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

I thank the honourable member for his question. We well remember the honourable member standing here some years ago saying that lower company tax will result in more productivity, more investment, more jobs and higher wages. We remember that; the microphone was on when he said that. We all know that normally he doesn't say what he's thinking when he's on mic. We saw him on his outback tour and he said, 'I'm on mic; I can't say what I'm thinking.' The reality is that Australians never know what the Leader of the Opposition is thinking, because he says one thing to one group and another to another group. What was he saying to the $11,000-a-head fundraiser sponsored by Macquarie Bank and Genworth? I wonder what he was saying there. Do you think he was saying that company taxes should be higher? I'm sure he was trying to weasel his way around there, trying to tap back to an earlier position.

You won't get any consistency from the Leader of the Opposition. All we know is that time and time again he tells people what they want to hear. He has no consistency, and that is why he cannot be trusted. He's failed to give Australians straight answers on tax. He's failed, just as he failed to protect his members in the Australian Workers Union. He goes around and talks about penalty rates—a very important part of our industrial system, determined by the independent umpire, whose rulings he always said he would support. But then, of course, when he was the leader of the AWU, one group of low-paid workers after another were abandoned by the Leader of the Opposition. He failed them, as he fails Australians. When he's on mic he doesn't say what he's thinking, so he's assured us, and when he's off mic he's no more reliable than when he's on.

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