Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Is there anything that sums up the Greens political party more than what we're going through right now—a performative motion full of wedge politics aimed to elicit an emotional response? I was expecting them to come up here and come out fighting. They didn't even show up! What's going on? It shows that they're performative politics at best. They put up the words and they don't back it with action. They will spread this motion out to their supporters and say how they're in Canberra fighting the good fight and they're in the Federation Chamber putting up this motion. Here we are today; it's 7.26 pm. We've got hardworking members of the Albanese government here speaking on this motion and putting the record straight, and they couldn't even be bothered to show up to debate their own motion.

That just sums up the difference between us. We come here and we work. We work to solve some of these problems that the Greens identify. They just identify the problems; they don't do much about them. They just talk about it or hold up their placards, but, when it actually comes to doing what we need to do in this place to change the lives of Australians, to make our tax system fairer and to help with the cost of living, they are no-shows—absolute no-shows. I cannot wait to tell my community about this—how the Greens perform out there in front of their supporters but then can't come here and actually have the debates that we need to move our country forward.

Like the Greens, I believe that multinationals should pay their fair share in tax. But, unlike the Greens, we actually do something about it. We came to government and made it clear that multinationals should not get away with exploiting loopholes and shifting profits offshore while hardworking Australians often pay more than some of these multinationals. For too long these big corporations have dodged loopholes and used these loopholes to dodge tax, whilst everyday Australians, like nurses, teachers and tradies—and small business owners, I might add—have to pay their fair share. That's not right. What do we do? We introduce laws to set global and domestic minimum tax for multinational corporations. We ensure that companies making profits in Australia pay tax in Australia. That is a government that works. That is a government that introduces the laws that we need, not just empty motions and no-shows here in the Federation Chamber.

This legislation was a critical step in line with our OECD global tax reforms. Under our change, any multinational enterprise with global revenues exceeding $1.2 billion will now be subject to a 15 per cent minimum tax rate. That'll end the race to the bottom on corporate tax dodging. If small businesses in particular in Ryde, Epping and Eastwood are paying tax on their profits, then multinational corporations making billions in Australia should be doing the same. This is real action. If you believed the Greens political party, you would think nothing is being done. This motion is about playing politics instead of supporting progress.

When we took office, inflation had a six in front of it; it has now fallen to something with a two in front of it. Real wages are rising again. Unemployment remains at 50-year lows, and 1.1 million jobs have been created. These numbers represent real Australians with jobs, real families with more money in their pockets and a real difference in the cost-of-living pressures that people have been facing. We have been able to deliver this economic reform and deliver increased multinational taxes while also delivering cost-of-living relief.

If you read the Greens political party motion, you would think that no Australian is getting that relief, and that is simply not true. We've had tax cuts delivered to every taxpayer—all 13.6 million of them. That's every nurse, teacher and tradie keeping more of what they earn, because we know that it's working people who drive this economy. This motion talks about Medicare as if it stood still in time, but the Greens political party know that's not the case. Labor has tripled the bulk-billing incentive—the biggest boost to Medicare in 40 years—ensuring millions more GP visits are bulk-billed and reducing out-of-pocket costs for families. We promised 50 urgent care clinics, but you know what? We've delivered more than 80—80 urgent care clinics to cut emergency room wait times and deliver cost-of-living relief.

We've committed more funding to housing in three years than the Liberals did in 10. We've committed $32 billion to deliver rental homes, social homes, affordable homes and market housing, whilst also helping those renters who want to buy their first home.

We've wiped $3 billion in student debt, with more to come if we get re-elected. We're about action here on this side. When those opposite bother to show up, all they do is talk.

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