Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise also to take note of answers from Senator Cormann and Senator Scullion. I thank Senator Kitching, in particular, for that Oscar-winning performance. I have never heard such extraordinary dribble in my life. But that's all right—we will move on from there.

As Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Economics, I was fortunate enough to hear firsthand from witnesses about the great benefits that will flow from legislating all three stages of the Turnbull coalition government's Personal Income Tax Plan. We heard from businesses large and small, from think tanks, from consulting firms and from industry groups. The overwhelming response from witnesses was that the Personal Income Tax Plan provides much-needed relief to low- and middle-income earners, that it protects against bracket creep and that it does so in a way that maintains the central character of progressivity in Australia's tax system.

Everyone has heard what is contained in our tax plan. Many people have heard how we are executing those tax cuts, but there has not been enough discussion of why we are implementing the tax cuts and why they are so important. Why do we want to provide tax relief?

It is because our taxes should be lower; they should be simpler; and they should be fairer. Fairness is one of the key pillars of our Personal Income Tax Plan and arguably the most important, because Australians value nothing more than they value a fair go. That is exactly what the Personal Income Tax Plan delivers.

This bill was met by the Business Council of Australia with the message:

It will deliver a more competitive personal tax system that improves incentives to work and save. It achieves this while maintaining a highly progressive tax and transfer system.

PricewaterhouseCoopers concluded that the government's proposed Personal Income Tax Plan provides much-needed relief to Australian taxpayers from the pressures of bracket creep, and it does so in a way which retains the central character of progressivity in Australia's tax system. COSBOA, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, concluded that the big win for COSBOA's constituents, for small businesses, is the removal of the complexity and the fear that people have about moving into new tax brackets. Contrary to the accusations levelled by those opposite, we heard from many, many witnesses that the tax system maintained its progressivity, something which has been denied today.

Madam Deputy President, can I point you to the distributional impacts of the Personal Income Tax Plan. The Grattan Institute highlighted that high-income earners such as those on the top marginal tax rate would continue to pay a similar proportion of overall personal income tax collections under the government's plan to that under the current system. The Grattan Institute confirmed that progressivity does not change significantly under the coalition's Personal Income Tax Plan. PwC suggested the same thing. There were plenty of witnesses that demonstrated conclusively that progressivity does not change under the Personal Income Tax Plan.

Senator Kitching mentioned that the Personal Income Tax Plan takes place over seven years. Why does it take place over seven years? It's fully factored into the budget bottom line. It's entirely affordable. The budget remains in surplus over that time, and the economy will continue to grow. A long-term plan is fiscally responsible. The budget does return to surplus. It's economically effective. There is more money in the pockets of hardworking Australians. Most importantly, it counters the criticism, which is so often levelled against all governments, of political myopia—which affects those opposite, who are addicted to the sugar hit of a tax-and-spend addiction. Certainly that can be seen from Labor's higher tax collection: retiree tax, housing tax, investment tax, higher income tax, family business tax, savings taxes—a plethora of taxes, more than $200 billion. Senator Marshall suggested that he wanted to go to an election based on tax. I say: bring that on. Bring that on.

The Labor Party doesn't get aspiration; it never has, and Tanya Plibersek proved that today: 'This "aspiration" term—it's a mystery to me.' Well, if ignorance is bliss, certainly the member for Sydney must be ecstatic, because Labor is driven by that obsessive preoccupation that redistribution is so much more important than wealth creation.

The coalition will always be a government of aspiration. It will always be a government of opportunity, of having a go, of taking risks, of reward for effort. We will proudly be the flag-bearers for aspirational Australians every single time. The coalition's Personal Income Tax Plan is clear and concise, pragmatic and— (Time expired)