Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline to the House how the government is responsibly delivering on policies to ensure better days ahead for Australian families and businesses, including in my electorate of Swan? Is the Treasurer aware of any alternative approaches?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Swan for his question and his passion for ensuring that Australians are getting the good government that they deserve from the Turnbull government, which is delivering on the better days that are ahead and the hundreds of thousands of extra jobs that have been created over the last 12 months, particularly some 110,000 extra full-time jobs in the last quarter alone, which are also benefiting his electorate of Swan.

The Turnbull government has been getting on with the job. Over the past year, we have legislated to reduce the tax burden on small- and medium-sized enterprises. We have reduced the tax burden, particularly on small businesses, by increasing the threshold from $2 million to $10 million, and we have legislated to extend the instant asset write-off for those small businesses up to $10 million for a further 12 months. We have introduced and legislated a tax on the major banks in this country, which will ensure that they are contributing additionally to the task of providing the many important services and guaranteeing those services that Australians rely on around the country. Over the course of this fortnight alone, we have legislated to provide extra support to pensioners. We have lifted the Medicare threshold for low-income earners to ensure that their needs are respected. We have legislated to introduce the Medicare Guarantee Fund that guarantees Medicare and the funding for Medicare all around the country and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. We have legislated to restore the pensioner concession card to some 90,000 Australians. And we have legislated to prevent tax fraud in the precious metals industry, including the Goldfinger rorts that were being undertaken by members of the Labor Party, including those who were on the Senate ticket for the last election, which was put forward and supported and adopted by the Leader of the Opposition.

I am asked about alternative approaches. In the last 12 months, this is what the Leader of the Opposition and the Labor Party have done. They have put unions before young unemployed people by opposing our program, the PaTH program, which would get young unemployed people into jobs. They have put unions above the interests of owner truck drivers. They have put unions ahead of students by opposing our reforms which would put real needs-based funding in place and would see more money flow to those students. And we know that they put unions ahead of the rule of law and order in the building and construction industry. Law and order is necessary to grow our construction industry and ensure that the $75 billion of extra funding that is going into infrastructure projects around the country, in particular, will be well spent and will not be wasted on the union rorts that the Leader of the Opposition endorsed by having John Setka come to his election party. (Time expired)