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

Before I start, can I just say that it's marvellous to have these four MPs back in parliament.

My question is to the Prime Minister. The government said that the by-elections would be a referendum on his corporate tax cuts. Will the Prime Minister now admit that Australian voters right around this country rejected his $80 billion handout to big business, including $17 billion for the big banks? Or does the Prime Minister think that the voters in Perth and Braddon and Fremantle and Longman just got it wrong?

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

I thank the honourable member for his question. We well remember the honourable member standing here some years ago saying that lower company tax will result in more productivity, more investment, more jobs and higher wages. We remember that; the microphone was on when he said that. We all know that normally he doesn't say what he's thinking when he's on mic. We saw him on his outback tour and he said, 'I'm on mic; I can't say what I'm thinking.' The reality is that Australians never know what the Leader of the Opposition is thinking, because he says one thing to one group and another to another group. What was he saying to the $11,000-a-head fundraiser sponsored by Macquarie Bank and Genworth? I wonder what he was saying there. Do you think he was saying that company taxes should be higher? I'm sure he was trying to weasel his way around there, trying to tap back to an earlier position.

You won't get any consistency from the Leader of the Opposition. All we know is that time and time again he tells people what they want to hear. He has no consistency, and that is why he cannot be trusted. He's failed to give Australians straight answers on tax. He's failed, just as he failed to protect his members in the Australian Workers Union. He goes around and talks about penalty rates—a very important part of our industrial system, determined by the independent umpire, whose rulings he always said he would support. But then, of course, when he was the leader of the AWU, one group of low-paid workers after another were abandoned by the Leader of the Opposition. He failed them, as he fails Australians. When he's on mic he doesn't say what he's thinking, so he's assured us, and when he's off mic he's no more reliable than when he's on.

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on how the government's plan for lower taxes will benefit working Australians and small businesses, including in the electorate of Swan? Is the Prime Minister aware of any alternative approaches?

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

I thank the honourable member for his question. Last week, the honourable member and I saw firsthand how small businesses in his electorate of Swan are taking advantage of the lower business taxes that we have delivered, and Labor would stop, to increase investment and employment. Businesses like Thermo King West, a family-owned refrigeration business, employing 23 workers, will now, according to its owner, Steve Da Rui, invest more money back into the business and take on new apprentices as a result of that additional investment. The member for Swan and I met two of those new apprentices being trained on the premises.

Right across Australia, small family-owned businesses like Thermo King West are increasing investment and creating jobs, because they know they have the backing of our government that is committed to lower taxes. They know that our coalition Liberal-National government is committed to lower taxes. Under our government, businesses with a turnover of up to $50 million will pay a 25 per cent rate of tax, less than they would pay under Labor. Unlike the members opposite, the government understand the critical role of businesses in creating jobs, and that's why we're backing small and medium family-owned businesses with lower taxes. It's why we've seen record jobs growth, more than 400,000 jobs created last year alone, and the lowest percentage of Australians of working age on welfare in 25 years. That's the confidence in investment and employment that is helping to build a stronger economy and the stronger government revenues that come from it. That's why we're able to bring the budget back into balance a year earlier. It's why we're able to guarantee essential services, investing record amounts in hospitals, schools, infrastructure and security, and it's what's enabling us to deliver tax relief to families, to individuals, through our comprehensive Personal Income Tax Plan.

We believe in lower tax. We want every Australian, beginning with low- and middle-income earners, to keep more of what they earn, and the personal income tax reform which the parliament recently passed and which the opposition voted against delivers just that. It delivers immediate relief of up to $530 a year for working Australians, while addressing bracket creep so that Australians are paying lower taxes for any extra dollar they earn. By the time the plan is delivered, 94 per cent of Australians will pay no more than 32½c for any extra dollar they earn. That's real reform.