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

Strike No. 2 was that this morning the member for McMahon said the reason they introduced a tariff proposal in relation to alcopops was that there was agreement that it would pass at the time of the announcement. Complete codswallop! I was the shadow minister for health. I remember standing at the dispatch box over there holding two bottles of alcohol—it was the only time I held two bottles of alcohol at the dispatch box—simply to make the point that the Labor Party was parading a change to alcopops taxation as a health initiative when in fact it was a tax initiative. I say to the Labor Party that if they want to look at principle, look at where we stand compared with where they stand. Nothing illustrates it better than the hypocrisy of the member for Lilley outside this morning. I savour those moments in the morning when he goes out there. He went out there and said, 'Hang on, we railed against corporate excess and corporate rorting of tax,' and then he refers to the announcement in his budget last year of a crackdown on the 20 largest companies for $1 billion on R&D, and then he comes in here and votes against it. So the Labor Party are the ones that are complete hypocrites on taxation policy. That is because the Labor Party does not believe in anything.

Honourable members interjecting—

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