MICHAEL SUKKAR:
Good afternoon, everyone. It's wonderful to be here at Duralift in Croydon South, a small business where we're very fortunate to have had the Treasurer visit, where we've had an opportunity to speak to Helen about the tax cuts that we passed last week.
In Helen's case, we're very pleased to hear that she will obtain the full refund of $1,080 and indeed, along with your husband, will receive refunds of $2,160. So it was great for the Treasurer and I to hear about some of the difference that that will make to Helen and her family's lives and indeed there are millions and millions of Australians who I know, this week, are equally awaiting their tax cuts.
We've had 650,000 people lodge their tax returns thus far, and the beauty of modern technology means that in those cases that if you get your return in via electronically, you'll get a refund in between six days and two weeks. They process very, very quickly and the 650,000 returns that have been lodged thus far is quite a bit above where it's been in previous years which we have anticipated, the ATO is prepared for. But again, for people just like Helen, we're very, very keen to roll out these tax cuts as quickly as possible up to $1,080 for an individual and $2,160 for a couple.
So again, Helen, can I thank you for having the Treasurer and I here today. Can I thank this wonderful small business also for hosting us and to the Treasurer, we're very grateful that you have visited and the leadership that you showed last week in delivering these tax cuts for millions and millions of Australians.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well thanks, Michael, and thank you, Helen. It's great to meet you and to hear about your story as you are one of the more than 10 million Australians who are going to get a tax cut as soon as they put in their tax return. And as the Assistant Treasurer has just said, over 600,000 people have already put in a tax return, a massive jump on the previous year.
The tax cuts that passed the Parliament are a victory for all Australians and will strengthen the Australian economy. We're going to see short-term relief, with Helen and her husband getting $2,160 in their pocket. But also, long-term structural reform, with the Australian tax system getting rid of the 37 cent bracket, and creating one big tax bracket between $45,000 and $200,000 at just thirty cents in the dollar. In fact 94 per cent of Australian tax payers will pay no more than 30 cents in the dollar. This is a simpler, flatter, stronger tax system, and as a result, there'll be real incentive to work that extra job, or that extra shift. People will be able to earn more and to keep more of what they earn.
And that's what this tax package has been all about. That's why Scott Morrison, Mathias Cormann and Michael Sukkar, and all our colleagues have pushed this tax package so hard. Because we want to see Australians earn more and to keep more of what they earn, and we want to encourage aspiration and reward for effort.
Now, while the Coalition was pushing through the tax package in the Parliament with the support of the crossbench, the Labor Party continued to stumble from one position to another. We know they went into the election with $387 billion of higher taxes and that was clearly rejected by the Australian people. But Anthony Albanese continued with the strategy that showed to be so wrong that the Labor Party had at the election. He continued to oppose our tax cuts, therefore continued to oppose the Australians keeping more of what they earn. And even up to the last hour of the debate in the Parliament, Labor was trying to put every obstacle in front of these tax cuts and now we hear from the Labor Party that they're open to rolling them back. So the Labor Party have a message for more than 10 million Australians. They don't want them to get a tax cut. They don't want them to earn more, and they don't want them to keep more of what they earn. Only the Coalition can be trusted to keep a strong economy and to keep taxes low.
Any questions?
JOURNALIST:
Helen, what are you going to be spending your tax refund on?
HELEN:
I haven't decided yet, but it will probably be maybe a home improvement or a holiday.
JOURNALIST:
And how important is this $1,000 or thereabouts to you?
HELEN:
Well any extra money that we get in our pocket is always important for your family and just living from week to week, so any extra money is always really good.
JOURNALIST:
Treasurer, do you agree with Bill Kelty that the top tax rate should be cut further?
TREASURER:
Well, it's interesting that Bill Kelty is saying this after the election because we didn't hear that from Labor or senior people like Bill Kelty before the election. What we heard from the Labor Party is that they took to the Australian people an increase in the highest threshold of tax, an increase in the highest rate. That was their policy, and it still is the Labor Party's policy. So we have a tax plan. We took it to the Australian people, and now we are faithfully implementing it. It's $158 billion of tax cuts and it builds on $144 billion of tax cuts that we already legislated from Scott Morrison's last Budget. This is over $300 billion in tax relief for Australians, that's what our focus has been on, and that's what we have delivered for the Australian people.
JOURNALIST:
Facebook and Google flow a lot of money out of the Australian economy, they take a lot overseas, don't pay a lot of tax here. Facebook's also announcing plans to introduce its own transnational currency. Are you concerned about the way our laws are set up to deal with these multinational tech companies?
TREASURER:
Oh well look, in terms of new cryptocurrencies and new payment systems and the like, we obviously welcome these developments and we've been encouraging the Fintech sector and doing a lot of work with them. In terms of those specific initiatives that Google and others have put together, the Libra initiative, that will be assessed by the regulators and obviously you do need to have the right checks and balances. But with new technology comes new opportunities and we'll be putting to the Parliament and hopefully getting it passed very shortly, is our new consumer data right and our open banking reforms, because what we want to see is an opportunity for Australians to have their information more readily available to other service providers with, of course, their approval, so they can get the best offers. Whether it's on their financial services, or whether it's with energy, or whether it's in telecommunications, we want Australians to benefit from these new technologies and digitalisation of the economy.
