Zoe McKenzie (Flinders, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Were there any discussions held by the Treasurer or any direction given by him or his office, expressly or implicitly, to the secretary or any other official of the Treasury to provide advice on stage 3 tax cuts before 11 December 2023?

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

An hour and 20 minutes into question time, on the Thursday of sitting and in the absence of the shadow Treasurer, that's the best they can come up with. I answered this question earlier in the week; I answered it accurately. The department answered it on Monday before the inquiry chaired by Senator Hume, and we all know what's happening here.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer will pause. The member for Barker is on a warning. I thought it would be a week where he would not get 94(a) but some things never change. You will leave the chamber under 94(a).

The member for Barker then left the chamber.

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

I think the whole House knows what's happening here. They can't defend or sustain their position on the actual tax cuts, so they're asking questions about all of the atmospherics and everything that goes around it, because the whole country now knows that they argued against the tax cuts but say they are voting for them. The member for Farrer says, 'Absolutely, we're going to unwind it.' They're all at sea. The opposition leader can't sustain his position for longer than 30 seconds on national television. We all know what's going on here. We have put forward a program of bigger tax cuts for more Australians to help with the cost of living. If they don't want to engage on that then perhaps they should pack up and go home.