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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister outline to the House how the government's plan for lower taxes encourages and rewards enterprise and aspiration, including in my electorate of Chisholm? Would the Prime Minister be mystified by an alternative approach?

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

None of us here are mystified by the aspiration-denying smugness of the Labor Party, none of us. We know the Labor Party has given up on Australian workers. The old Labor leaders of the past—my old mate Neville Wran would have been disgusted to hear the member for Sydney yesterday saying aspiration was a mystery to her.

Mr Perrett interjecting—

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

The member for Moreton will leave under 94(a).

The member for Moreton then left the chamber.

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

I tell you what: it wasn't a mystery to Neville Wran or Bob Hawke or Paul Keating. They understood that their job was to enable workers to get ahead, but now we hear from this smug, insinuating character that they want workers to stay in their place.

This is what we're doing. We have a tax plan in the Senate which we will, if it comes back here with the amendment, send straight back because we want all Australians to get the benefit of a comprehensive tax reform. We want to ensure that 94 per cent of Australians don't have to pay more than 32½ cents for every extra dollar they earn. We want to reward and encourage aspiration.

You would think the Labor Party was a complete dead loss, but there are glimmers of hope. The member for Corio today told Neil Mitchell three things—he could well be expelled for this. He said that all Australians should pay less tax. He also said that people earning $125,000 a year are not millionaires. And he said that bracket creep was a problem that should be looked at.

Mr Morrison interjecting—

The Treasurer is saying, 'We always knew he wasn't such a bad bloke.' There's always the opportunity for him, when the bill comes back from the Senate, to vote like he did the last time and vote for the full package of reform.

Aspiration is what is driving the Australian economy. It is aspiration: the desire of Australians to get ahead, to do better for their families, to ensure that their kids have got greater opportunities than they had, to ensure that their businesses do well. The Labor Party sneer because they are smug in their big taxpayer funded salaries. Let me tell you: in the real world, 90 per cent of Australians work—

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

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

The member for Sydney is warned.

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

for the private sector and they want to be encouraged. They want to be supported. Aspiration isn't a mystery to them; it's what drives our nation.

Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Yesterday, this Prime Minister told a 60-year-old aged-care worker in Burnie to 'get a better job'. Is this sort of snobbery the reason this Prime Minister is giving a millionaire investment banker a tax cut of $7,000 and an aged-care worker a tax cut of just $10 a week?

Mr Tim Wilson interjecting—

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

Just before I call the Prime Minister, the member for Goldstein's been warned on a number of occasions. He was interjecting right through the question and he'll leave under 94(a).

The member for Goldstein then left the chamber.

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

The member for Lyons is no more truthful in his recounting of yesterday's question time than his leader, and I'm disappointed that he has shown that he is of the same character as the Leader of the Opposition. Here are the facts: the Labor Party is patronising 60-year-old workers and is patronising people who work in the aged-care sector. It is patronising them. It talks about millionaires getting $7,000 tax cuts. Well, you know what? Under our tax plan, the honourable member will get a $7,000 tax cut.

Mr Brian Mitchell interjecting—

He will!

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

The member for Lyons is warned.

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

He could always give it back, though. The Minister for Revenue and Financial Services has her receipt book at the ready! The Labor Party has betrayed and abandoned the people. The aspiring workers that Labor was founded to defend, they have abandoned them. This is modern Labor. It is a disgrace. It's an embarrassment. If aspiration is a mystery to the modern Labor Party, I'll tell you what: it's not a mystery to millions of Australians who want to get ahead and know that only a strong economy will enable them to do that.