JOURNALIST:
What about on tax avoidance and that short of thing with these multinational companies, are you concerned with how much they're taking out of Australia's economy.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well we have been absolutely focused on strengthening the multinational tax agenda. We've had a dozen initiatives that we have been putting forward and having legislated through the Parliament. This has brought billions of dollars of extra revenue into the Government's tax scheme, so that's been very important, and changes like thin capitalisation have also been important. And recently, at the G20 Finance Ministers' meeting, there was a very constructive dialogue about the prospects of a 'Digital Tax'. Now, obviously Australia can't and will not move alone on that. What we are trying to do is work with other countries on a global solution to some of the challenges that are being posed to traditional tax systems by the digital economy.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think our deeming rates should be reduced in light of cuts to the official interest rate?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, as has been said by the Prime Minister in Parliament and other relevant Ministers, is that Anne Ruston, as the Social Services Minister, will be bringing a proposal to the Expenditure Review Committee that will be considered in that appropriate forum. But we do acknowledge that the last time deeming rates were changed was in March 2015. Then Minister Morrison made that change, and since then, the interest rates have come down.
But I do want to emphasise two points. One is: not all pensioners are affected by deeming rates, about a quarter of pensioners are, and secondly, the deeming rates apply to a suite of financial assets, not just money that is in the bank account. It also applies to returns from superannuation funds or from shareholdings or managed funds, and some of those returns have obviously been stronger than what we've seen at a time of low interest rates from bank deposits.
JOURNALIST:
Treasurer, apart from the Integrity Bill, what can be done now to reform the IR system?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well as you know, the Prime Minister gave an important speech in Perth a few weeks ago, where he laid out what the key criteria were for changes in this space would be. Namely that the entitlements of workers were protected, that it's an evidence based solution, and that it strengthens the economy overall. So, with those riders, the relevant Minister, the Attorney-General who is also Minister for Industrial Relations, is conducting a review, and we welcome input from key stakeholders, including, we've seen today, business leaders talking about potential changes in the system.
This would go through a proper process but our focus, as a Government, is what steps can we take to continue to strengthen the Australian economy, and in doing so, what steps can we take to encourage businesses, like the one we're here at today – a small business, to employ more people, to continue to see more jobs being created.
It has to be said that across our term in Government, we've seen more than 1.4 million new jobs being created, a record number of women are in work, a record number of seniors are in work, and a record number of young people have been able to get a job and 8 out of 10 jobs that have been created in the last year have been fulltime jobs. So we'll continue to take the steps necessary to see more people employed.
JOURNALIST:
Should we consider this advising the states to privatise assets? And use the proceeds to continue using infrastructure as a way to supercharge the economy?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Look, our focus is on getting the infrastructure pipeline that we have laid out, a $100 billion infrastructure pipeline that we laid out in the Budget, getting that implemented, and we're talking to the states about how they can do that as quickly as possible. But that's our focus. Our focus is on our pipeline and this is a record amount of money that's being spent and Michael can talk about, indeed, some of the initiatives in his own electorate, but indeed, what we've seen from the $4 billion Congestion Busting Fund, what we're seeing with the $5 billion we made available for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link, $2 billion for the Melbourne to Geelong fast rail project, the WestConnex, the NorthConnex, a whole series of projects, the second airport for Sydney. These are all nation building projects that we are contributing significant funds to, and our job now is to see that money roll out, jobs created and productivity, the productive capacity of the economy enhanced.
MICHAEL SUKKAR:
Can I just add on the Urban Congestion Fund, if you look at my electorate of Deakin where we are today, we had a commitment of $50 million to upgrade Dorset Road, $24.5 million to upgrade Canterbury Road, $3 million to upgrade a local intersection, another $550,000 for a roundabout…
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Jeez, you did well.
MICHAEL SUKKAR:
And others. Many others! The point is, in each of those projects there are opportunities. In my case, for local council to do all those projects, potentially much more quickly than the State Government would and I understand they have written to the State Government, making that point, and we are facilitating that. Because we are of the view that we want that money spent as soon as possible. Why? Because we want to ease congestion as soon as we possibly can, and we know there's and economic dividend to that, that we're not dragging out feet at all. We want to ensure that those funds are spent as quickly as possible.
JOURNALIST:
Can I ask a question of the Assistant Treasurer? Will the Government waive Tasmania's social housing debt as called for by Jacqui Lambie and what will you do for housing in that state?
MICHAEL SUKKAR:
Well look I was very fortunate to visit Tasmania for a housing and homelessness forum just a couple of weeks ago. Because after becoming Housing Minister, I wanted to see firsthand and hear from all the stakeholders in Tasmania about some of the peculiar and particular issues to Hobart. The point I made down there is we are listening, we have an open mind to all of these sorts of suggestions, and I was also very pleased to be able to, while I was there, point out the fact that the Government's made a $30 million investment into housing in Hobart through the Hobart City Deal, again not dragging our feet there, I was able to see firsthand a new development that will be delivering about 55 social and affordable dwellings with work starting in September. So we're doing a lot to assist with housing and homelessness in Hobart, but of course, there's more that we can do. And that's why, as I said when I left Hobart, we have got an open mind and we are absolutely willing to work closely with the Tasmanian State Government to try and do what we can to help them.