Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Finance, Senator Gallagher. Yesterday on Sky News, former Labor leader Bill Shorten said this:

I always think, well, there are plenty of property tax concessions and a lot of … well-off people … still getting some … government money.

Do you agree with Minister Shorten?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I haven't seen the comments to which Senator Chandler refers, and I do note that the opposition has a habit of selectively quoting—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, you do, to be fair. You do. I think the tax expenditure statement, which the Treasurer released earlier this year, shows the arrangements and various tax concessions that are in place. We reported it openly and transparently. You can see it in the tax expenditure statement; it's available online, I believe, if you haven't already looked at it. The budget that we handed down on Tuesday, just two days ago, doesn't make any changes to those arrangements. The budget that we handed down was very much focused on cost-of-living relief; on where we could make investments into key services like Medicare, such as tripling the bulk-billing rate; on how we repair the budget over time—how do we borrow less and pay less interest?—and on the importance of returning those upward revisions in revenue to budget repair so that we put the budget on a much more sustainable footing so that we can find room for responsible investments in other areas of services as those decisions get taken.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Chandler, a first supplementary?

Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Minister, for your response. Is it the government's view that a tax concession or a tax reduction is, as Minister Shorten said, the government giving out money, or are such tax arrangements a case of Australians getting to keep more of their hard-earned income?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The budget outlines the government's position on all of these matters. I would refer you to the budget. It clearly outlines the changes that we've made around taxation. There are some modest and minor changes, but they're ones that will make a meaningful difference to the budget, going forward, particularly outside the forward estimates. You can look at the changes we're making to superannuation, and we're bringing forward some revenue under the arrangements under the PRRT. That is the position of the government. But I would say that it's very important—it's why the tax expenditure statement was released—that people are aware of the concessionary nature of a whole range of measures that exist in the budget. It's important that we have that information available for people—where there hasn't been any change to those concessions in the budget that we handed down two days ago.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Chandler, a second supplementary?

Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, is the fundamental reason why Australians always pay more under Labor that Labor doesn't actually trust Australians to spend their money on their own needs?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I didn't catch the end of it, but I think I got the gist of it.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For clarity, I'll get Senator Chandler to repeat it. It's quite a short question.

Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, is the fundamental reason why Australians always pay more under Labor that Labor doesn't actually trust Australians to spend their money on their own needs?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Chandler, but it doesn't change my answer. I think the budget that we handed down shows the respect with which we hold the Australian people, because it responds to the pressures that are being experienced now, responds to essential services going forward and creates space to grab the opportunities that come for the future. It's a story about meeting the Australian people's needs now, investing in services and growing the economy so more people get more opportunities in the future. This is a very responsible budget, and I think it pays respect to the Australian people. In terms of the budget repair story, we will be borrowing less—significantly less—under this budget and under the repair strategy that we've implemented, so I don't accept Senator Chandler's proposition. We will borrow $300 billion less, and we will pay $83 billion less in interest. (Time expired)