Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I assume the honourable member is referring to the deficit levy, which honourable members opposite described as a 'deceit tax' when it was first introduced. I assume they are referring to the deficit levy, which had a term of three years, which members opposite voted for and which will expire at the end of this financial year.

Honourable members opposite should reflect that what we have done with this budget is demonstrate our commitment to fairness, consistent with what we did in our previous budget. The changes to superannuation are a very substantial $6 billion worth of savings over the forwards. The burden of those savings were borne by Australians on higher incomes and there were many complaints about that, as honourable members will recall.

We have ensured right across the system that burdens are borne equitably. We have imposed a levy on the major banks. We have ensured that we are giving support to people seeking support for disabilities. Parents of a disabled child will know that they are fully funded. We are asking all Australians from 2019 to share in that burden just as members opposite did, as the Treasurer reminded them, some years ago. The big difference in what we are doing is we are ensuring that all of our commitment to disability insurance is paid for. We are not going to do what the Labor Party did for years and mock Australians by pretending the National Disability Insurance Scheme was funded when it knew it was not.

We have faced up to reality in this parliament. We could not achieve all of our savings through the Senate. We accept the reality and we are working with the parliament the people elected. What we are doing is putting in place the measures that ensure we can pay for a national, consistent, needs based school funding system that is transparent and fair—unlike Labor's—that we can guarantee Medicare and the PBS and that we can fully fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme. That is fair. That is why this budget is about fairness and delivering the opportunity and security Australians deserve.

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