George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Will the minister update the House on how the government's small business tax cuts are supporting tourism businesses in my electorate of Dawson and across the country? Is the minister aware of any alternative policies that would jeopardise the creation of jobs for hardworking Australians?

Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Dawson for his question, because I know he is passionate about the 5,325 locals that are employed across some 1,545 tourism businesses in his electorate. They have been doing it tough. I had the opportunity to travel up to Dawson not long after Cyclone Debbie went through and caused the devastation that it did. I had the opportunity, together with the Queensland state government, to announce, at the behest of the member for Dawson, who had lobbied extensively, a $10 million package to help the industry recover, to make sure that the tourism industry had a strong future in Dawson as it sought to recover from Cyclone Debbie. Like me, the member for Dawson and indeed all members across the Capricornia coast, as well as those interested in tourism in the coalition, are focused on creating the right business conditions so that we can make sure that more Australians have the opportunity to have jobs in Australia's tourism industry. In fact, one of the key ways that the coalition is focused on making sure that there are more opportunities for Australians to have jobs in Australia's small- and medium-sized enterprises is by delivering tax cuts. That is why the coalition has delivered tax cuts for Australia's small businesses.

The member for Dawson asks: are there alternative approaches? There are alternative approaches. The alternative approach is the position that has been adopted by the Australian Labor Party, because Labor's approach is to tax small businesses more. Labor's approach is to say to small businesses: 'We don't think that you should actually be investing more money into your business. You should be taking that money and handing it over to the Australian Labor Party, because we'll take those decisions on your behalf.' The fact is that only the coalition has the track record on delivering tax cuts not only for small business but for average Aussies as well in terms of the personal income tax cuts that we have delivered. So it is tax cuts for small business; it is tax cuts for personal income tax. It stands in contrast to the Australian Labor Party's approach, which is to say, for example, to Hamilton Island, who employ some 1,100 locals, that they should see higher small- and medium-sized business taxes. It is say to Cruise Whitsundays, who employ over 200 locals in the member's seat, 'You should pay more tax.' The simple fact is this: when it comes to this Leader of the Opposition, he is a complete counterfeit. He is a counterfeit because he says one thing one day and says a different thing on a different day. We saw it, for example, when it came to company taxes, when he said Labor supported less company tax, but then he opposed that position. We saw it during the election campaign when he said he would support the Fair Work Commission's independent decision, but then he did a backflip on that. We saw it in 2013 when he said Labor supported a plebiscite, but then he did a backflip on that. The simple fact is that the Australian Labor Party stand for nothing, will do anything and will only seek to increase taxes at every opportunity.