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

My question is to the Prime Minister. The Liberal Party's 2016 election policy document promised 'lower taxes for families'. So how is it fair that the Prime Minister has kept his promise for millionaire families but broken it for low-and middle-income families, who will have to pay more in tax due to this Prime Minister's budget?

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

The coalition delivered tax cuts for Australian families. We delivered them! We did not just talk about them, we delivered them—tax cuts for Australians on middle incomes. And we have also delivered tax cuts for small-and medium-size businesses, which employ collectively half of the Australian private sector workforce. Three million businesses are enjoying tax cuts now and over the next couple of years as the threshold increases. They employ half of the Australians in the private sector.

The Leader of the Opposition wants to roll that back—to claw that back! He is going to go to those businesses which are getting a break, which are getting a tax break and are able to invest more and to employ more, and he is going to say, 'We want your money!' A Labor government is going to put up their taxes—that is what he wants to do. That is his commitment.

Our commitment is to deliver a budget that is fair, that defends the vital services Australians need and which provides the opportunity for them to get ahead. And we have done exactly that. We are delivering those tax cuts to Australian businesses which, as the Leader of the Opposition knows—because they are his own words—deliver more investment, higher productivity and more jobs. He said it. He said it very well! He was on message there, and he was right!

We are delivering that. We are guaranteeing Medicare. We are funding the National Disability Insurance Scheme. How fair is it to do what the Leader of the Opposition does—to talk warmly and compassionately about disabilities but not to put the money there to pay for them? At some point you have to put up the money to pay for it. He failed to do that, but we have.

Then, of course, we have seen their hypocrisy and the inconsistency with schools funding, where for years they talked about needs based funding and delivered the exact reverse. And now we are delivering on the precise vision that David Gonski represented—consistent transparency and needs based funding. We are delivering it!

The Labor Party would of course like to have a top marginal rate of 49½ per cent. This is a party that condemned the temporary deficit levy when it was proposed. They said it was a deceit tax, then they finally voted for it with a sunset clause so that it ended on 30 June this year. Labor voted for it and the parliament voted for it. It is not being abolished; it is expiring in accordance with an act of parliament, which Labor voted for. Labor supported it! So that is yet another inconsistency and another hypocrisy from this mob opposite.

Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on what the government is doing to fully fund the services Australians rely on while growing the economy and generating jobs? Are there any threats to the government's approach?

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

I thank the honourable member for his question. He understands very well the importance to the families in his electorate of the government delivering and securing the vital services they need—the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Medicare, schools, education—and ensuring they are paid for. And that is what we have done. Unlike Labor, which made wild promises and did not fund them, every commitment we have made in our budget is fully funded and paid for. We have taken the tough decisions to ensure that we bring the budget back into balance.

There is no fairness in throwing a mountain of debt on the shoulders of our children and grandchildren. There is no fairness in putting our AAA credit rating at risk by running endless deficits. The budget has to be brought back into balance, and that has meant we have taken some tough decisions. And yes, we have imposed a new tax on the major banks. We have done that to raise the money to bring the budget back into balance. And we are increasing the Medicare levy by half a per cent to fully fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The same arguments of fairness and equity that the Labor Party addressed to the House years ago when Julia Gillard increased the Medicare levy to partially fund the NDIS by half a per cent are even more potent today—because this change will actually pay for it. We will be able to look into the eyes of parents and children with disabilities with compassion and love but also with the commitment that comes from knowing the money will be there, now and forever, to fund the services they need.

The only consistency we get from the Leader of the Opposition is inconsistency. Every position he takes is a reversal of one he took before. He condemns, and wants to repeal, company tax cuts; only a few years ago, he said lower business tax increases productivity, investment and employment. He has now voted against needs-based funding for Australian schools in accordance with David Gonski's recommendation; only a few years ago, he advocated that.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

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

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. Members on my right will cease interjecting.

Mr Hart interjecting—

The member for Bass is being highly disorderly. He will leave the chamber under 94(a).

The member for Bass then left the chamber.

Opposition members interjecting—

And I caution the members for Lyons and Lalor. They are the closest, at this point, to following him. The Prime Minister has the call.

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

Every position the Leader of the Opposition takes is a reversal of one he took before. There is no consistency, no integrity, no principle—just politics and tactics. Every element of our budget, every element of our economic plan, delivers the security Australians need for vital services and the opportunity they need to get ahead. (Time expired)

Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. How is it fair that, in this budget, a nurse earning $60,000 year gets a $300 tax increase while a millionaire gets a $16,400 tax cut?

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Members on my left. The member for Cowan. The member for McEwen is warned! The Prime Minister has the call.

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

It was not so long ago that the Leader of the Opposition said people who earn $180,000 are not rich. Now, apparently, people who earn $87,000 are millionaires! Now, apparently, he wants to back away from a commitment to a National Disability Insurance Scheme that is paid for by everyone who is eligible to pay the Medicare levy, which of course has protections for people and families on very low incomes. Nonetheless, that commitment was there. It is a National Disability Insurance Scheme. Everybody benefits. The half a per cent extra obviously represents a much larger amount for people on high incomes than it does for people on low incomes. The equity, the consistency and the transparency of our proposal were self-evident to the Labor Party a few years ago. Now, apparently, for no reason other than political convenience, they are not. The honourable member is not a member of the shadow cabinet—no doubt she will be, in due course—but I believe that, in her heart, if she had been there in the shadow cabinet, she would have joined the other three quarters of that group and told the Leader of the Opposition he was wrong, he was unfair and he was all tactics and no principle.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

The member for Griffith will cease interjecting.