Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm not quite sure how I feel about getting up and talking about the government's record after a gracious first speech by Senator Storer, but I suppose it's back to business.

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Grace is beyond you!

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Grace is only beyond me when I'm talking about the government! I'm very gracious when I'm talking about other things but not when it comes to the government. This debate is about the government's devastating approach to managing both the economy and the Australian population in, on the one hand, handing an extremely large amount of money to big business in the form of a tax cut funded by ongoing and, indeed, new cuts to essential services that Australians depend upon very much.

It was very revealing that Senator Cormann was asked on three occasions in question time today to provide a figure for the value of the company tax cuts that this government wants to give. They have run away from this figure, just as we've seen them do in previous budgets. They are so embarrassed by the reaction of Australians to their proposal to cut tax rates for big business that they just will not say the figure. When it comes to the government, it's the figure that won't speak its name. We know that it's very likely that the figure adds up to $80 billion. This government proposes to hand $80 billion to big business in the form of a tax cut, with $17 billion of that going to the big banks, which we all know have had their egregious behaviour displayed recently through the royal commission.

From a Queensland perspective, what's even worse about this big business tax cut is that there will be so little benefit to Queensland, and regional Queensland in particular. I recently obtained figures, based on ABS data, through the Parliamentary Library to ask the question: how much benefit will this tax cut provide to regional Queensland? The figures revealed that there are very few big businesses based in regional Queensland that will get any benefit from these company tax cuts. In the electorate of Dawson, there are six businesses that will gain anything from the next round of big business tax cuts. In Capricornia, there are eight. In Leichhardt, there are nine. In Herbert, there are 10. Once you get beyond regional Queensland to the electorate of Longman on the outskirts of Brisbane—an electorate that's going to have a lot of attention in coming weeks—there are only three businesses based there that will get any tax cut from this $80 billion windfall that is coming the way of big business. There is no benefit whatsoever to regional Queensland, no benefit to electorates like Longman, but lots of benefit to overseas hedge funds that own shares in the companies that are going to get this tax cut. Not only is there not going to be a benefit but it will come at the expense of ordinary Australians, because it's being funded by ongoing cuts to essential services.

Last night, on top of the existing cuts that this government has already announced—cuts to schools, cuts to hospitals, cuts to training, cuts to universities; the things that the average person in the street really depends upon have already been cut in order to give the big banks a massive tax cut—new cuts were announced. We now find out that there are going to be cuts to residential aged care. This government has spent a long time having a go at the Labor Party about how we regard old people, ignoring their cuts to pensions and all the things they've inflicted upon older people, but last night announced further cuts to residential aged care. There's going to be $40 million of new cuts to dental care for veterans.

It's not just older Australians who are in the government's firing line but also younger Australians. On top of the existing cuts we've already seen to TAFE and apprenticeships, there's now going to be another $270 million in additional cuts to TAFE and apprenticeships. The ABC, which many Australians love—particularly in regional Australia—is now going to face a further $80 million in cuts.

So all of these cuts to older Australians, younger Australians, regional Australians, city Australians—it doesn't matter who you are; there is something being cut that you want and depend upon from this government—are to provide an $80 billion tax cut to big business. It is just not fair. It demonstrates yet again how out of touch this government is, and they continue to go on with it. I'm sure that in the coming by-elections we will see how Australians feel about this budget. We haven't got very long to wait, and I'm sure it will see the return of these Labor members by campaigning on these issues. (Time expired)

John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for the discussion has expired.