Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Well, as I said to the House earlier in this question time, we don't rely on the altruism of company directors in framing taxation policy; we rely on economics—in fact, economics 101, something which seems to have been forgotten by the Labor Party.

Business will respond rationally and will invest more when the incentives are to invest, and it will employ more. And, because you get stronger economic growth you get more jobs. As Julia Gillard said—the heroine of honourable members opposite—if you're against lowering company taxes, you're against economic growth, and if you're against economic growth, you're against jobs.

But one thing that the Labor Party is really against is self-funded retirees and Australians who invest in those companies that need to grow strongly so that they can pay dividends to them. Our self-funded retirees generally invest in Australian companies because they benefit from the strong economic growth.

I want to give the honourable member opposite another dispatch from the frontline of his class war from another self-funded retiree, Stuart. He is in his 70s. He is in his retirement and he has about $450,000 in his self-managed superannuation fund. He's in the retirement stage. It's less than $1.6 million, so it's not liable to the 15 per cent tax. He gets annual dividends, fully grossed up, of about $34,000, of which $9,000 is the franking credit. Now, he—

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