Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all of the speakers who have asked questions—the members for Wentworth, Curtin, Mackellar, Fenner, Kingsford Smith, Blaxland and Melbourne. I might touch on a few points. The member for Curtin asked a series of questions in relation to how our tax plan is supporting businesses and individuals. As I said at the outset, $12½ billion in tax cuts are flowing to 11.6 million Australians in this financial year and a further $5 billion or so in the following financial year as part of bringing forward our tax plan and tax reductions. That of course is going to support aggregate demand throughout the economy. In addition, for businesses, the instant expensing of assets for 99 per cent of Australian business, which ensures that tax losses are able to be utilised essentially immediately as opposed to having tax losses that may or may not be available in future years, is going to ensure that businesses have the cash flow that they need.

In relation to the members for Wentworth and Mackellar, they are right in their statements, particularly the member for Wentworth, that Australia has weathered the crisis well by international standards. We've had our AAA credit rating reaffirmed—one have only nine countries to do so—and we've seen 446,000 jobs created over the last month. This shows that not only the JobMaker plan outlined in the budget but the work on successive economic policies that the government has put in place throughout this calendar year have cushioned the blow and have set us up for recovery.

In relation to some of the other contributions, the member for Fenner asked a series of questions, and he also quoted a number of very notable people. One person he quoted was Jeff Borland, who I might say is somebody whose opinions and writings are known to many people in this chamber. I note that Jeff Borland said:

… JobMaker hiring credit is a definite hit: the timing is right, the target group is right and it is reasonable to think that the program will work.

It's wonderful to see the member for Fenner quoting the work of somebody who has been so complimentary of the JobMaker hiring credit.

The member for Kingsford Smith spoke about affected workers in the airline industry and about women more broadly. I would say to the member for Kingsford Smith: the 11.6 million individuals who will benefit from income tax cuts will benefit from tax cuts that are gender neutral. To suggest that women will not benefit from them is, I think, quite insulting.

To the member for Blaxland, who spoke about the housing industry and a range of other issues, I'd say that the HomeBuilder program and the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme are doing precisely what the government and what the industry have asked for in ensuring that in the second half of 2020 the industry, which was hitting a cliff, has had sufficient demand—indeed, in some parts of the country, record demand—to ensure that their workforces can be maintained. In some jurisdictions, workforces are not just being maintained; they're growing. Perhaps where the member for Blaxland and I agree is that there is no set and forget in this policy space. We will be watching the industry very closely, but we're very pleased to see thus far that the industry—their words not mine—have benefited greatly and are indeed, in some instances, flourishing under the policy settings, including, as I said in my opening remarks, the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, which will be helping not just first home buyers with an additional tranche of 10,000 guarantees but the industry as well.

The member for Melbourne spoke about employment. As I said in my opening remarks, we are expecting to see unemployment peak in the December quarter of this year at eight per cent. Over the forward estimates, we expect, based on Treasury estimates, unemployment to be getting back to six per cent, at which point in time the fiscal strategy of the government will naturally change. The idea we can turn it on a dime, which seems to be the suggestion from the member for Melbourne, I think, is wishful thinking and obviously comes from somebody who's part of a political party that never has to make these decisions or live in the real world of what would realistically happen.

We are very keen to make sure that we get unemployment down as low as we possibly can. That's what everything contained in this budget is focused on doing—empowering individuals, increasing aggregate demand and supporting businesses who employ those Australians and create the wealth that we all rely on.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Decisions by the government, prior to the COVID pandemic hitting, improved the budget bottom line by some quarter of a billion dollars over 10 years, to 2023, and this has put us on a better and more sustainable fiscal trajectory. This position of fiscal strength has enabled us to provide record levels of crisis support into the economy in response to the pandemic. We've provided unprecedented levels of support for businesses, families and individuals. Without the important repair work that we undertook in our first six years of government, we wouldn't have been able to throw this fiscal firepower at it. Australia therefore stands out amongst advanced economies for its low infection rates and comparatively strong economic outcomes. The budget is therefore our plan to get our country out of recession and back into jobs.

Importantly, consistent with our values, the budget also recognises the need for a private sector led recovery. Jobs aren't created in a vacuum. In this budget, we've seen $74 billion worth of support measures, as part of the JobMaker Plan, which will drive the strongest possible private-sector-led economic recovery. This aims to support around one million jobs over the next four years. The JobMaker hiring credit, which I've spoken about in relation to appropriation bill No. 1, is a $4 billion commitment essentially providing a wage subsidy for businesses who employ somebody between the ages of 16 and 35 on JobSeeker. It will ensure that those businesses are able to invest in skilling, upskilling and reskilling Australians. There's a $1 billion JobTrainer Fund to create more than 340,000 free or low-cost training places and, importantly, $1.2 billion to create 100,000 new apprenticeships and traineeships, with a 50 per cent wage subsidy for businesses who employ them. Since the start of the pandemic, the government has also committed to investing an additional $14 billion in new and accelerated infrastructure projects over the next four years, and we expect that these projects will support a further 40,000 jobs.

The pandemic has also accelerated Australia's acceptance and use of digital capabilities. In November 2019 the Prime Minister recognised the opportunities that a digitally enabled economy presented, when he established the Digital Technology Taskforce. In 2021 the government is seeking to boost Australia's productivity further, including through support to transition Australia into a leading digital economy and to invest in training to prepare Australians for the inevitable jobs of the future, which will be part of the recovery. The $796 million Digital Business Plan will drive adoption of digital technologies by supporting SMEs and their enterprising capability, reducing regulatory barriers and making it easier to do business digitally with government as well.

As we've all seen, the pandemic has also brought forward demand for faster broadband speeds, making it feasible to enhance the NBN network where emerging demand in the market justifies it. The ultra-fast service will help stimulate economic recovery and add more than $6.4 billion to annual GDP from 2024. As I outlined in relation to appropriation bill No.1, bringing forward a significant tax relief for hardworking families, focusing on low- and middle-income earners in particular, puts more money into their pockets and supports aggregate demand throughout the economy. As I've said, it's significant that $12½ billion of those income tax reductions will flow through the economy in this financial year and the remainder in the next, which ensures that the support is being provided when the economy and confidence requires it the most.

The ATO and a number of agencies are also investing heavily. The ATO is providing information to business and private-sector suppliers on amending their own systems to ensure that businesses, tax agents and others are able to engage with the tax office in a more digitally focused way, reducing the compliance burden and ensuring, from a revenue collection perspective, greater transparency and, of course, greater following of the rules.

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