Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

Well, what a gift this MPI is! It's fantastic that we've been given the opportunity to address some of Labor's lies and deception. What better time to debate the merits of taxation policy than when all of Australia has just recently learned that the Leader of the Opposition is now waging a war against the business community? The Leader of the Opposition talks big about big business and why the private sector doesn't deserve tax relief, but we on this side know what he considers to be big business. Now we know—aha! The secret is out. Now we know that any company with an annual turnover of more than $10 million is big business. But there's more, to our surprise. Possibly a big business could also have a turnover of $2 million. There is more to come on that, I'm sure. We know that, if those opposite ever get the chance, they will repeal that legislation that we have recently introduced.

Let's put that into perspective. If Labor gets into government, the 17,000 businesses in my electorate of Durack will pay higher taxes. Make no mistake: farmers, horticulturalists, retailers, boatbuilders and even the crayfishermen—or women, I should say—will all pay more tax, because that's what Labor thinks they deserve. Those that I have just mentioned are all small businesses, they're all family businesses, and they are the engine room of our economy. Labor's policies will see that engine grind to a halt. It's incredible when you think that the last time Labor were in government—a dark time; a nightmare at times—the Leader of the Opposition stood in this very chamber and told the country how wonderful it would be to lower the company tax rate. We know deep down he believes our policy is the right way to manage the economy. He knows it creates jobs and encourages Australians to have a go. In 2011 he pretty much said so:

Cutting the company tax rate increases domestic productivity and domestic investment.

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