Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Increase—that is, the increase on last year. So this government gets $37 billion of extra revenue and then it blames the Australian people for not paying more tax. That is an 11 per cent increase on last year's tax take, and still they blame the Australian people and say, 'Australians, you aren't paying enough tax.' Of a total budget of around $370 billion—$360 billion, say, of revenue—they say that a $3 billion, $4 billion, $5 billion or $6 billion fall in revenue is 'devastating'. That is why they cannot live within their means. Devastating—a fall of barely one per cent of revenue, and all of a sudden the house of cards comes down.

Look at Labor. Look at what they say and then look at what they actually do. Remember: last year they said they would have a deficit of $22 billion. What happened? It ended up being $44 billion, as the Prime Minister tried to shore up her leadership against the member for Griffith. It is all about that paradigm. The Labor Party is talking all about itself—about its leadership, about who gets what job, about how it can manage to trick the Australian people. In the meantime, the Australian people have a government that does not care about what they think, does not care about the cost-of-living burden and does not care about the challenges for families in everyday life. This government just cares about winning the election.

It is the Labor Party that has delivered the four largest deficits in Australian history. It is the Labor Party that in five years has borrowed over $200 billion—$200 billion! The interest alone on that is $7 billion a year, and that $7 billion a year would immediately fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme. It would immediately fund the Gonski reforms. But, instead of that, now we know that Labor is going to increase taxes. Look out, superannuants; look out, every worker of Australia: the Labor Party is coming after you. They have said it; they have background-briefed the media on it: they want to start taxing Australians over the age of 60 when they take their super. That is coming, as sure as night follows day. I say to you, Mr Deputy Speaker Scott, the Labor Party does not have the guts to be honest with the Australian people.

They have more problems. They say to us: 'You've got a problem about the mining tax.'

Mr Bradbury interjecting—

Well, let me let you into something, old china—

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