Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Whilst I congratulate Senator Cormann on his appointment, I do have to express my disappointment with the rather lacklustre response that was provided today to Senator Collins's very important question. This was the opportunity for Senator Cormann to provide some light on the issue that the Prime Minister ducked yesterday on the Insiders program, where the Prime Minister refused to concede the truth about the impact of the coalition's tax policies on low- and middle-income Australians.

On our figures, we've said that income earners of about $55,000 per annum face a $275 tax hike. Income earners on $80,000 per annum face a $400 per annum tax hike. On our figures, this means low- and middle-income Australians face an increased tax bill of $1.7 billion. There was an opportunity—if our figures are wrong, let's hear from the coalition—but instead Senator Cormann resorted to the tired old furphy that taxes will always be higher under Labor. That furphy is just that. I have raised this issue in the chamber on a number of occasions previously. The facts do not bear out that statement.

I do agree with one thing that Senator Cormann said: if you repeat a lie over and over, it doesn't make it true. This is exactly what's happening with this particular statement. I refer to the research that's been done by Stephen Koukoulas, which I've repeated in this chamber. I know Senator Macdonald is here in the chamber and I know others who like to make these sorts of stereotypical statements about Labor's economic record. Stephen Koukoulas has shown that if we look at the tax to GDP ratio since 1980, we find that in the 10 years with the highest tax to GDP ratio eight of those 10 years were under Liberal administrations. There were only two under Labor governments. If you look at the 10 years of lowest tax to GDP ratio, you find that 10 out of 10 of those years are under Labor governments. In 1992-93 we saw tax to GDP at 20 per cent, going up to 21.5 per cent under a Labor administration in the 2013-14 year. Whilst I know that this is probably not going to stop Senator Cormann from making the same tired old comments in the future, let's just keep the facts on the table. With this particular issue, it's quite clear that Labor has a record of having a very low level of tax to GDP. Let's not hear that furphy anymore in this place.

Now, it's quite clear that this government is looking after the top end of town. They've abolished the budget repair levy. Under the Abbott government, higher income earners paid an extra two per cent on the 45 per cent tax rate, and this has been cut. They're looking out for multinationals. They're attempting to pass the $65 billion in company tax that is a ram-raid on the budget and they've ignored our calls for tax transparency and closing debt deduction loopholes. They've ruled out negative gearing and capital gains tax reforms, despite evidence that these tax breaks mainly benefit the wealthy. Up until recently, they've run a protection racket for the big banks, that have ripped off ordinary Australians, until they were dragged kicking and screaming to a royal commission this year.

Why is this stealth attack on the tax of ordinary Australians necessary? Labor fully funded the NDIS in government. The Productivity Commission said that the NDIS costs were broadly on track, and so any claims by this government that the NDIS is underfunded are absolutely not true.

Whilst the Prime Minister is making plans to take back what he gives out, workers are suffering. Wage growth is at historically low levels. Penalty rates have been cut for thousands of casualised workers, affecting job security for individuals and families. The workforce is becoming more casualised. Enterprise-bargaining rates, which have proven globally to correlate positively with wage growth, have fallen dramatically. The cost of living is going up—medical expenses, private health insurance, energy bills, groceries and education. Only Labor has a plan to restore penalty rates, cap private health insurance premium increases, address the energy crisis and tackle the rising cost of living.