QUESTION:
Labor claims its tax policies target the super wealthy and protect low and middle income earners. What is your response to that?
TREASURER:
It’s another Labor con. Bill Shorten is going to impose a greater than $150 billion tax slug on the Australian economy. You cannot just take the speed limits off tax and expect it not to threaten jobs, threaten growth, threaten incomes, threaten wages. Under Bill Shorten there would be a tax winter coming to this country which would freeze all of these things, whether it is wages, jobs, growth because of a tax policy that just thinks you can let taxes rip and there are no consequences for the economy. That is mindless economic thinking from the Labor Party. They are happy to just let taxes rip and happy to hit small businesses, happy to hit families trying to invest, happy to hit everybody who is out there earning and working and trying to create a better future for themselves. This is all about Labor’s politics of envy. Not about Malcolm Turnbull’s economics of opportunity. That is the choice for our economy. We are focussed on growing the economy, to grow wages, to increase jobs. More than 240,000 jobs created just last year. The strongest jobs growth record since before the Global Financial Crisis. That is how you lift the living standards of Australians, not by engaging in Bill Shorten’s politics of envy.
QUESTION:
Why is the Government attacking Labor’s policies instead of looking at your own?
TREASURER:
We outline our policies, fully, in the Budget every year. We had a Budget a few months ago. A more comprehensive statement of a Government’s policies there is not. Our position is out there for everyone to see and in great detail. Labor’s alternative is a tax winter that will cost jobs, hurt wages and cost growth.
QUESTION:
What do you make of Dick Smith’s calls in a new ad campaign to tax the wealthy 45 cents in the dollar?
TREASURER:
My view is that the politics of envy doesn’t pay the bills. The economics of opportunity lifts wages, lifts growth and increases jobs.
QUESTION:
Mr Morrison are you confident the ABS will have enough time to get the postal vote in action if the hearing is only being held in the High Court six days before?
TREASURER:
Yes.
QUESTION:
Treasurer, things got a little heated between the two leaders – is this confected or not?
TREASURER:
Last week the Prime Minister made the obvious point, we just passed legislation to outlaw corrupt payments to union officials. How could you vote against outlawing corrupt payments to union officials? That is what the Labor Party, under Bill Shorten, did. They voted against it. They said the practice should be able to continue by virtue of coming into both Chambers and saying, ‘no we think corrupt payments to union officials are fine. Why would you want to change the law for that?’ I think the Prime Minister called Bill Shorten out. It is clearly a sensitive topic for the former union leader.
Thanks very much.