Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Finance, Senator Cormann. I refer to the Prime Minister's promise:

… we, the Coalition Government, are not going to repair our Budget this year at the expense of your family budget.

Why is the government still cutting $6,000 a year from family budgets?

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

I congratulate you on what I believe is your first question. Welcome to this great chamber. In answer to your question, in this budget we have put forward a $4.4 billion Jobs for Families package. We have put forward a package to help families get into work, stay in work and be in work. We have put forward a package to help families get access to simpler, more affordable, more flexible child care because we understand that that helps families get into work, stay in work and be in work. What we have also said is that wherever we want to increase spending, wherever we want to increase investment in a higher priority area, given the challenges that we are facing, given the opportunities in front of us, we have got to be able to pay for it. It is a very simple proposition: if you want to spend more over here, you have got to be able to pay for it. If you do not want to add to the deficit, you have got to pay for it by spending less elsewhere. Any family around Australia understands this concept. You only have got so much money going around. If you want to increase your level of spending on one area of expenditure, you have got to reduce your spending on another area of expenditure. What we are saying to the Senate, what we are saying to the Labor Party, what we are saying to anyone is that if you want to join us in helping families get better access to more affordable, simpler, more flexible child care, then work with us on how we can pay for it. We think it is important. Do you think it is important? If you think it is important and if you are fair dinkum about it, work with us. In the end, we will be pragmatic. We are focused on the outcome. We want to do the right thing by Australia.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

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

We want to make progress in the national interest. If you work with us constructively, instead of just hurling politics and abuse at us, then we will sit down with you and we will work with you in the national interest.

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I refer to comments by former Prime Minister John Howard, who says:

… family tax benefits are not welfare payments, they're tax breaks …

  …   …   …

… the constraining of tax benefits is in effect a tax rise for people in certain income tax brackets …

Is former Prime Minister Howard correct?

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

I am really pleased to see that the Labor Party is now embracing two of the giants of the Liberal Party. I am really pleased to see that the Labor Party is now embracing John Howard and Peter Costello. Finally, having fought them tooth and nail through years, having fought John Howard and Peter Costello as they were fixing the Labor mess, I am really pleased that you are now putting your arms right around them. I have got a very high regard for former Prime Minister John Howard. He is one of the greatest politicians that I have ever witnessed. He has made an outstanding contribution to our country. It is a very different proposition when it comes to making decisions about government payments—and family tax benefit payments are government payments—from a position of a strong surplus compared to when you are in a situation where you have inherited a very large deficit. Labor, in 2007, inherited a strong economy, a strong budget— (Time expired)

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister confirm that the coalition plans to axe the large family supplement, the low income supplement and kick families off family tax benefit part B when their youngest child turns six? Is this not another broken promise from the Prime Minister?

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

The answer to that final question is no. What I would say to the good senator is that the government has put forward a holistic families package. What we have decided to do is to prioritise an additional investment in more affordable, more flexible, simpler child care arrangements because we understand that that will help families get into work, stay in work and be in work. The Labor Party has to decide whether they will agree with us that that is an important priority. If they do, they are going to decide on how we can work together to pay for it, because you cannot spend more money in one area without spending less money in another area. I know that the Labor Party has got this big Labor magic pudding, but on the coalition side we understand that if ever you want to spend more in one area you have got to spend less in another area, which is exactly what this government is doing. It is offsetting our new expenditure by expenditure reductions in other parts of the budget.