Chris Crewther (Dunkley, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today in this grievance debate to discuss a matter which I believe is of pertinence to all Australians, not least the many residents in my electorate of Dunkley. When the coalition came into government in 2013 it was clear that the Labor Party had acted irresponsibly and had left Australians, particularly young Australians, with a huge burden to carry for the future. The Labor Party had gifted the Australian people with a massive debt, which, if left unattended, would cripple Australia's future. Former Prime Minister John Howard left us with a situation where we had approximately a $20 billion surplus, whereas the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years of mismanagement debt and overspending meant a situation where we had, at the end of their term, over $300 billion in gross debt. And at the end of their term, just to remind everyone, we kept on spending money on the credit card, with more than $1 billion a month in net interest payments. Throughout those Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Labor years of mismanagement, we also saw $191 billion in record budget deficits, as well as 200,000 more people unemployed during that time.

The coalition came to government in 2013 and immediately began the responsible and sometimes difficult process of ensuring that Australians would not be burdened with a debt to carry and service throughout their lifetimes. Responsible government has continued under the Turnbull-led coalition team, and I am proud of the achievements of this government in working to deliver for the Australian people, as well as for the people of my electorate of Dunkley. Some of the achievements in the eight months since the election include passing important legislation through parliament that affects people's lives, like reform of industrial relations through the Australian Building and Construction Commission, reform of unions through the Registered Organisations Commission, stopping the drownings at sea and closing 17 detention centres through our immigration policies, as well as many savings measures to help balance the budget and to create jobs.

We have been getting on with the job of repairing the budget. Indeed, the Turnbull government passed nearly half of our budget repair measures through the parliament in the first seven weeks of sitting. The $21 billion worth of measures include the Budget Savings (Omnibus) Bill, worth about $6.3 billion; the tobacco excise increases, worth $4.6 billion; superannuation reforms, worth $2.8 billion, to make Australia's retirement income system fairer, more flexible and more sustainable; and the Working Holiday Maker Reform Package, worth $560 million, which will mean that backpackers should not pay less tax than Australian workers. These are just some examples. The Turnbull government is protecting the tax base by combating tax avoidance, particularly by multinational companies, to ensure that everyone pays the tax they should on the income they earn in Australia. We passed the multinational anti-avoidance legislation, established a Tax Avoidance Taskforce in the ATO, and introduced to parliament a UK-style diverted profits tax. These measures are expected to raise $3.9 billion over four years. The coalition is the only party with a plan to reduce the budget deficit and arrest Australia's debt.

The problem we are facing is a Labor which continues to work against what is responsible and what is expected by the Australian people—that is, ensuring growth for the Australian economy and reducing debt. We are now in a situation, thanks to Labor's years of mismanagement, of having over $400 billion in gross debt. What this means for the people in Dunkley is that, if you are a child in Dunkley, you, as well as many of your peers, may be paying off this debt for generations to come, unless we take action now. Labor also wants higher taxes for hardworking Australians and Australian small businesses. Labor is a triple-A threat to our AAA credit rating, with higher taxes, debt and deficit. Unfortunately, we are still fixing Labor's problems after their years of mismanagement. Imagine if Labor got back into government in 2013, or at the next election, and did the same thing they did over the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years. Imagine the debt we would be in. Would we be in $500 billion debt, $600 billion debt, $800 billion debt—how far would a future or even a possible Labor government have gone? We would already be risking our AAA credit rating and, to use a term from the past, would risk becoming a banana republic. Bill Shorten and Labor have rejected our enterprise tax plan and they want to deny more small businesses and their hardworking employees access to further investment and growth opportunities. This is despite Bill Shorten saying in 2011—and more recently in 2016, and I could quote many, many more occasions but this one is of particular note:

Cutting the company income tax rate increases domestic productivity and domestic investment. More capital means higher productivity and economic growth and leads to more jobs and higher wages.

That is quite different to what he is saying now. Labor knows that we have a plan to help hardworking Australians earn more wages, and they are actively opposing it. Labor wants higher taxes and more debt and took, for example, $16.5 billion in higher deficits to the election.

I want the opposite: I want the 16,000 small businesses in Dunkley and the many families who operate these businesses in my electorate to thrive and prosper in a strong economy. If it were not for a coalition government with such a deep conviction and deep respect for the hardworking men and women of small business, we would not have support for the small businesses in my electorate and across the nation. Indeed, the coalition is supporting small businesses rather than dampening business—small businesses such as The Cake Cottage or Colour Collections hairdressing in Frankston, the Pine Forest Bakery in Frankston North, Blue Bay Cheese in Mornington, Hart Marine in Mornington, Bolwell sports car manufacturers in Seaford or many other businesses such as Globeline Automotive Services led by Amedeo Sacco in Seaford. There are so many more small businesses in Dunkley that I could speak of who would benefit from us cutting down our debt as well as reducing our taxes.

And we are cutting taxes. The government has promised that the tax rate for small businesses will fall to 27.5 per cent—down from 28.5 per cent—over a period of time. By 1 July 2026, the corporate tax rate for all companies will fall to 25 per cent. We remember a former Prime Minister, Paul Keating, who reduced the corporate tax rate on more than one occasion. I quoted Bill Shorten before, the grand master of backflipping, who has also talked—

Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remind the member for Dunkley to refer to members by their correct title.

Chris Crewther (Dunkley, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw the remark. I would like to note, though, that he talked many times about the benefit of tax cuts, and now he is talking against them. We need to stop living in this dream that the Labor Party talks about of having increased spending and higher debt. We need to reduce this debt and cut our red tape. On 31 December 2015 the government announced reforms which, when implemented, will result in annual reduced compliance costs of $4.8 billion for business, community organisations and individuals. We need to cut our red tape even further.

There are many businesses in my electorate, such as the local candle making business in Frankston, Mind Body Soy, which is operated by a lady called Jeanette. My office recently discussed with Jeanette the challenge of increasing electricity costs. Jeanette operates her business from her home in Frankston, in my electorate. Her last electricity bill was $385 with Simply Energy and the bill is now pushing $400 regularly. Labor's persistence in being irresponsible with our debt as well as with their tax cuts and energy costs means that over 150,000 people in my electorate of Dunkley and over 16,000 small businesses will suffer. I am working extremely hard for the people of Australia—the many families and children—and the hardworking people of Dunkley, people like Jeanette and many others who are trying, for example, to start up a business or make their own small business thrive. I hope the Labor opposition will join us in our efforts to reduce taxes. We need to work hard to reduce debt, reduce our small business taxes, reduce energy costs and encourage growth and employment within small businesses in Dunkley and across the nation. Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to raise this important issue today in this grievance debate, and I look forward to working with you and many others in this parliament to see our debt reduced and a strong, responsible government.