James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer remind the House how the Morrison government's economic plan, which includes cutting taxes and supporting investment, has helped Australian families and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic? Is the Treasurer aware of any alternative approaches?

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

I thank the member for Sturt for his question and I acknowledge his experience in the wool industry. I acknowledge also his strong advocacy for lower taxes for the people of Sturt. I can inform the House that in the Sturt electorate more than 80,000 people are getting a tax cut as a result of policies supported by those on this side of the House. More than 30,000 businesses are eligible for the expanded instant asset write-off, a policy that's been advocated and supported by this side of the House and a policy that has seen business investment up by 9.1 per cent through this pandemic.

Last March, when thousands of our fellow Australians were lining up outside Centrelink, when fear was running across the community, when the economy was going into lockdown, and when Treasury expected that unemployment could reach as high as 15 per cent—more than two million people unemployed—we responded with a range of measures, including JobKeeper; the cash flow boost; support for veterans, carers and others on income support; and allowing Australians to access their own superannuation because, after all, that is their money. We supported industries like the airline industry to stay up and running despite those lockdowns. We supported small businesses, like zoo operators, who encountered challenges to their businesses as people were in lockdown through the crisis. We cut taxes. We've consistently cut taxes for small businesses. We've consistently cut taxes for families. We've consistently provided incentives to businesses to invest, with the expanded instant asset write-off and the loss carry-back measure. The good news is the economy now is starting to recover and recover strongly, because 350,000 jobs have come back since September. We saw retail sales up by 4.9 per cent in October. We've seen expectations of approximately $100 billion plus of non-mining investment planned for this year.

We have consistently delivered lower taxes while those opposite consistently propose higher taxes. Again it was the member for Rankin: 'Jim Chalmers proposes Bill Shorten-era family trusts tax hit'. It was on the front page of The Australian on 29 September.

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer will resume his seat. A point of order from the Leader of the Opposition? No? The Treasurer has the call.

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

These are inconvenient truths. This Leader of the Opposition supports higher taxes. That's their track record. That's what they'll do after the next election.

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would just ask the Leader of the Opposition, if he is going to come to the dispatch box to ask a question, to do it at the appropriate time rather than prematurely.