James Paterson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The budget is back in black and Australia is back on track. Are there 12 more beautiful words in the English language than those? If there are, I haven't heard them. I am so proud to be speaking this afternoon on Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's first and outstanding budget—the first of many Frydenberg budgets, I hope. It's a remarkable budget because it does return the budget to surplus, and it does so without increasing taxes and while guaranteeing essential services. In fact, not only have we returned the budget to surplus without increasing taxes; we're returning the budget to surplus while cutting taxes. We're delivering hardworking Australians the tax relief that they need and deserve. In fact, cumulatively, between this budget and the last one, we're reducing personal income taxes by almost $300 billion. That makes the choice at this election very clear between the opposition led by Mr Shorten and the government led by Mr Morrison, and the clearly contrasting tax plans that we're taking to this election.

From the coalition you have $300 billion of lower personal income taxes, and from the Labor Party you have $200 billion of increased taxes, at least. That's a $500 billion turnaround for hardworking Australians, in terms of the tax burden they will bear, depending on who wins this upcoming election. In this financial year alone, up to 10 million working Australians will receive tax cuts of up to $1,080—in this financial year. By the time our tax plan is rolled out in full, 94 per cent of taxpayers will face a marginal rate of no greater than 30 per cent. This effectively eliminates the scourge of bracket creep for all workers earning between $45,000 and $200,000. They'll face no disincentive, in the form of higher taxes, to taking on more risk and more hours and to being more productive and entrepreneurial.

Of course, we're not just delivering a surplus but putting the federal government, finally, on a path to paying back the debt burden that was left to us. We've taken six years to get back to surplus, despite the best efforts of those opposite to make it even harder and longer, and we're forecasting that within 10 years all of the net debt accrued as a result of the irresponsible fiscal path we were placed upon, as a country, by the Labor Party will be reversed. The damage will be undone. Net debt will reach zero by 2029-30. In time, this will help alleviate the $18 billion of interest payments that Australian taxpayers currently have to meet every year. That $18 billion of interest payments a year is one of the single biggest budget items that we have to service, and that is in a time of record-low interest rates. God forbid—if we weren't able to put ourselves on a path to fiscal repair—that interest rates ever return to higher, more normal, levels. This, of course, is despite the best efforts of the Labor Party, particularly in this chamber, to thwart our efforts to repair the budget—to make that task as difficult as possible.

Importantly, we've done all of this—returned the budget to surplus and provided meaningful tax relief for working Australians—while guaranteeing the essential services that Australian people rely on. This government will deliver record funding for health. It will deliver record funding for education. It will deliver record investment in our national defence. We've done all this without raising taxes. We haven't had a hit on self-funded retirees. We haven't had a hit on property investors. We haven't had a hit on small- and medium business owners. We've had no hit on those who pay income tax and we've had no hit on those who use family trusts. All of those people will be in the gun if Mr Shorten and the Labor Party are successful at the upcoming election. How do we do this? We do it by restraining spending growth with prudent fiscal management—led particularly by our Minister for Finance, Mathias Cormann—and presiding over a growing economy that's delivered 1.3 million jobs. The choice could not be clearer.