Julia Banks (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Industry. Will the minister advise the House of how the government's company tax cuts will assist businesses in the defence industry and encourage the creation of more and better-paid jobs for hardworking Australians? Why is it important to have a consistent approach to policy?

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Chisholm for her question. The member for Chisholm knows that in fact the government's company tax cut is already working for businesses in the defence industry, because yesterday the member and I met with Daronmont Technologies, a company that is headquartered in Chisholm. It has 50 employees in Mawson Lakes in South Australia. It produces a prototype radar, which it wants to sell to the Australian defence forces and potentially around the world and which has unique and classified characteristics. Yesterday, Daronmont Technologies told us that, because of the government's company tax cut, they'd already started hiring new employees into their business. They have 50 employees in Mawson Lakes and a turnover of $25 million a year. The government's company tax cut is actually working already, with Daronmont Technologies explaining how, every year, they are taking on one more employee than they had planned to because they can afford to do so.

That is the benefit of having a credible economic plan in politics. This side of the House has always placed the economy very much at the centre, in pride of place, in previous governments. This government is no different to the Howard government, the Menzies government and other Liberal governments that have tried, first of all, to fix the economy, create jobs, create growth and create investment, because, if you don't have wealth in the economy, you can't do all the things that civilised societies like ours expect to be able to do.

It wasn't that long ago that the Leader of the Opposition agreed with this. In 2011, he gave a speech to the ACOSS national conference in which he said:

… lowering the corporate rate for smaller businesses only … creates an artificial incentive for Australian businesses to downsize.

Who could disagree with that?

… we want a level playing field regardless of the size of the company.

Even then he was supporting company tax cuts for the entire economy, not just for small and medium-sized enterprises. He went on to say:

… corporate tax reform helps Australia's private sector grow and it creates jobs right up and down the income ladder.

He was right in 2011. He's fundamentally wrong now. The problem with the Leader of the Opposition is that he's shifty and he's inconsistent. The public have worked him out, and the caucus will work him out. Our friend over here, the member for Grayndler—the DJ, the boutique beer aficionado, the log cabin story, the sports enthusiast—is there, ready for you all. When you blow the trumpet, the member for Grayndler will appear. He will save you all from the valley of death into which the Leader of the Opposition is taking you.