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

I'll say it again. Mr Bill Shorten is running a politics-of-envy-class-warfare-antibusiness-antigrowth-antijobs socialist agenda, selling out the best interests of working families in Australia and working to lock in a competitive advantage for businesses in other parts of the world at our expense. Bill Shorten's approach to this is un-Australian. He's desperate to put businesses in Australia at a competitive disadvantage with businesses in other parts of the world.

We are working to protect jobs in Australia. We are working to protect wages growth in Australia. We don't think it is fair to workers in Australia that we would help businesses in the United States, France, Sweden, the UK, Canada, New Zealand—businesses all around the world. I don't think it's fair to workers in Australia that we would help businesses all around the world take investment and jobs away from Australia because we are imposing higher taxes on business in Australia than are faced by businesses in other parts of the world.

This what is the Labor Party used to believe. Mr Shorten used to stand for a lower, globally-more-competitive tax rate until he sold himself out to the union movement here in Australia, until he had to promise he would commit himself to— (Time expired)