pockets for the majority of Australians. That's very important.

We also know that this government, the coalition government, the Liberal-National government, has reduced taxes for businesses. That has also been very, very important, because, when you're employing people, that all helps. I said today to the member for Curtin, over in Western Australia: 'What about your electorate in Curtin? What are we doing there to help people?' She spoke about the instant asset write-off, where businesses can immediately write off assets and get a tax deduction. She spoke about the changes through the Deregulation Taskforce to help small and medium businesses with simplification of business registers. So a local cafe in Curtin or in Petrie employing staff for the first time—they haven't done it before—can now go to servicesaustralia.gov.au and see how they do it. The information is there.

I spoke to the member for Barker, down in South Australia, who has a lot of farmers in his electorate—cattle farmers, sheep farmers, horticulture, citrus, almonds, wine, grapes. Mr Deputy Speaker Howarth, in your electorate, you would have a lot of that. By negotiating world-leading free trade agreements, the Morrison government, the coalition government, has helped the farmers of Barker to work through the non-tariff barrier, and, when exporting fruit and citrus overseas, the fruit fly-free status into countries like China has been a game changer for electorates like Barker. The member for Barker spoke about the instant asset tax write off. He spoke about the increased thresholds to $800,000 for farm management deposits, which is just fantastic. If farmers have a bumper year and take $1.1 million in earnings one year and they withdraw $300,000 and pay tax on it, they can leave $800,000 in there for future years in times of drought. They might go through three years of drought and they can withdraw that $800,000 down and then pay tax on it. That has been a game changer for farmers in Barker.

I spoke to the member for Brisbane. Our government is working hard to build a stronger recycling sector and circular economy in Australia. Prime Minister Morrison has announced that Australia will ban the export of our plastic waste and other waste streams like glass, mixed paper and tyres. The Prime Minister said, 'It's our waste; it's our responsibility, and our government sees the problem of plastics as an opportunity to create jobs.' We're currently working with state governments to create more jobs locally. The environment is very important to people in my electorate of Petrie as well. Locally, I'm installing a couple of sea bins in a couple of the local marinas. These collect plastics and so forth, which is really important.

When I spoke to the member for Hinkler, the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, he spoke about the 200 workers on site in the Adani coalmine in Queensland right know. We know that if those opposite were in government, those 200 people would not have a job. Those 200 people would not have a job under a Labor government. It's important to note that the Corio MP said, 'If thermal coal markets collapse, that would be a good thing.' And what does the member for Corio get in return for saying that? He gets promoted to Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

Before the election, the Leader of the Opposition said on radio that there was no market for thermal coal; yet here we are shipping coal and there are 200 new jobs right now in the Adani coalmine. We are shipping coal to China and India, and basically anyone with a coal-powered station, because they want our clean coal. We know that those opposite would not have provided those 200 jobs. We know that the Palaszczuk government in Queensland—which has the worst unemployment rate in the country—would not have signed off on it. They ran around like chooks with their heads cut off after a sweeping victory in Queensland. Why? Because they were caught out. There are reasons why the coalition government was elected, those opposite, and unless you wake up, you won't know. I'll tell you what: in relation to my own electorate and sporting opportunities, we're going to get a lot more.

Ms Wells interjecting—

We're going to get more for Lilley too. We're going to get a lot more opportunities. If it wasn't for people like me, member for Lilley, people like the Sandgate Hawks wouldn't have had that opportunity. It's really good for local people. I'll stand up for the Sandgate Hawks, the Peninsula Power Football Club and the Redcliffe Dolphins and every other sporting organisation around. We will get a lot more for Petrie, I can tell you that. There will be more coming. The Hobart City Deal: as the assistant minister, I can say that we have put in $1 billion.

Ms Madeleine King interjecting—

The member who raised the MPI says, 'What has the Hobart City Deal got to do with it?' It's jobs, the economy. Member for Brand, it's your MPI. We're only pumping a billion dollars into the Hobart City Deal, which should be welcomed by Tasmanians and by the member for Brand. The Morrison government's investment in Hobart is a huge boost for the economy, funding vital infrastructure in the region. It also includes a $30 million investment into community housing. I welcome that investment. We want to see more investment in community housing. We want to see more state governments supporting community housing. I welcome the safe places investment that the Morrison government is looking at right now. We've got some $200 million in new housing for women and children escaping domestic violence.

Ms Madeleine King interjecting—

Member for Brand, this is important stuff. This is what the Morrison government is doing to support the economy. It's your MPI. This is what we're doing. Finally, I welcome today's interest rate cut. It is great for young homebuyers that are paying off their home. We have also introduced the instant asset tax write-off and we're helping people—7,000 people have put in for the deposit scheme. For older Australians, because the economy's strong, we're putting more medicines on the PBS. (Time expired)

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