Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

Well, we are reducing the size of government in the economy. When we came into government, we inherited a trajectory where government expenditure as a share of the economy was headed towards 26.5 per cent as a share of GDP and rising. Of course, we have been able to bring that down to below 25 per cent and falling. That is, of course, work that continues. We will always ensure that government is only as big as it needs to be—as small as possible but as large as it needs to be. We stand for lower taxes and smaller government. Indeed, the proof is in the pudding. We have been successful in legislating significant tax cuts both for hardworking families and for business, which will help to strengthen the economy, create more jobs and ensure that families around Australia have the best possible opportunity to get ahead. If you're concerned about taxes, you should be concerned about the Labor Party, because their plan, of course, is to increase taxes by $200 billion over the next decade, which will cost jobs and hurt families. (Time expired)