Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. When today's median household incomes data proves that Australians are going backwards, why is this government always banging on about Labor instead of coming up with an economic policy to increase wages and living standards?

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We're not going to be lectured to by Sir Tax-a-lot over there. He's quite pleased with and proud of Labor's housing tax and retirees tax—the co-architect, with the member for McMahon over there, of the $387 billion, and the member for Maribyrnong will never forgive them.

Dr Chalmers interjecting—

He's very chirpy now. Sir Tax-a-lot is up and about. The reality is in this quote from the HILDA survey report you just cited today:

… employment picked up in 2017, particularly for women, who saw their employment rate rise from 69.5% in 2016 to 71.4% in 2017—

the highest it has been in the history of the survey. We on this side of the House are in favour of 1.4 million new jobs, we on this side of the House are in favour of lower taxes, we on this side of the House are in favour of $100 billion of new infrastructure spending, we on this side of the House are in favour of 80,000 new apprentices and we on this side of the House are in favour of record spending on schools, hospitals and aged care but we on this side of the House are not in favour of Labor's $387 billion of higher taxes.