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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can he confirm that this government last year cancelled an entire week of parliament, this year shut down parliament and next year will come to parliament just 10 days in eight months, creating the first part-time parliament in Australian history? If ordinary workers skipped work like this, they'd get the sack. Why is it there is always one rule for this divided, dysfunctional and chaotic government and another rule for everyone else? (Time expired)

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What I can confirm is that the budget is being brought forward by a month and the sitting schedule has been prepared to reflect the bringing forward of the budget by a month. The number of sitting days that are scheduled to take place between the start of next year and 18 May is exactly the same as it was this year. We're bringing the budget forward a month. In that time before the budget, the Treasurer and I, the members of the Expenditure Review Committee and the cabinet will be preparing a surplus budget. That's what we'll be doing at the start of next year. Our government will be preparing and delivering the first surplus budget in over a decade. That's what we'll be hard at work doing at the beginning of next year.

Those opposite haven't delivered a surplus budget since the year Taylor Swift was born, 1989, and now they want to 'shake it off' as if there is some way of walking away from their failure to deliver a surplus when they were in government. Up the back we've got the member for Lilley, apparently the world's greatest Treasurer. I'll tell you what: this Treasurer over here is going to deliver a surplus in April, and that will put him ahead of every Treasurer that preceded him, other than Treasurer Costello. I was proud to do the lead-up work, but I absolutely know this Treasurer is going to be delivering the first budget surplus in more than a decade because of the hard work that this government knows you have to do to get expenditure under control.

Having expenditure under control means that we have had the slowest growth in expenditure of any government in more than 50 years. We've got expenditure under control and we've also got taxes under control. We'll put a speed limit on taxes because that's how you manage a budget. The Australian people know that this leader of the Australian Labor Party can't manage money, he can't manage a budget and he can't run a stronger economy, and that means Australians can't be assured of the medicines that they rely on, the hospital funding they rely on and the school funding they rely on.

Instead, this Leader of the Labor Party will give them $200 billion in higher taxes. He is coming after their house prices with his abolition of negative gearing and his increases in capital gains tax. He's coming after retirees with his retirees tax of $5 billion a year. There will be 30 per cent more women hit by it than men. He's coming after earnings by putting up an increase in personal taxes. This will be the highest-taxing Leader of the Labor Party in Australia's history if he has the opportunity to become Prime Minister of this country—

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

The Prime Minister's time has concluded—

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.