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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Today the government has refused to say the total 10-year cost of corporate tax handouts from 1 July 2018, refused to say the separate cost of all three steps of its personal income tax scheme and refused to provide the year-by-year cost of its seven-year income tax scheme. Is it that the government doesn't know what these numbers are or that it's simply refusing to provide the answer?

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

The Leader of the Opposition may be very used to changing the rules to suit himself in the union movement and in the Labor Party, but this is what the former finance minister said in the government of which he formed a part. Penny Wong on the ABC in 2012 said, 'We don't release ten-year costings.' The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, stood at the same National Press Club and talked about 10-year projections being unreliable. He told Radio National's Fran Kelly on 20 March 2012, 'We don't do those 10-year estimates.' Mr Speaker, it's always one rule for the Labor Party and one rule for everybody else. One rule for their union mates; one rule for everybody else. You can't change the rules to suit Shifty Shorten.

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

The Treasurer needs to withdraw that last remark.

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

I withdraw.

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

Has the Treasurer concluded his answer?

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

Yes.

Damian Drum (Murray, National Party, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Home Affairs. Will the minister update the House on steps the government has taken in the budget to protect Australian travellers?

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question, for the work that he does in his electorate to keep his constituents safe and for the support he provides, like all of us in this parliament provide, to the Australian Federal Police, to ASIO and to the other agencies who work day and night to keep Australians safe. We know that it's an uncertain world. We've seen attacks at airports in Europe and elsewhere around the world, and we know that air travellers do face a risk whether it's in this country or elsewhere around the world. In fact, in July last year there was an A380 Etihad flight leaving Sydney bound for the Middle East that persons attempted to smuggle an explosive device onto. Now, had that been successful, it would have been catastrophic. It would have been the biggest aviation disaster since 9/11. It would have had all sorts of consequences for the economy and for the tourism industry—not to speak, obviously, of the human cost.

We had a look at security settings at our domestic airports as a result. We've been working very closely with the owners of the airports, with the airlines and with other stakeholders, and I'm pleased to say that last night the Treasurer announced in the budget that we have committed $294 million to enhance our security at domestic airports—at regional airports as well as the major airports. We will work with those regional providers and provide capital support to help put in place new X-ray technology. We will have additional efforts in relation to the Australian Federal Police counterterrorist first-response presence at airports. We will work with all of the intelligence agencies to make sure that we can do whatever is within our power to keep Australians safe.

We have a continent where people travel freely each day and expect to travel in safety. But we also know that the authorities in this country have now thwarted 14 attempts at mass casualty events and we know that there are people within our own country who would seek to do harm to Australians tomorrow, whether it's at an airport, a place of mass gathering, a school, a food court in a shopping centre—wherever it might be. This threat is not diminishing. The government remains absolutely committed. We demonstrated this again last night, through the measures that we've taken to provide budget savings so that we can manage the budget effectively to pay for essential services, to guarantee these essential services, so that we can provide every effort to the police, to law enforcement and to intelligence agencies to keep Australians safe.

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

My question is to the Treasurer. How can the Treasurer expect this parliament to support policies when the Treasurer either doesn't know or won't say how much those policies will cost?

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

It costs $140 billion. It's $13.4 billion over the forward estimates. The measure is laid out very, very clearly. If you don't want to support it, don't support it. But I say to the shadow Treasurer: go out of this place, look all of those 10 million Australians in the eye and say, 'no tax relief for you', because that's what the shadow Treasurer is doing here. We have been very clear today. We have provided more level of detail on the cost of this measure than those opposite ever provided in opposition. The former Treasurer the member for Lilley is giggling and smiling up there because he knows what I'm saying is true. He never provided it. But we have provided it. The cost is $140 billion. When we came forward with the enterprise tax plan, we said what the 10-year cost was there too. We said today, very plainly, what the cost of the unlegislated measure is in the Senate over 10 years, which is $35.6 billion, and it's peak cost in the 10th year is $9.8 billion.

So the government has no plan to reverse the enterprise tax plan. That is not part of the government's policy. As a result, the government doesn't go around costing policies that it's not going to do. The only people who have a plan to reverse all of the enterprise tax plan are the Labor Party. If that's your policy, you cost it and then you go and tell the Australian people you are going to jack up their taxes—that's what you plan to do, because you have to because you've already spent the money. You spent it all at the last election. Labor spent all the money on the increased negative gearing, on the capital gains tax, on the higher personal tax rate for the top marginal rate, on everything reversing the enterprise tax plan, including $25 billion already for tax relief for small and medium sized businesses, which they can't wait to rip away from those small and medium sized businesses. The Labor Party has a plan on tax to suffocate the Australian economy. The Liberal Party and the National Party have a plan to give the economy the relief it needs to grow into a stronger economy, to guarantee the essential services that Australia rely on, to create more jobs and to have the government live within its means.

Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care. Will the minister update the House on how the government is increasing support to older Australians, including over 30,000 people aged 65 years and over who live in my electorate of Robertson? How is the government acting to ensure that older Australians have more choices for a longer life?

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for Robertson for her ongoing interest in ageing Australians in her electorate and the representation that she makes. In last night's budget, the Treasurer announced a record $5 billion spend of additional money for aged care and senior Australians—a total of 20,000 new high-level care places since last year's budget and 13,500 new residential care places, along with 775 restorative care places for those who have need of them. In addition to that, we've listened to people on the ground who've talked about the need for face-to-face interactions, so we will be putting into place aged-care navigators, who will assist people in hubs across the regions where it is absolutely important. We're looking at simpler forms. We're looking at upgrading My Aged Care, which has created challenges in the past. We're streamlining the assessment for aged-care services so that Australians have a timely assessment that gives them the opportunity to make decisions and choices.

On top of that, we've focused on the mental-health need in aged care. People, particularly men, over the age of 85 have the highest suicide rates. That is extremely concerning. We are putting $82.5 million into mental health in residential aged care—$20 million will be provided to mental health nurses to help older Australians who live alone and who need the level of support and intervention to ensure that they are given an opportunity to make the right choices around the life that they take. Suicide in older Australians is not something that any of us should ignore. There'll be: $32.8 million for palliative care in residential care, which is an important initiative to ensure that quality of life is provided to those living in those facilities; $22.9 million for physical activity tailored to over-65s, in partnership with community sporting groups, to keep them active, agile and looking after their muscular and skeletal frame to reduce the level of falls; $5.3 million for dementia innovation—not research, but innovation—that allows technology and other support mechanisms to be put into place; and, finally, health checks at 45 and 65 years of age, which will allow people to look at their health status and consider what their options are as they continue into that ageing continuum towards 100 and, equally, what economic and financial planning they need to make in terms of both their ageing and their time within residential care. This government is looking after senior Australians, and I acknowledge the work that we've done.

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

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.