Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

In an abundance of helpfulness, Senator Carr obviously knows that the policy we went to the last election with was to have a company tax cut of 1.5 per cent to come into effect from 1 July 2015. This was, in effect, offset for Australia's 3,000 largest companies by the 1.5 per cent paid parental leave levy, which means that, in practice for those largest companies, the effective tax rate remained at 30 per cent. That is a matter of public record. Now, what we have said is that we are not proceeding with the paid parental leave scheme that we took to the last election. We have also said that there will be further announcements in the coming weeks and months about a families package, about a jobs package. Of course, that will include all of the detail in terms of how those changes—in particular, the measures to facilitate access to more affordable child care—will be funded and what we have put around all of that. You have asked what we have put around all of that by way of parameters. As was our policy before the election and as is the policy reflected in the budget papers, large companies are not going to pay more in tax than they are paying now. There is that 30 per cent cap which is the same as is reflected in the budget papers right now when you take the 28.5 and the 1.5 together. But the fact that small and medium sized businesses will be at least 1.5 per cent better off is the language the Prime Minister used in his Press Club speech, which I am sure you would have studied in great detail. So this is completely irrelevant to the legislation that is in front of us; but, given that you are trying to mislead the Australian people with some of the verballing and misleading assertions that you have been making, I thought it was important to make that clarification.