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 a tax system that doesn't seek to punish aspirational Australians? Is the minister aware of any threats posed by different 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 for her tireless work on behalf of her constituents. She puts in so much work, day in and day out, because she, like every other member of the Turnbull government team, knows how important it is to have a tax system that encourages ambition and rewards hard work so that people keep more of the money that they earn.

Our Personal Income Tax Plan will deliver that. It will deliver that to around 10 million Australians. When it's fully implemented, it will ensure that 94 per cent of all Australians pay no more than 32½c in the dollar. That's 94 per cent of workers across this nation who will not have to think twice about whether they work that extra day, whether they go for that dream job or whether they get a promotion. They will know that they will have a fair tax rate.

But those opposite, unfortunately, are set to slug Australians with even more taxes and even higher taxes—around $200 billion worth. That will mean an average tax bill for Australians of around $16,000 for every single taxpayer in this country, courtesy of the Leader of the Opposition. Of course, of most concern to Australians is the very regressive, damaging and lifestyle-destroying retiree tax, which will take money out of the pockets of pensioners and some of the most vulnerable retirees in this country—around 8,500 of them in the electorate of Chisholm and around 3,500 in the electorate of Braddon, which I was visiting only the other day. Many of them are older, retired Australians who have scrimped hard and worked hard all of their lives and have paid their taxes.

In fact, when I was in Braddon just the other week, I heard directly from those retirees who stand to lose huge chunks of their retirement income thanks to the Labor Party's shameless tax grab. These are not multimillionaires, as the Leader of the Opposition may claim. In fact, they're not on high incomes at all. They are overwhelmingly on very modest incomes, just trying to enjoy their retirement. These are the people that Justine Keay, the Leader of the Opposition and Labor are turning their backs on. These are the people that Brett Whiteley and Julia Banks and everybody on this side of the coalition are working so hard to protect. Shockingly, and despite the backflips and the protests from those opposite, many pensioners and many retirees—some of the most vulnerable in our community—will be impacted. The Leader of the Opposition, despite all of his promises, cannot be trusted. The Australian people know better. (Time expired)