Sue Boyce (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Every individual in Australia is entitled to do what they can to affect government policies, especially when they think it is wrong—every individual. I know Mr Craig Thomson and his mates certainly tried very hard. If you look at the Your Rights at Work campaign, I think we are talking here about a little more than some of the donations that Mr Palmer has made to the LNP. To suggest that making a donation is somehow equivalent to bribing people is a disgusting, dishonest comment to make, particularly given that we are talking here about individuals. These donations are well known and any results thereof are well documented so that you have a transparent and accountable system not like the insidious, incestuous relationship between the Labor Party and the unions where there is no accountability and Fair Work Australia apparently has to learn to read before they can work out how to produce a report sometime hopefully before the next election, although the likelihood of that, I would think, is very small.

I want to go back and mention the superannuation legislation and the so-called company tax cut that the government has tried to attach to the mining tax. They are not tax cuts; they are tax cons. In fact, if you look at some of the figures that have been produced recently over the weekend, you would have noticed an analysis that shows that, in the end, both the super changes and the company tax cuts will cost money because employers will end up in a negative situation. I would like to just remind the Senate what the Henry tax review said about the superannuation guarantee rate. It said:

The superannuation guarantee rate should remain at 9 per cent. The Panel has considered carefully submissions proposing an increase in the superannuation guarantee rate. Such an increase could be expected to lift the retirement incomes of most workers. However, the Panel considers the rate of compulsory saving to be adequate. The Age Pension and the 9 per cent superannuation guarantee (when mature) can be expected to provide the opportunity for people on low to average wages with an average working life of 35 years to have a substantial replacement of their income, well above that provided by the Age Pension.

This is the government's own review, the Henry review of taxation, which said 'Leave it at nine per cent; don't change it.' We could ask Senator Sterle perhaps what Machiavellian movement went on behind the scenes because, when you think about it, who wanted a 12 per cent superannuation rate? Gee, who was that? Was that the union movement that was pushing for that, especially funded by people outside the wages system. 'Let's go find someone rich and get some money out of them' so that we can increase the superannuation guarantee above the rate that that Henry tax review says it needs to be to give people adequate incomes.

The coalition supports a reduction in the company tax rate. We do not support the mishmash, piecemeal approach yet again that this government is taking. 'What does it matter? We've distorted so many markets now' is the Labor government's mantra. 'What does it matter if we distort a few more? Let's go for a tax cut for small business and just ignore everybody else for a bit longer.'

It beggars belief and causes me great distress that this government might be in power for another 12 months. It is really worrying what else they can damage or destroy in that time. As I have said, the mining industry—and Treasurer Swan loves looking at averages—is the only thing that is masking the serious problems in manufacturing, in retail, in services, in building in Australia.

Senator Sterle interjecting—