Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The donkey will continue to bray, to use your own words, as we are talking about slurs. Let's get down to the serious issue here. We have the Labor-Greens backpacker tax at 32.5c. We have a confirmation that the existing law of the land was to be followed by the Australian Taxation Office. That is supported by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. That is the simple pathway by which we found ourselves where we were. What did the government do? The government of the day, with a great deal of support and energy from members of the National Party, which has been under attack here, went to industry. We eventually took 1,760 submissions. Let me repeat that for effect: 1,760 submissions from all interested parties right across all the sectors of tourism, service industries, agriculture, particularly in horticulture, and, in pockets, meat processing. We went to them all. I must confess that even if I had rung every agricultural producer in Queensland, I would not have said it because it would have been met with the incredulous disbelief that met your statement that you have somehow rung every agricultural producer in Tasmania. I know there are not a lot of people in Tasmania, but that statement was outrageous. For you to present to this place and suggest that somehow you have caucused every interested party in Tasmania diminishes your argument. It puts your argument under clear doubt.

What I can tell you—this is a matter of public record, and these submissions are available for you on the government website—is that we took 1,760 very well-made and comprehensive submissions from all those industries. As a result of that the government settled on a position. We settled on matters to resolve this. You know who the first one was to agree with us? The Labor Party's shadow Treasurer, at the Press Club. He was the very first one. If you have a laptop here today, whip it open and have a look: you have still banked 32.5c in your budget—Labor's budget. You have not put it down to zero, as Senator Whish-Wilson would want. You have not even put it down to 10.5c. You have it in there at 32.5c.

Senator Polley interjecting—

Senator Polley, when you make a contribution today, what you should do is say to the Australian people, 'We've had a big change of mind and change of heart: we're going to cut the billyo out of this $540 million that we have in our budget papers, online, today, contemporaneously,' and when the $370 million disappears from revenue, you tell them what you are going to cut out of your services or what other taxes you are going to provide.

Senator Polley interjecting—