Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Absolutely. They're in the book, as Senator Cadell says.

And then what happened after the election? As recently as mid-December, when Australia was already in a cost-of-living crisis, the Prime Minister said, 'We're not reconsidering the position with respect to the stage 3 tax cuts.' At the same time that the Prime Minister made that statement, Treasury was working on a change to the position, at the same time there were people in the Treasury department here in Canberra working on a change to the position. So first we've got 'My word is my bond.' After the election we got 'We're not reconsidering our position,' but at the same time Treasury was working to implement a changed position. Now, when we are discharging our role as the opposition on behalf of the Australian and ask questions to probe whether or not there are going to be any other changes in relation to taxation policy, we are not receiving clear answers.

I want to go through some of the no doubt carefully chosen words that Senator Gallagher has used not just in question time here but leading up to question time as well. When Karl Stefanovic asked the finance minister to say on the record that there would be no change to negative gearing, the finance minister said there was no plan. She refused to say there would be no change; she just said 'no plan'. We all know that could mean 'We don't have a plan today, but we've got a plan tomorrow,' right? They are weasel words. Senator Hume today asked a question about negative gearing. The answer we got was, 'The law is clear.' That's not an answer. The law is clear today, but, just as they've done with respect to the stage 3 tax cuts, they can introduce a bill tomorrow and change the law.

We then had my colleague from Queensland, Senator Canavan, ask a question about the mining tax and the diesel fuel tax credit system. In that case, again there was a refusal to rule it out and we were simply told, 'It is not currently part of the tax reform agenda.' Again, the agenda today can change. All options are on the table. And then Senator Gallagher said, 'We have been upfront.' No, that cannot be accepted. If you are upfront—and it's not a question of being upfront with us as senators; it is a question of being upfront with the Australian people before they vote. If you're upfront with them, you tell them before an election what you're going to do and, when you say, 'My word is my bond,' you actually mean it.