Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

He is very, very good, absolutely. But, in terms of the businesses that would be impacted by Mr Shorten and his captain's call to jack up taxes on small to medium businesses in Australia, there are 24 businesses in the electorate of Braddon alone that would get caught up in his plan to jack up taxes. One of them, Stubbs Constructions, a mid-sized business with 63 employees on the north-west coast of Tasmania, is something those opposite would class as a nasty big business at the big end of town. It has 63 local employees in Braddon. The managing director of that business has confirmed that, if the tax cuts were to go through and he and his business were beneficiaries of the tax plan, he would invest more. He'd employ more people; he has made that commitment.

On that point, there are 164 businesses statewide that would be penalised by Bill Shorten's captain's call to jack up taxes and penalise those people who take a risk and actually generate economic activity. We all know why he's doing this, of course. We've seen the would-be Leader of the Opposition, Mr Albanese, snapping at the heels of the current Leader of the Opposition He has decried the antibusiness and antijobs rhetoric and policies that Mr Shorten's pushing. That's why we have a captain's call; he's desperate. He's trying to lock in his position. He'll do whatever it takes to get a headline or get a vote, even if it is at the cost of jobs in places like Braddon and Longman. I've just talked about 63 jobs. I hope that whoever speaks next from the opposition—be it Senator Keneally—will guarantee those 63 jobs and implore the Leader of the Opposition to back down on this terrible policy he has announced today. (Time expired)