Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Could I perhaps rephrase that question and put it to you in a different way. Can you confirm the numbers? We are using numbers, as are other people, including the media, that equate to roughly a $6-a-week tax cut or a $315-a-year tax cut for all income earners above $80,000. Are those numbers correct?

The CHAIR: Senator Whish-Wilson.

I will ask again, Senator Cormann. I am just asking for confirmation on whether those numbers are correct. You did not answer my question. Six dollars a week is enough for a takeaway coffee and maybe a bite out of a muffin. For us in here who earn significant salaries compared to your average Australian on a median income or an average income that is not a lot of money. I am very interested in what your modelling shows you. You are doing this for a reason. You are giving a tax cut to Australians earning over $80,000 for a reason, presumably. I do not quite understand what that reason is. You have given us some spin and rhetoric around the tax and superannuation plan—the government's plan to give hardworking Australians an incentive to work harder and save more. So the very logic of what you have told us here tonight is that a $6-a-week tax cut to the most wealthy Australians is going to make a difference to our economy. I do not understand what economic stimulus that is going to have on our economy. So, Senator Cormann, I am disappointed that you cannot at least confirm that number. Could I try again? Could you confirm that those numbers are correct or that we are in the basic ballpark?