Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The finance minister has said tax cuts for the top 20 per cent of income earners would go ahead even if another GFC hits. Given gross debt under this Prime Minister has blown out to a record half a trillion dollars and he has already made savage cuts, won't this just mean that, if a downturn hits, this government will again cut schools, Medicare and pensions?

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

The honourable member should take to task the person who wrote that question for her because it was very, very unfair to her, having her asking a question that is so misleading and so inaccurate. In fact, spending on hospitals is increasing substantially. The Minister for Health just described the $30 billion increase over the next five-year agreement. Spending on schools is increasing every year because we have introduced the first truly national, consistent, needs based Commonwealth funding policy for schools. So I thank the honourable member for her question, but the premise of it was entirely wrong.

We are able to keep funding for those essential services increasing because we have the budget under control. At the same time we're going to bring it back into balance a year earlier, and at the same time we are able to provide tax relief for hardworking Australian families and, indeed, for small and medium family businesses—the very businesses that the honourable member has many of in her electorate, which will be hit hard by a Shorten Labor government. They will be hit very hard right through the electorate of Macquarie, whether it's in the Hawkesbury or whether it's in the Blue Mountains. There are plenty of small and medium businesses, and they are getting ahead now—they're hiring and they're working. The honourable member will be doing the rounds there and she will be saying, 'Vote for the Labor Party and pay more tax.' Well, I don't think that will be a very compelling message, but we don't have long to wait.