Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

(—) (): That is a completely illogical argument. Essentially what you're saying is, if the government don't keep raising more taxes, we are imposing a cost to the budget. By that argument, you're saying, if we don't take 100 per cent of people's income out of people's pockets in tax, we are somehow imposing this massive cost on the budget. Well, do you know what? There is a limit to how much money you should take out of people's pockets, and no amount of Bill Shorten trying to pretend that he's going after the undeserving rich will hide the fact that he is putting his hands into the pockets of pensioners and self-funded retirees—the people that Kim Beazley used to stand up for, and the people that Bill Shorten is selling out in his desperate pursuit of more cash to direct into his reckless spending promises. Remember, he took $16 billion in higher deficits to the last election. (Time expired)