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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Ever since the government announced the 32½ per cent backpacker tax in the 2015 budget, it has been mired in complete and utter chaos. Given that the Senate has once again endorsed the sensible compromise of a 10½ per cent backpacker tax, when will the Prime Minister put policy above politics, take up Labor's offer to deliver this sensible compromise, and just clean up this mess?

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

The Leader of the Opposition, when he is not pretending to be a champion of the poor and oppressed, when he is not pretending to be a tribune of the people, claims to be standing up for Australian workers, denouncing the horror of foreigners coming to work in Australia, stealing Australian jobs. Oh, his patriotic heart beats so hard! But, then, when it comes to backpackers, all of whom are foreigners, he wants them to pay 10.5 per cent tax. He wants them to pay lower tax than an Australian working in the field alongside them.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

The member for Sydney!

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

If he has his way, his message to Australians who want to go to work picking fruit is, 'You are going to pay a marginal rate of tax nearly twice as high as the foreigner from Korea, Taiwan, Norway, Sweden or Germany working next to you.' That is his idea of fairness. The hypocrisy of this Leader of the Opposition knows no bounds. He has no regard for consistency. He has no regard for accuracy. He is concerned only with seizing one political opportunity after another—no principles, no integrity, no consistency, no accuracy and no regard for the truth. Except there is one truth we all know about this Leader of the Opposition: he will stop at nothing to pursue his own political self-interest.