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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Tomorrow, for the first time in Australia's history, gross debt will crash through half a trillion dollars. So how can the Prime Minister possibly justify giving millionaires a tax cut—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. Members on both sides will cease interjecting.

Mr Dutton interjecting—

The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection will not interject loudly as questions are asked or, for that matter, at any time. I am cautioning him right now, at the start of question time. I cannot hear the question.

Mr Christensen interjecting—

The member for Dawson is warned! The Leader of the Opposition will begin his question again.

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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Tomorrow, for the first time in Australia's history, gross debt will crash through half a trillion dollars. So how can the Prime Minister possibly justify giving millionaires a $16,400 tax cut in just 16 days time?

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

Few people are less qualified to give lectures on debt than the Leader of the Opposition. He went to an election and he promised more debt—$16½ billion more debt. Not content with leaving the coalition with unsustainable spending—and then in opposition opposing almost every attempt to rein it back—he then goes into an election campaign and says he will have higher taxes, higher spending and more debt. And now he appears to be shocked and surprised by the fact that debt is growing. Well, what is his plan for it? More debt. That is what the Leader of the Opposition says. No doubt, he is concerned that the debt is not growing fast enough—because everything he did was to make it grow. He added to the debt and he went to an election—

Ms Owens interjecting—

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

The member for Parramatta is warned!

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

He opposed the company tax cut and he spent all the proceeds. We have seen today great figures in terms of jobs growth. What is driving that? It is investment, it is confidence, it is firms hiring Australians to get to work to build their businesses. And that is being encouraged by our company tax cuts. The Labor Party oppose all of that. They oppose that growth. They sneer at jobs and growth—it is just a slogan, they say. Well, I will tell you what: it is an outcome; that is what we are seeing. It is what my government is delivering. What Labor delivered was unsustainable debt. We continue to clean up the mess Labor left us. And the Leader of the Opposition—fresh from the drawing rooms of Toorak and Sandringham, fresh from tucking his knees under the table of all his rich mates, fresh from selling out the members of the AWU and selling out their penalty rates, fresh, glowing in hypocrisy as this champion of the poor and oppressed—then complains about tax cuts for millionaires. Anyone who earns over $180,000 is a millionaire—is that right? It was not so long ago he said on Melbourne radio that people who earn over $180,000 are middle income. They are the people he wants to keep on taxing. He has no plan for jobs and no plan for growth, just higher taxes, more debt, less investment and less employment.