Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I'm happy to address the question about business taxes, because earlier today this is what the Leader of the Opposition said in relation to the government's enterprise tax plan. He said:

Labor, regardless of what legislation has passed this week, Labor will repeal this corporate tax giveaway of $65 billion to the biggest companies in Australia, the banks and the multinationals.

What the Leader of the Opposition has confirmed today is that he will reverse the tax cuts for small- and medium-sized businesses already legislated—some $30 billion of tax cuts already legislated for small businesses. If I'm quoting the Leader of the Opposition incorrectly—well, he said quite specifically that he was reversing the $65 billion in tax cuts. That is the same thing that the economic champion, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, also has referred to. They're out there promising to spend money all over the place.

But the other thing I wanted to make reference to is this: the Leader of the Opposition refers to a tax cut as a giveaway. This is the thing the Labor Party do not understand. They think a tax cut is a welfare payment. They think all the money in the economy belongs to the Labor Party when they're in government and they get to decide how much you get to keep. What we've seen from this Labor Party is a total disrespect of the hard work and earnings of Australians, and they dare to ask a question about wages. The only thing they're interested in about wages is how they can tax them more.

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