Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, sort of, to the member for Fairfax for the question on tax policy. As the Prime Minister reminded you a moment ago, this side of the House is cutting taxes for 14 million Australian workers. We cut taxes last year, we're cutting taxes next year and we're cutting taxes the year after, and that means an extra 50 bucks a week, on average, for Australian workers so that they can earn more and keep more of what they earn.

The Prime Minister is asked by the member for Fairfax to rule something out. I want to remind the House that just on Sunday—not in September, not before the election, not even a few weeks ago—the member for Fairfax said on Sky, on 20 July—and I'm quoting here—'They shouldn't be taking anything off the table.' So, on Sunday, he said, 'They shouldn't be taking anything off the table.' By Wednesday, he is saying, 'We want you to rule something out.'

We've already got a view on the policy issue that the member for Fairfax has asked about. We've made our views public when it comes to tax policy. Our priority is cutting taxes for 14 million Australians. We've made it clear that people will bring all kinds of ideas to the economic reform roundtable next month here in Canberra. If this government has one defining feature, it's that it cuts taxes in the context of a more responsible budget. We haven't just done it once; we're going to do it three times by the end of this parliamentary term.

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