George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

The government will update the budget, as Senator Dastyari may be aware, in the MYEFO on 19 December, after receiving the September quarter national accounts.

Senator, you refer to a report from Deloitte Access Economics. What that report does is echo the comments the government has been making for months by rightly drawing attention to the impact of lower growth in wages and profits growth on government revenues. We have been saying that before Deloitte Access Economics said it. The report also correctly puts in perspective the impact of recent commodity price movements on budget revenues. That said, Senator Dastyari, recent commodity price increases have contributed to national income growth in recent quarters, and the government notes that iron ore prices are consistent with the levels incorporated into the 2016-17 budget that Labor criticised as being unrealistic. The report contradicts that criticism that the Labor Party made of the government's figures, Senator Dastyari.

The government will be adopting a cautious approach to commodity price assumptions in the MYEFO and it agrees with Deloitte that commodity price impacts are being offset by wages and inflation outcomes. Senator, the goal of the government's national economic plan outlined in the budget is to lift what Australians are earning from their wages and their businesses, not to tax them more, as Labor wants to do. That is why our enterprise tax plan is so important. That is why you cannot expect businesses to earn and invest in providing jobs when you are demanding that they keep paying higher taxes. Senator Dastyari, as the Deloitte Access Economics report notes: what we need in Australia for there to be healthy wages growth is prosperous businesses. (Time expired)