Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer please update the House on how the government's enterprise tax plan is benefitting small- and medium-sized businesses and their hardworking employees, including in my electorate of Petrie? Is the Treasurer aware of any threats to Australia's small- and medium-sized businesses.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Petrie for his question. The Turnbull government is implementing the plan that we took to the last election to grow the Australian economy, which is seeing hundreds of thousands of Australians get off welfare and get into work. More than 950,000 jobs have been created under the coalition government. What this government is building is a working nation, and what Labor wants to build is a welfare nation. That's the difference between the Labor Party and the Liberal and National Parties. We're about seeing people get into jobs to create and build their own destinies.

We also welcomed today the further news about the increased confidence and conditions that we're seeing in business. But we do know this: if you make businesses, through higher taxes, pay more money to the government, it makes it harder for them to pay higher wages to Australian workers. That's why the Labor Party's opposition to us lowering taxes means that the Labor Party is standing between Australian workers and an increase in their wages. That's who's standing in the way of higher wages in this country for workers working hard: the Labor Party. That's who's standing in the way. Now, a key part of our plan has been to deliver and legislate tax cuts for small- and medium-sized businesses. They have been delivered and we are seeing the benefits of those for those small- and medium-sized businesses.

But it is sad to know that the member for Rankin has told the West Australian today that the Labor Party does not support tax cuts for businesses with turnovers greater than $2 million. He said this very clearly. He told the West Australian that Labor only supports tax cuts for genuinely small businesses with a turnover below $2 million—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What that means is that Labor are going to strip away tax cuts for businesses with turnovers between $2 million and $50 million. Now, for a company like East Coast Bullbars, in the electorate of the member for Petrie, which employs 100 Australian workers, that's bad news, because Labor are going to take away the tax cuts for that business that they already have. Last year, I and the member for Gilmore visited Aaron and Val Baker at Flooring Xtra. They have worked hard at their business. They've sold more of their product and they've got their turnover above $2 million now. They have a turnover of around $3 million. It is bad news for them and their 10 workers—hardly Google, hardly a multinational.

Ms Chesters interjecting—

Ms Butler interjecting—

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

The members for Bendigo and Griffith are warned!

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

These are the small businesses that are putting sweat equity into their businesses, and they should not have their tax cuts ripped away by the shadow Treasurer, who I note is also the shadow minister for small business. He is the shadow minister for making business smaller. (Time expired)