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

The shadow Treasurer in the opposition put out an unequivocal public statement of support. Since we met last night, let me give you another example to demonstrate that this is business as usual. This is a tax cut we are talking about, but you might remember that, in the 2014-15 budget, the government pursued a tax increase in the form of a budget repair levy, and in the precise same manner the tax office adjusted relevant schedules before the passage of the legislation, given that there was a public statement of bipartisan support for the budget measure. So this is the way these things are handled. This is the way it was handled when the government pursued the budget repair levy, which, for all intents and purposes, was a tax increase for higher income earners, and this is the way it was handled in relation to this tax cut for Australian workers on average full-time weekly earnings.