Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The member for McMahon says, 'We voted for it.' So why did the Leader of the Opposition refer to it as a dud deal? Why would the Leader of the Opposition vote for a dud deal? I will tell you why. It is because the CFMEU pulls the levers in this Labor Party, and the CFMEU said, 'No, we don't want the China Australia Free Trade Agreement,' but then in the end they buckled. That is why, Member for McMahon, you did it. It is shameful that somebody who thinks they are the heir to a proud legacy has now repudiated every single area of consensus that we have shared for about 30 years. For 30 years we have not had to argue in this parliament about lower tax rates, whether that be personal income tax cuts or corporate income tax cuts. We have never, ever had to argue about that. Now we are re-litigating the arguments that we were having with the communists 40 years ago, because they are back. They are back, they are large and they are in charge.

But we will keep arguing for it because we represent the millions of Australians who fund our entire system. We represent the millions of Australians who get up first thing in the morning and who do not see their children when they get home late at night because they are paying ever higher taxes. There is no dollar that the member for McMahon can say no to spending. There is no spending reduction that he will support. It is an absolute disgrace.

We know the model from the Labor Party now. The model is higher taxes—

Mr Husic interjecting—

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