Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Labor welcomes the Treasurer's commitment last night to talk to the states about removing the GST on women's sanitary products. Therefore, will the Prime Minister support excluding women's sanitary products from the GST in return for extending the GST to Netflix and downloads?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the Treasurer indicated last night, there is a long history to this matter. Perhaps if we had our time over again, things would have been done differently—but we are in the situation that we are in. I can fully understand why some people, including people on both sides of this parliament, would want to remove the GST from health products of this type. I can fully understand that.

Ms King interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Ballarat will desist.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

But, as the Leader of the Opposition well knows, the GST is a tax which is imposed for the states. It is spent by the states. Changes to the GST are absolutely a matter for the states and territories. If all the states and territories can agree, obviously we are happy to hear from them. So I suggest to the Leader of the Opposition that he might like to talk to the Premier of South Australia, he might like to talk to the Premier of Queensland and he might like to talk to the Premier of Victoria. If they all agree, well, then they can have a discussion with the premiers of Western Australia, New South Wales and Tasmania, and then all of them can have a discussion with the Commonwealth.

Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on how the budget will support Australian small business and create jobs.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am tempted to say that the member for Brisbane was an outstanding small business person, but her small business became a pretty big business over the years because of her great abilities at running it. I do thank the member for Brisbane for her question. I also thank her for arranging my visit on Sunday to Dolci Sapori, which makes the best Italian sweets in Queensland. The very best Italian sweets in Queensland are from Dolci—with an 'i' not an 'e'—Dolci Sapori. It is an absolutely outstanding place, and thank you for taking me there.

This budget is the latest step in the government's plan to build a strong, safe and prosperous future for all Australians. Every member of this parliament should be pleased that, since September 2013, more than a quarter of a million jobs have been created because this government is open for business and, under this government, Australia is open for business. We are particularly open for small business because small business is 96 per cent of all business. Small business creates about 50 per cent of all employment in this country. Small business is the engine room of the economy. As we know that small businesspeople mortgage their homes to invest, to employ and to serve their communities. When small business does well, everyone in our country does well.

The public have certainly noticed, the Australian people have certainly noticed, that this is the best budget ever for small business. They have noticed the instant asset write-off. They certainly noticed it at Dolci Sapori. This government does not just make it easier for small business to create jobs; it helps unemployed people to take the jobs that are there. It changes the economics of employing people. Some of the budget initiatives include a $1.2 billion national wage subsidy pool to target long-term unemployment. As well, there is a private sector Work for the Dole program. If someone has been unemployed for six months, they can do four weeks of work experience with a private sector employer while staying on benefits. This budget is not just good for jobs; it is good for job seekers as well. It is a budget for small business, it is a budget for confidence and it is a budget for jobs. The best form of welfare is work. We understand that. I hope members opposite appreciate it.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Independent NATSEM modelling shows a typical family will be more than $6,000 a year worse off because of the Prime Minister's budget.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There will be silence on my right!

Mr Dutton interjecting—

The member for Deakin will desist!

Mr Morrison interjecting—

There will be silence on my right, and that includes the Minister for Social Services. The Leader of the Opposition has the call.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Shall I start again, Madam Speaker?

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You may.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Independent NATSEM modelling shows a typical family will be more than $6,000 a year worse off because of the Prime Minister's budget. Does the Prime Minister deny that families will be worse off because of his budget cuts?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The families of Australia will be better off as a result of this budget. The economy will be stronger as a result of this budget, and every single Australian will benefit from a stronger economy. The safe, strong and prosperous future that this government is building for all Australians will be underpinned by the budget that we have just brought down.

Ms Owens interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Parramatta will desist!

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday we asked members opposite to release the modelling, and it is now pretty obvious why they were so reluctant to release it. As we suspected, the NATSEM analysis fails to take into account any of the benefits involved in moving from welfare to work. It is a static analysis that does not take into account the benefits of moving from welfare to work—that is point number one. But there is more. Point number two is that the modelling does not model this year's budget. NATSEM, probably concerned that they were being verballed by members opposite, put the modelling up on their website and it is now absolutely crystal clear that, quite contrary to what members opposite claimed yesterday, this is not a model of the 2015 budget.

Most significantly, the analysis includes measures that the Labor Party actually supports and, in some cases, has voted for in the parliament. This modelling has been used and abused by members opposite. It is no wonder that NATSEM put the modelling—the modelling that the Labor Party was trying to hide—up on their website, because NATSEM appreciated that their work was being used and abused by members opposite. This government is determined to do the right thing by the people of Australia. If you do the right thing by small businesses you do the right thing by jobs, and if you do the right thing by jobs you do the best thing for the people of Australia.