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

The government has released all of the appropriate information and more, and let me just correct what Senator Keneally just said. This is a saving, a major saving, for working families around Australia. We on this side of the chamber want to help working families get ahead. We are providing income tax relief to provide cost-of-living-pressure relief for low- and middle-income earners but, of course, we want to ensure that we address bracket creep right across the board. We want to ensure that all Australians, all working Australians, have the right incentive, the right encouragement and the right reward for effort, because we understand that bracket creep is a drag on economic growth. If the economy grows more slowly, you know who is the first to hurt the most? Low-income earners. A stronger economy is good for low-income earners because it means they get better opportunities to get ahead—to get a job, to get a well-paid job, to get a better-paid job and continue to get ahead.

The Labor Party doesn't understand this. The Labor Party under Bill Shorten is pursuing an antibusiness, anti-opportunity, antigrowth policy.