Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

As I said at the outset, by selling more goods and services to the world—it's pretty simple economics which you'd hope that those opposite understood, but they don't seem to. By selling more and by exporting more, Australian businesses are paying more tax and there is more revenue out of that higher revenue pool from those exports.

That allows us to invest more in goods and services and to bring the budget back to balance, and to do it all without the types of tax hikes that those opposite have planned for the Australian economy. Those opposite will see Australian wage payers paying higher taxes, Australian retirees paying higher taxes, Australians who want to buy an investment property paying higher taxes, Australians who are renting paying higher rentals and Australians paying higher rates on their electricity bills. All of that, of course, will compound to see a less competitive Australian economy in the future, whereas our policies have delivered greater strength for Australian exporters, greater sales and greater revenue: a virtuous cycle which allows us to keep taxes low—to drive them down—and still balance the budget and invest in key services. (Time expired)