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

My question is to the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services. Will the minister update the House on the importance of creating economic conditions that help to grow the economy and reduce the tax burden on hardworking Australians? Is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party, Minister for Revenue and Financial Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Chisholm for her question, and I note her strong family history and her background in small business. Like the member, the government knows that the best way to improve the prosperity of Australians is to create the right economic settings to allow them to invest, to grow jobs and to make sure that they create wealth. It was on this basis that, of course, the government provided tax relief for more than three million Australians—middle-income Australians who are doing it tough—and we have reduced taxes for small and medium-sized businesses, who employ more than half of Australia's private sector workforce.

The government's policies have well and truly borne fruit. We have seen more than 1,100 jobs created every single day in 2017, and we have also seen the longest run of monthly jobs growth ever recorded. Pleasingly, female workforce participation has climbed to its highest level on record.

Now, those opposite, sadly, do not support the government's plans for growth and prosperity. They believe that, instead of growing the pie, you should tax it further and further into oblivion. And it's very sad. It used to be that Paul Keating was the standard bearer for the Labor Party's economic credentials, but since then they have absolutely gone backwards. They have gone back to the member for Lilley, then to the member for McMahon, and it was revealed only this week that the member for Scullin and the member Shortland have assumed the role of the new Labor economic brains trust. Not content with the $164 billion worth of new taxes that their leader has already proposed, we have seen reports this week that the Labor Party would pile even more new taxes onto the Australian economy. If I can quote the dynamic duo: these taxes—such as, but not limited to, the Buffett tax and the Tobin tax. I wonder where in the world did they get inspiration for these ideas? How about the left-wing ideologue Bernie Sanders, for starters, who proposed an extra $15 trillion worth of new taxes. That's something to aspire to. How about—and I know the Leader of the Opposition will particularly like this one—Jeremy Corbyn, the radical UK Labour leader, who is on record as saying, 'We must work to bring in a financial transactions tax.'

The contrast could not be clearer. The Turnbull government: we stand for jobs, we stand for lower taxes, we stand for greater prosperity for all Australians— (Time expired)