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

Of course, if the worker the honourable member referred to had been ably represented by the Leader of the Opposition's former union, the penalty rates would have been traded away years ago. Under the Labor Party's proposal on tax, a public school teacher in Victoria would pay between $800 and $1,200 more tax every year. A crane operator would pay between $900 and $1,600 more tax every year. A public school psychologist in New South Wales would pay between $2,300 and $2,800 more tax every year. A forklift driver would pay between $3,800 and $4,500 more tax every year. Coming to Adelaide, a police inspector would pay between $4,000 and $5,200 more tax every year. The Labor Party is led by a man who once proposed a 30 per cent top rate of income tax. Of course, that's the same man who proposed a 25 per cent rate of company tax, as did his offsider, the shadow Treasurer. What we have with our comprehensive tax plan is one that is fair and encourages investment, encourages enterprise and encourages aspiration, and it is highly progressive.

Ms Macklin interjecting—

The honourable member laughs. Well, the honourable member should be aware that, when the plan is fully rolled out in 2024-25, people in the top tax bracket, paying the highest rate of marginal tax, will be paying a larger share of the personal income tax take than they are today, and they will be paying more of that income tax share than they are today. And the person on $200,000 will be paying more than 12½ times more income tax than the person on $41,000. The income tax scheme, the whole structure, remains progressive. The bulk of the tax is paid by people on higher incomes, but what we're doing is encouraging aspiration, enterprise, and people getting ahead, including people working in hospitality, working on lower incomes, because they too want to get ahead and earn big money, like the members of the Labor Party opposite.

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