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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, what is fair about giving very high income earners a tax cut in tonight's budget, with someone earning $300,000 receiving $2,600 in tax cuts every year while a typical family loses $5,000 a year?

Mrs McNamara interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Dobell will cease interjecting.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question, and I am glad that he has raised the issue of fairness.

Opposition Member:

An opposition member interjecting—

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How fair is it to make promises to the Australian people without having the funds to pay for them? How fair is it to deny ordinary working Australians the ability to buy an investment property and claim a net rental loss against their income?

Opposition members interjecting—

And they are scoffing. They are all scoffing, including the ones who own investment properties—they are also scoffing. They are scoffing at the people who, after the first year of a Labor government, will not be able to do what they have done.

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Sydney will cease interjecting.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What their policy does is slam the door shut on aspiration. Let us talk about fairness and their negative gearing proposal. Under their proposal, a person earning $50,000, $60,000, $70,000 or $80,000 a year—average earnings are $80,000 a year—will not be able to deduct a net rental loss against their personal income. They will not be able to deduct the net loss of an investment in shares or in a business they have started to get going to stop being an employee and to be independent. They might have wanted to go into the trucking business. They might have wanted to be an owner-driver. Of course, the Labor Party has other ways of putting owner-drivers out of business.

Opposition members interjecting—

They had put 50,000 of them out of business until the coalition put them back into business. That is what Labor wants to do: slam the door shut on that aspiration. That is the absolute, inevitable effect of their policy. But if somebody has $50,000 or $100,000 of investment income from dividends, from interest or from rents, they will be able to negatively gear. Under the Labor Party's policy—

Opposition members interjecting—

They call out, 'What about the workers?' What Labor will do is deny a basic economic right, a basic freedom, to workers for people to offset against their income and allow those with massive—or, indeed, modest—investment incomes to do so. And they have the gall to talk about fairness.

Mr Brendan O'Connor interjecting—

We are setting Australia up with a budget that is for jobs and growth. It is fair and will bring our finances back into balance, and that is fair to every Australian.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I did not sit the Prime Minister down through that wall of interjections, but the level of interjections is unacceptable. I had asked the member for Sydney to cease interjecting and she continued to interject right through the answer. The member for Sydney is warned, as are the members for Griffith, Wakefield and Charlton.

Mr Brendan O'Connor interjecting—

The member for Gorton will come to the dispatch box and withdraw that unparliamentary remark, and he is warned as well.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.