Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before getting on to some remarks in address-in-reply, I do note that this is effectively the end of only the second full day of parliament of a new parliament with an extensive agenda, as we heard from the Governor-General just a few days ago. And yet what do we get from those opposite? We get stunts. We get arrogance. They didn't listen to the Australian people a few short weeks ago. They've forgotten already, if they ever took a lesson from what happened a few short weeks ago. We have seen stunts in this place and in the other place today aimed at delaying assistance to the hardworking men and women of rural and regional Australia, the hardworking small businesses of rural and regional Australia, those affected by drought.

Luckily, in my home state of WA, we had a pretty good season last year and, so far, even though the rains came a little bit late, we look like—touch wood—having a pretty reasonable season again. But those in the eastern states, particularly those in the home state of my colleague, Senator McGrath, have been suffering a terrible drought which is ongoing and continuing. One of the priorities of this government is to give assistance to those struggling rural communities affected by drought. And what do we get from those opposite? We get stunts and arrogance. We on this side have a long set of policy priorities. We have a significant agenda, not the least of which is helping those people struggling through the drought and that is certainly something we wish to progress through this parliament as quickly as possible. I would commend all in the other place and all senators to support those drought relief measures in the absolute most timely way they possibly can.

As the Treasurer, the Prime Minister and the finance minister have all acknowledged, there are some headwinds in the global economy that the Australian economy needs to face. We have the correct settings to face those headwinds. We have the ingenuity, the dynamism within our economy to face those headwinds, but they are there. They are acknowledged. They are very real. Dwelling investment is down. The iron ore price, which particularly affects our home state of Western Australia, is predicted to fall and that will obviously have a significant budgetary impact. It also has a significant impact on the men and women who work in that industry.

The metallurgical coal price is expected to fall as well. Obviously there are currently trade tensions in the globe which have the potential to negatively impact the Australian economy. That said, the settings and the fundamentals of the Australian economy are very good. The Australian economy grew by 2.7 per cent in the 2018 calendar year, faster than all of the other G7 nations with the exception of the United States. The wage price index, which is something those on the other side often talk about, is 2.3 per cent when inflation is 1.3 per cent. This is obviously a positive situation.

The budget has been turned around by $55 billion. The net impact of policy decisions on the payment side of the budget is $928 million, once offsetting spending reductions are taken into account. We're moving towards a net-positive position by the end of the decade and obviously there is a clear strategy in place now to pay off government net debt.

Spending growth has fallen, in fact, to half of what we inherited and is at the lowest level in 50 years—it's currently 1.9 per cent. The average annual growth in spending above inflation that we inherited from Labor was around 4 per cent. Spending to GDP is down to 24.6 per cent. Again, this is below the 25.4 per cent inherited from Labor and well below the 30-year average. Current revenue more than pays for our recurrent expenditure. Payments in the next financial year will be $4.2 billion lower than assumed, and payments over the 2019-20 forward estimates period will be $21 billion lower than assumed.

What do these settings, these fundamentals of the economy, allow this government to do? Those opposite, in carrying out their stunt this evening, say that the government hasn't got an agenda. Well, in less than two full days of parliament, we have got through this place a very significant tax relief package that will help hardworking Australians from all walks of life. How long is a week in politics? Normally, that phrase is used in the negative. When something goes wrong, we ask, 'How long is a week in politics?' This time, we can use it in the positive. In a week in politics, we heard the Governor-General's address. We heard it setting out the government's agenda, including a significant tax relief package. Within a week, it passed through this place and the other place and became law. We heard today in question time from Minister Cormann how many Australian taxpayers have already put their tax returns in for the last financial year in order to keep more of the hard-earned money that they receive in their pay packets.

In fact, from this year on, the government's tax relief plan will benefit more than 10 million Australian taxpayers earning up to $126,000 per year. From this year, we have reduced taxes for low- and middle-income earners. This tax relief will be immediately available: $1,080 for singles and $2,160 for couples and families. So this is a government that is already delivering on the promises that we took to the Australian people just a few short weeks ago—promises that were recognised by the Australian people and were valued by the Australian people to the point where they voted us back into government on the back of those commitments.

This government has now legislated to increase the 19 per cent tax bracket from $41,000 to $45,000 and increase the low-income tax offset from $645 to $700 from 2023. In 2024-25, the 32.5 per cent tax rate will be reduced to 30 per cent and, therefore, will abolish one tax rate altogether—94 per cent of all taxpayers will pay no more than 30 per cent.

There were accusations from those opposite during the election campaign—they seem to have struck this phrase out of their lexicon post-election—about targeting the 'the top end of town'. But, in fact, when you look at people who are within that under-$126,000 group, who do we find? We find heavy diesel mechanics earning, on average, $121,000 per annum; hardworking electricians in Western Australia earning, on average, $97,000; senior police constables—very hardworking senior police constables—earning, on average, around $92,000; and senior teachers in Western Australia earning around $109,000 a year. These aren't the top end of town; these are hardworking Australians who deserve to keep more of their own hard-earned money. These are aspirational Australians—people who want to have a go, who want to get ahead and who want to provide a better future for their children. They're not the top end of town. They're average Australians, and they're the average Australians who rejected the politics of envy that Labor promulgated and rejected the politics of dislike of aspiration that those opposite promulgated during the election campaign. This is a significant part of the reason why those Australians supported this government and returned this government to power, allowing us, in just our first two full days of parliament, to deliver the most significant tax relief package since the Howard government.

Debate interrupted.