Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

The government are acutely aware of cost-of-living pressures on Australian families in Queensland and across Australia, which is why we have designed a carbon policy which is economically effective and which ensures that we deliver tax cuts, increases in family tax benefits and increases in pensions to enable Australian consumers to be provided with assistance. If the senator does care so much about families, he should explain why his leader's blood-oath pledge to roll back the carbon price would need to be accompanied by an increase in taxation for working people and a reduction in pensions. Those opposite cannot afford the sort of tax reform and tax relief we are providing. If the senator cares so much about Queensland, he should explain to all Queenslanders who will benefit from increased superannuation and those low-income Australians and low-income Queenslanders who will benefit from the tax breaks for low-income earners in superannuation why he is opposed to those benefits. He should explain to Queensland's small businesses why he is opposed to tax cuts for small business.

The senator can come in here and seek to run an aspect of the Queensland state election campaign in the Senate chamber. But the real issue is why Senator Joyce believes that small business should pay more tax, why he believes Australians earning under $80,000 should pay more tax and why he believes Australian pensioners should get less. All of those measures are measures a Labor government is implementing that he and his leader are pledging to pull back.