Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

No, you can't have it both ways. Australians know that they can't trust Labor. We all know that. They know that they should look at what Labor do, not at what they say. In the lead-up to the last election, they showed their true colours. They showed that they were a high-taxing, high-spending party that believes in anything but private enterprise. They come in here, six weeks later—they have had their road to Damascus moment—and now say, 'Everybody should get a tax cut,' without any way of showing how they are going to fund that. They say that everybody should get it. Everybody should get a tax cut now, according to those opposite. The hypocrisy of those opposite is absolutely breathtaking. Labor's approach to taxation, and its approach to whether it will or will not support this bill, is like Melbourne's weather: if you don't like it, wait it minute. It will change just as quickly.

The government, on the other hand, took its tax policy to the people just six weeks ago. It was one of our principal policies. We know that the Australian people know that. The member for Rankin, the shadow Treasurer, has no clue. After his so-called listening tour, he tried to argue that the government doesn't have a mandate to introduce this bill. He said, 'The government didn't really prosecute its tax agenda during the election.' Mr Deputy Speaker Vasta, I don't know about you, but we couldn't have made it any clearer during the last election that we were taking this tax agenda to the last election. But, according to the shadow Treasurer, it wasn't really that important—we don't have a mandate. If that's a listening tour, I just can't believe it. Maybe he had the radio on the whole time, because he certainly wasn't listening to the punters in Queensland, that's for sure.

The government wants to ensure that Australians keep more of their money. That's why this bill is very, very appropriately named. It wants to provide immediate tax relief to low- and middle-income earners of up to $1,080 for singles and $2,160 for dual income couples. The government is delivering structural changes to the system that'll reduce the 32½c in the dollar tax rate to 30c in the dollar. When implemented, it will mean 94 per cent of Australians will pay no more than 30c in the dollar. This will improve incentives for hardworking Australians who, when they look at Labor, know that they will look at what they do and not at what they say. I commend the bill to the House.

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