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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Why did the Prime Minister abandon his vote on his centrepiece $80 billion handout to big business today? Is this just another failure of this Prime Minister, or has the Prime Minister struck a secret deal with the One Nation party to delay the vote giving $80 billion to big business until after the upcoming by-elections?

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

I thank the honourable member for his question. Speaking about secrets: the honourable member kept his slashing assault on small business a secret from his shadow cabinet, from his caucus and from his mystified colleagues, including the deputy leader. He kept it secret from them until he dropped that bombshell and announced that he was going to put at risk five million jobs: 4.8 million Australians, to be precise, work for businesses with a turnover of under $50 million, and those jobs are put at risk by this Leader of the Opposition in this captain's call, this relentless assault on small and family business.

The parliament will be breaking for six weeks or so, and everyone will be out campaigning hard, no doubt. It's going to be very interesting for the Leader of the Opposition. Where is he going to go? What about—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

Oh, he says he's going to be visiting small business perhaps—a hi-vis opportunity. Oh, yes, he could be going to Stubbs Constructions in Burnie. He could be going to see Penguin Composites. He could be going to do that with the candidate in Braddon, who announced on her Facebook page how Labor was backing Penguin Composites. She obviously wasn't watching the 7.30 program when that company was denouncing the savage assaults on its business by the Labor Party.

So where is he going to go? He can't go to any family business or any small or medium business—no more hi-vis. Where's he going to go? He could have a cup of tea with some seniors and talk about the 28 per cent of their income he's taking away, or he could talk to some workers in the construction sector and talk about his assault on the property industry, or he could talk to some of the members of what he describes as the top end of town, people on average weekly earnings of $80,000 or $90,000, and explain how he is going to deny them—if he gets into government—the opportunity of a lower tax rate. Right around the country, Australians will know that the Leader of the Opposition and the Labor Party stand for higher taxes. They stand for higher taxes on business, large and small. They stand for higher taxes on families. They stand for higher taxes on property and investment and on retirees. That means the Labor Party stand for less economic growth, fewer jobs and lower wages. I look forward to the Leader of the Opposition's tiptoeing through all the landmines he's created around Australia.