Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Cameron. The minerals resource rent tax was introduced in the House of Representatives yesterday. It will raise some $11 billion-plus. This Labor government is very proud of this new tax. We are very proud of it because that $11 billion will be spent on cutting tax elsewhere in the Australian economy. At a time of a 260 per cent increase in mining profits—including, we saw from BHP, some $23 billion—we intend to use that $11 billion to cut taxes in the rest of the community. Let me give a couple of illustrations.

We will be cutting tax on small business by over a billion dollars a year with money from the minerals resource rent tax. We will be introducing a much improved instant asset write-off rule, with the current $1,000 maximum going to $6,500. The Liberal Party will not support this tax cut for small business.

We intend to cut tax on the superannuation of 3½ million Australians—the contributions tax. Low- and middle-income earners, 3½ million of them, will have their contributions tax cut. The Liberal Party will not support the cutting of the contributions tax to 3½ million low- and middle-income earners.

We intend to increase the superannuation guarantee. Again, we are very proud of the superannuation guarantee. We introduced compulsory superannuation in this country, opposed by the Liberal-National Party. They warned that compulsory superannuation would destroy the economy, like the mining tax. (Time expired)