Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Under this Prime Minister and this Liberal government, millionaires get a tax cut in just nine days time, but on the exact same day ordinary workers will get a pay cut. Prime Minister, how exactly is that fair?

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

That question came from a man who wrote a book claiming that there should be a 25 per cent company tax rate in Australia—he did. He was so convicted of this he wrote a book and said that the best way to get wages up was to lower business taxes. He said it will deliver investment and that will result in more employment and higher wages.

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will send you an autographed one.

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

Yes, he is going to autograph me one. I am sure he has plenty of unsold copies lying around. That was his conviction, and that is what we are doing: we are reducing company tax this current financial year. Businesses with up to $10 million turnover will pay 2½ per cent less company tax; next year it goes up to medium-sized businesses with up to $25 million a year turnover. We know, they know, that will result in more investment and more jobs, and at the same time we are doing what Labor were never prepared to do: we are cracking down on multinational tax avoidance. The Labor Party, for reasons they have not explained, actually voted against the multinational tax avoidance measures—they voted against them. Fortunately, we were able to get them carried in the Senate, notwithstanding. And of course the diverted profits tax comes into operation—one of the toughest international tax-avoidance countermeasures in the OECD. It is an absolute cutting-edge measure—one of the toughest; described as 'very harsh' in some quarters. But we make no apologies. We are committed to ensuring that everybody pays the tax that they are due.

As to the deficit levy, it is not being abolished. It is expiring, in accordance with its terms—in accordance with the terms the Labor Party voted for. They cannot have it two ways. First, they condemned it as a deceit tax. They denounced it. They said: 'It's outrageous—a terrible idea!' Then they voted for it, on the basis that it was only for three years. The three years are coming to an end.

We have delivered tax cuts to middle income earners. Half a million will not go into the second highest tax bracket, thanks to our efforts.

We are delivering tax cuts to business so that they will, as the member for McMahon said, invest and employ, driving higher wages. We are backing business. We are backing jobs. Labor is trying to run a most unconvincing politics-of-envy campaign. They are not persuading anyone that they are other than frauds on the economy and on jobs.