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

I thank the honourable member for his question. Last week the honourable member and I joined many of his constituents in Cleveland to talk about the budget and to talk about the opportunities it was providing, and it was received with great enthusiasm because the honourable member's constituents there in Cleveland know how important it is to continue to deliver stronger economic growth. They know that that is what enables record funding for hospitals and schools, more medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, more affordable child care, fully funding the NDIS and ensuring our security agencies have the resources they need to keep us safe. And they know it's the foundation on which 1,013,600 jobs have been created. They know it is that stronger economy that is being enabled by our national economic plan that is enabling Australians to get on and get ahead. It's what's enabling us to provide tax relief for hardworking Australian families, starting with middle-income families and families on lower incomes and then building up over seven years a complete personal income tax plan that will ensure that 94 per cent of Australians do not pay more than 32½c in the dollar on new income. It encourages incentive, it encourages aspiration, it encourages work and it encourages enterprise, and those are the values that are driving stronger economic growth in Australia.

There is an alternative, and it is a bleak one. It's represented by the honourable members opposite. They're the ones—and the honourable member for Bowman and I saw many of their would-be victims at Cleveland. We saw all those retirees.

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