Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister explain to the House why, when company profits have increased by almost $26 billion to record levels, he wants to cut company tax and, when there is record low wages growth, he does nothing to stop wage cuts of up to $77 a week for Australians? Prime Minister, why is it that, when profits are surging, companies get more and, when wages are flat, workers get even less under your government?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There was a time when the honourable member was a persuasive—indeed, passionate—advocate for reducing business taxes. He stood here and he said that, if you reduce company tax, you increase investment, you increase productivity and you increase employment and, if you do that, of course, businesses will grow, they will be more profitable and you will see an increase in company tax receipts. And, indeed, that has been the experience in Australia. As we have seen reductions in company tax, we have seen growth in investment, more profitability, more employment and more receipts.

That was well understood by the Labor Party when they recognised that there was a connection between investment and employment. But economics has been thrown out the window. We are now in a parallel populist universe of the Leader of the Opposition, where apparently there is no connection between the rate of tax companies pay and what they invest—that is la la land. Another part of la la land says that you can stop trading with other countries and you can be a protectionist.

What we are doing on our side of the House is working hard every day to open up more export opportunities for Australian businesses. Only on the weekend, we secured more access to Indonesia, our closest neighbour, an enormous economy which is growing at a rapid rate. It is going to be one of the biggest economies in the world before very long. We have secured more access for sugar and more access for live cattle, and we are working towards and have a commitment to concluding a free trade agreement by the end of the year. But all we get from the opposition are rants about protectionism. That is what they want. They want to throw up the barriers and put Australians out of work.

The fact of the matter is that the wages share of income continues to improve in Australia. We know that the biggest beneficiaries from reducing business taxes are workers, are wages. The rationale for that was set out in a Labor Party budget in 2010 and Treasury analysis. That analysis is still right: if you reduce company tax, you get more investment and, when you get more investment, you get more jobs. There was a time when the Labor Party cared about jobs—but not any longer. There was a time when they cared about hardworking Australian families and wanted to help them get ahead—but no longer. Well, we do. We are committed to growth and we are committed to backing those Australians to succeed and realise their dreams. (Time expired)