Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Infrastructure) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week the Turnbull government announced a debate on tax, and quicker than a horse out of the gates at Flemington we saw a whole range of backbencher Liberal and National Party MPs keen to get in on the show. We had Captain Courageous, the good doctor from Lyne—I call him courageous because he represents one of the poorest electorates in the country—out there advocating for a 15 per cent increase on the taxes of everything from food to education to health care for the members of his electorate. Not to be outdone was Dangerous Dan, the member for Wannon, who was advocating that he wanted to see the GST extended to financial advice and financial services.

The only thing that was wrong with the debate that was launched by the Prime Minister last week is that it was a debate on tax without a purpose. We on this side of the House know that the purpose of taxation is to raise money to provide the services that the people of Australia expect, but that was not the purpose that was being put by the members on the other side. We had the Treasurer out there saying the real purpose of the tax increases was not to fund hospitals and education but to fund income tax cuts, presumably in the run-up to the next election. We had the Prime Minister out there saying, 'Don't worry, be happy; just be optimistic,' but nowhere have we had a member on the other side say what it is going to mean to health care, the cost of fresh food and those people who can afford it least. That is why we will be opposing these GST changes.