Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

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

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

The honourable member may ask herself, how is it fair to leave the National Disability Insurance Scheme unfunded? How is it fair to say to the parents of disabled children in her electorate of Parramatta that the money is not there? Because that is what her party has done—failed to fund the NDIS. The minister has exposed the extraordinary hypocrisy of the member for Lilley when he talked about hanging tough and his commitment to funding it. Now he is as quiet as a mouse there on the back bench, not standing up to do the right thing, which is to fund the NDIS. The flight attendant on $60,000 in Parramatta would pay additional tax as part of the increase in the Medicare levy, and she and her family will be protected by the National Disability Insurance Scheme. It will apply across the board in exactly the same way that her party's former leader, Julia Gillard, and her party's current leader, the member for Maribyrnong, said it should all those years ago.

The truth of the matter is this: Labor talks about jobs; they talk about growth; they talk about equity. But invariably the people they hurt are middle-income Australians who are seeking to get ahead. I want to draw the honourable member's attention to another passage from that memorable address by the Leader of the Opposition today. He said, 'We're taking action on negative gearing and the capital gains discount to unsustainably generous tax concessions which are distorting the housing market in favour of wealthy investors.'

Mr Brian Mitchell interjecting—

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

The member for Lyons is warned.

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

Most of the people who take advantage of negative gearing are on middle incomes. There are many more nurses than millionaires, many more teachers than QCs.

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

The member for Parramatta, on a point of order?

Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On relevance, Mr Speaker.

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

The member for Parramatta will resume her seat.

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

The Labor Party's proposal to ban negative gearing to prevent people from offsetting rental losses against their professional or salary income will put out of the market the very middle income earners the honourable member claims to have such empathy for. Who will it leave in? Wealthy investors. It will be the person with the investment income from other properties or stocks, shares and bonds that will continue under Labor's policy to be able to negatively gear. The hypocrisy, the inconsistency and the economic illiteracy of the Labor Party are writ large in this speech and in every speech by the Leader of the Opposition.