Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to talk about the Treasury Laws Amendment (Enterprise Tax Plan No. 2) Bill 2017. Labor obviously will not be supporting this bill. We have been very clear about our reasons why, but I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to articulate those further, and to perhaps give a bit of an indication from a northern Australian perspective as to why this massive cut in the corporate tax revenue for our country is not a good idea. At a time when some of our lowest-paid workers are receiving a $60 billion pay cut, it's disgusting and out of touch for the government to at the same time give their mates in big business a tax cut.

Since this has been bill introduced, we on this side of the House have been very clear on where we stand—and that is, that the cost is high and the benefits are minimal. By the government's own admission, one per cent of economic growth in 20 years time is not a significant amount of growth. I think those opposite would have to agree that it's simply not a significant amount of growth, particularly considering the massive amount of revenue our country will forgo if this bill is enacted. A $2-a-day increase in wages in 20 years time is about as exciting for an Australian worker as 50c extra in their pocket. That is as a result of this new energy policy that we've been hearing about over the last 24 hours, not that we've got much detail on it, but I think any reasonable person on the opposite side would agree that it's not significant. And not that we know that it's absolutely going to happen, because there's no modelling to say how they've derived that there will be that very, very small decrease in power bills. I was glad to see Senator Dastyari today using hamburgers and soft serve ice creams to illustrate what a month of savings looks like.

Mr Tim Wilson interjecting—

This government's energy plan actually looks like a cheap stunt. Thank you, member for Goldstein, for articulating what we all know to be true about this energy compromise with the member for Warringah.

Mr Tim Wilson interjecting—

But it must be confusing. For any observer in politics at the moment, member for Goldstein, it would be hard not to come to that conclusion. It must be a bit difficult when you've got two prime ministers running your agenda. I think what Senator Dastyari was pointing out is that, if it is true, this saving to energy bills—which is perhaps going to happen after 2020—is not significant. I digress slightly.

Government members interjecting—

It is like one per cent economic growth in 20 years time. So when my children, who are 3½ and five, are out there and hope to buy their own house, they might see a $2-a-day increase, because the opposite side of politics want to give a massive corporate tax cut to their mates. So it's tiny. It's a supposed wage growth. This is at a time when we've seen a total flatline of wages growth. We're seeing falling living standards and a huge pay cut through the penalty rates decision that this government has really encouraged. It has really encouraged the Fair Work Commission to cut the wages of low-paid workers. Obviously, it is a disgrace.

A little while ago, I spent some time with a young constituent of mine, Amber, who was expecting her and her partner's first child. Her take-home pay is going to be significantly reduced at a time when she has become a new mum and she's going to need every dollar in the household. She said that working on Sundays was worth it because she would actually be able to make ends meet, pay the rent, put fuel in the car and buy groceries. She recently had her first child. When I caught up with her recently, she was obviously thankful that there was a maternity leave system. What those opposite probably fail to realise—because they're becoming a bit out of touch, spending so much time with people who don't have to worry about paying the bills—is that people really struggle. So the priorities of those opposite are a bit mixed up.

We can't really see what the government is doing to help address the factors that have a huge impact on working Australians, so the priority is for a tax cut for their mates, but, at the same time, they're encouraging the cutting of penalty rates for working families. So it's not only not fair; it's not smart. We all know that, with that minute increase in 20 years time in a take-home wage or in the growth of the economy—which is, as all reasonable people would have to agree, minute—you've got fewer people in society with money in their pocket to put back into the economy. So it doesn't really make a lot of sense. And the government is looking at raising income taxes on all taxpayers with incomes above $21,000. That's just dumb. It's absolutely pathetic. The government's response to flatlining wage growth and falling living standards is to give a pay cut to working families and increase income tax. These are people who have low disposable incomes and spend the majority of their wages in the economy.

Those on the other side of the House will say that lower corporate tax rates are needed to attract investment, but all credible studies show that a lower tax rate is one of many features of the tax system that influence corporate behaviour. An example of another factor that influences corporate behaviour is government investment in infrastructure. The revenue we're foregoing with this corporate tax cut—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 16:40 to 16:56

As I was saying, all credible studies show that a lower tax rate is one of many features of the tax system that influence corporate behaviour, but investment in infrastructure would be a massive incentive to improve our attractiveness as a destination for capital for investment. I think this government are just making things up when they say that the massive cuts—$65 billion worth—to corporate entities, much of which will go offshore, will result in more investment. By their own admission, there will only be a very, very small increase in take-home pay after 20 years. All these cuts do is show that the government's priorities are completely out of whack. Let's look at what they're doing at the moment.

They're pursuing cuts for the top end of town through their corporate tax cuts and tax cuts for high-income earners. They are pursuing higher taxes from workers and those workers will see their take-home pay slashed. They have also shown that they have completely given up on northern Australia by decimating the NT-based Public Service and disadvantaging people who already pay a premium on goods and services due to our location. So the cost of living up in the north is high. We were all hopeful that there would be some of that investment that I just alluded to. Much fanfare was made about the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. Two years after that scheme was announced, there still has not been one dollar provided in concessional loans to proponents who want to use the enormous potential of the north to drive productivity and drive exports, which will be good for our country.

Even though we only have five per cent of the population across the north, we supply a massive amount of exports, and that adds value and wealth to our country. We could do a lot more if we had some assistance in terms of investment in infrastructure. To date, we haven't seen much at all and the chambers of commerce across the north were here last night at an event, and it is clear that they want to see a lot more than words. They want to see some action. They want to see some dollars hitting the ground in northern Australia for the good of the country, for the good of their members, obviously, and also for the good of the community. We want to drive jobs and we want to drive sustainable population growth across the north. At the moment, we have not seen one dollar out of that $5 billion infrastructure facility.

On our side, we have our own priorities. We've heard a little bit about the priorities of those opposite and how misguided they are. I'm sure they know exactly what they're doing in terms of helping out their mates in big-business land with lower corporate tax rates, even if much of that is going offshore. Our priorities are supporting Australian workers in trying to drive their ability to have self-determination in their lives—not to be a drain through the welfare system but to be able to work, receive a fair day's pay for a fair day's work and support their families, like Amber and her young family that I mentioned earlier—because that's good for our country. When people are working, are happy, are supporting their families and are showing their kids a better life than they had, that is good for our nation.

At the same time as these corporate tax cuts are being given out by the current Turnbull government, there's also a decimation of funding for public schools in my electorate, like Anula Primary School. But, at the same time, private schools in big, southern capitals are getting exponentially more funding from this government. Now, that is obviously not fair, but, again, it is also not smart. We know that we need to properly invest in our kids, with a great public education system and a great private education system, and we're committed to doing that. We're committed to helping families meet their cost of living, which makes life pretty tough.

We also need to do another couple of things, and I'll cover them quickly. We need to stop people accruing millions in tax write-offs, by capping the amount people can claim in accounting expenses. Again, it's not fair that the top end of town can work the system. The extra wealth that they get—good for them. I'm happy for them to be wealthy, but not at the expense of, for example, our public education system. This tax cut was not funded. There was no plan whatsoever to actually pay for this corporate tax cut. So, again, it's largesse; it's helping their mates in the top end of town at the expense of everyday Australians. That is what is not acceptable about this and why we do not support these corporate tax cuts.

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