Kym Richardson (Kingston, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Treasurer, the most integral part of the coalition team. Would the Treasurer inform the House of new—

Bob McMullan (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Federal/State Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The standing orders make it clear that it is unparliamentary to put ironic expressions into questions.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say to the member for Fraser that, while he may raise a valid point of order, if the chair were to apply that rule in all cases I am sure many questions would not be allowed. The honourable member for Kingston will begin his question and get straight to his question.

Kym Richardson (Kingston, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Would the Treasurer inform the House of new proposals to reform tax and welfare arrangements? Who is likely to benefit from such proposals?

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kingston for his question and, in the presence of the gallery, say he is undoubtedly the best member for Kingston that this parliament has ever seen. And so says the gallery, Mr Speaker—carried by acclamation!

It is well known that the Liberal and National parties believe in keeping taxes low. That is why we have cut income tax. It is why we have cut company tax. It is why we have cut capital gains tax. It is why we got the abolition of financial institutions duty, bank account debits tax, and stamp duty on shares. It is why we abolished all exit taxes on superannuation for people over 60. That was a great breakthrough. As I said to the House yesterday, if you are on $30,000, your top marginal tax rate under the coalition government is 15c, whereas, under the Labor Party, on $30,000 your top marginal tax rate was 34c, which is more than double the coalition rate.

There has been a very interesting guessing game going on as to whether or not Labor has a tax policy. There has been a very, very interesting guessing game going on. We had the member for Perth yesterday suggesting that Labor does have a tax policy. He said it has all been prepared and it is ready to go. It is in the hands of the member for Lilley; it is in the coop. He was asked about it by David Speers yesterday:

SPEERS: ... you’re talking about let’s bring on the campaign.  Time’s up you said today and yet we haven’t seen things like your tax policy.

SMITH: Well, and there’ll be a whole range of areas both in my portfolio and others where there’ll be announcements in the days and weeks…

So there is a tax policy! This sent me looking.

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Tanner interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Melbourne!

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Tanner interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Melbourne is warned!

Arch Bevis (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Homeland Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Bevis interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Brisbane is warned!

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Where else would you find a tax policy but in Labor’s arts policy! In New directions for the arts, you find on page 6, under the heading ‘Supporting Australian Artists’, that Labor will review the current state of artists’ incomes—add that one to the review! That is No. 68, I think! It says that Labor ‘will review the current state of artists’ incomes and introduce initiatives that enable artists currently on welfare greater opportunity to produce work’. I will repeat that: artists who are on welfare need greater opportunity to produce work. You might say to yourself, ‘If you’re on welfare, you would have a lot of time to produce work if you were an artist.’

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Garrett interjecting

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Kingsford Smith said that I would never have thought of something like this. Well, blow me down! I never have thought of something like this: that somebody on welfare needs more time to produce art! What are the responsibilities of someone who is on welfare? Do they have to turn up at the office at 8 am and take them away from their easel? What exactly is keeping them from producing their art? Here we have the classic rock star turned tax adviser: ‘Poor old artists—they are on welfare and they do not have enough time to paint. We had better intervene.’

Let me tell you what you do have to do if you are on welfare. Here are your obligations: you have to keep a job diary, which would ask you to record 10 job search efforts every fortnight. I do not think that would get in the way of the next Mona Lisa. I do not think that is so onerous that somebody who is on welfare needs more time to produce their art. Listen to this:

Labor will develop a ‘Social Security and the Arts’ policy that harmonises current Australia Council, Centrelink and Australian Tax Office rules and determines the most equitable way to treat earnings and royalty payments for artists currently receiving welfare.

Here we have another major problem in the tax system: if you are on welfare, you have difficulty receiving your royalty payments and they have to be harmonised between Centrelink and the ATO!

A lot of people out there who are working hard and paying their taxes think that this is not the No. 1 problem of the Australian taxation system. There are a lot of families that are raising kids that do not think harmonising royalty payments with welfare for artists is the No. 1 priority of an incoming government, and that is because there are a lot of people that think Labor rock stars are not the people who understand where the Australian taxation system has to go in the future. Let me tell you where it has to go: it has to go to looking after families, getting income tax down, making sure people can have jobs and making sure that welfare is available for those that need a helping hand. That is where Australia is and that is where the coalition is.