Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Braddon and acknowledge his experience as a farmer, as a soldier, and also acknowledge his commitment to lower taxes, including for 40,000 of his constituents, who are getting tax as a relief as a result of policies pursued by this side of the House. At every turn, we have sought to cut taxes. It has been a real priority for this government—cutting taxes for families. So if you are earning $60,000 a year, you paid $2,160 less tax this year than you would have under the Labor Party. We have been cutting taxes for small business to the lowest level in 50 years, putting record incentives through our tax system for investment, which is helping to drive investment even through the COVID recession. The patent box has been encouraging innovation in the biotech and medical sectors.

But we have been opposed by this Leader of the Labor Party every step of the way when it comes to cutting taxes. Indeed, this Leader of the Labor Party said, when it came to cutting taxes for families, that we were cutting taxes for the top end of town. He described small business and families as the top end of town. And this Leader of the Labor Party has supported a carbon tax, a mining tax, a congestion tax, a retirees tax, a housing tax, higher taxes for income earners, higher taxes for superannuation, higher taxes on family businesses and, most damning of all, a death duty. Higher taxes—

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