Mr SUKKAR (Deakin—Assistant Minister to the Treasurer) (15:30): I'm not sure who to believe—the shadow Treasurer who was just at the dispatch box or the Chris Bowen who wrote Hearts & Minds: A Blueprint for Modern Labor, in which he spoke eloquently about corporate tax cuts. I don't think I believe either of them. We've got to remember that this shadow Treasurer was the worst immigration minister this country has ever seen—25,000 people arrived on his watch. This is the man whose great idea was Cash for Clunkers, that absolutely outstanding piece— An opposition member interjecting— Mr SUKKAR: It was his idea! It was a great idea—I don't think it ever happened! What about Fuelwatch? Whatever happened to Fuelwatch? But what happens in the Labor Party when you're the worst immigration minister this country has ever seen and you come up with absolutely crazy schemes like Fuelwatch? You get a promotion. But to be a bit more serious about the substance of this MPI: the Labor Party take growth for granted; that's the problem. They think there is a God-given right for this country to have growth, that we don't have to work hard for it and that the government doesn't have to put in place policies that encourage growth. This is the position of Labor. I feel for the shadow Treasurer. I suspect he's a patriot, but every time good economic data comes out, he goes hiding. He can't speak about it. It's almost as though he's desperate for some bad economic data—and it's not coming. In the last 12 months, jobs have grown by 371,000. In the last 12 months, 371,000 Australians have found a job. Importantly, when we talk about inclusive growth—so called—315,000 of those 370,000 jobs are full-time jobs. A job is what gives people the best start they can possibly have in life. The Labor Party think you can take growth for granted. They think that we have a God-given right to all of the investment that creates those jobs without doing any of the hard work to make it happen. The Labor Party think that those in small business just open the shop and the customers just roll in and the profits just roll in. Otherwise, how could you explain why Labor believes that a small business with a turnover of just over $2 million should be treated the same as Apple and Google and be denied a tax cut? In a number of interviews on television today, we saw Labor MPs evading questions about what they will do with these small business tax cuts. I think we know what it means. It means that, if a Labor government were elected, small businesses would pay higher taxes. According to the Labor Party, small businesses are doing it easy. Well, I can tell the shadow Treasurer, I can tell the Labor Party, that small family businesses fight for every single dollar of profit. Small businesses pay the rent first, the employees second, the suppliers third and the tax fourth. They pay themselves last. So, when we can give them a tax cut, hopefully they can invest and grow that business. We know that a lot of the jobs growth I have spoken about here—the 371,000 jobs in the last 12 months—has come from the small to medium enterprise sector. This is the place that is creating opportunity for Australians. These are the sorts of businesses that create the growth, the inclusive growth, that the shadow Treasurer talks about. Words are cheap. Words are absolutely cheap. You've got to do the hard work to encourage small businesses and encourage Australians to create the economic growth that can deliver these opportunities. We can't take it for granted, and the Labor Party thinks we can. Yes, we've had 26 years of uninterrupted growth, and 17 of those years were stewarded by coalition governments. We've got a shadow Treasurer who often evokes the memories of Keating and Hawke. In fact, he jumped the shark by evoking John Howard a few months ago. John Howard's not as charitable about you as you are about him. The legacy that you are claiming is one that you are completely repudiating. The legacy that you are supposedly proud of, you are completely repudiating. You have now gone back to a pre-Hawke-Keating era of thinking that says, 'You encourage more investment and therefore create more wealth for Australians and therefore create more opportunities for Australians by having a higher corporate tax rate than our competitors.' That is plainly wrong. Page 63 of this fantastic book, Hearts & Minds: A Blueprint for Modern Labor actually says it. There's a very big heading here. It's in bold. It's not a particularly lengthy tome, but there's a bold heading here: 'Promoting growth through cutting company tax'. Mr Husic: Mr Deputy Speaker, I'm loath to interrupt, but he's reading from a document. I'm wondering if he could table the book. It's a good book. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Coulton ): There is no point of order. The member for Chifley will resume his seat. I give the call to the assistant minister. Mr SUKKAR: I say to the honourable member: it's pretty easy to get your hands on one of these. They're only a couple of bucks, just in the bargain bin at the front of bookstores. They're not that hard to find. 'Promoting growth through cutting company tax'. What has happened between then and now? I think I know what's happened between then and now. Bill Shorten's become leader of the party, and the Left is large and in charge of the Labor Party. What is sad is that someone like the shadow Treasurer has not been able to stand up to them—someone like the shadow Treasurer, who evokes the memories of Hawke and Keating, who cut company taxes, is now someone who wants higher company taxes and higher taxes on small family businesses. This is a man who wants small businesses with a turnover between $2 million and $10 million to be denied tax cuts and be denied the ability to access concessions like the instant asset write-off. They are not rich people. They are not Apple and Google. They are small businesses that might have one, two or three employees; small businesses that treat their employees more like family members than employees. But he wants to deny them a tax cut. He hurts not only those small businesses but also their employees, because, if those small businesses are doing it tough, then it's harder to provide the opportunities for inclusive growth that he talks about. Speaking of growth, in the last quarter we had growth at 0.8 per cent in one quarter. It must be hard, it must be tough, as someone in the role of shadow Treasurer. Every time some good economic data comes out, he is torn. I'm sure that, as a patriot, he thinks this is great for the country—good on the coalition government for delivering 0.8 per cent growth—but he's torn. He can't say it. It must be a very difficult position to be in. We've also seen the dividends for the government, and we've seen dividends for the country due to the encouragement of growth under this government. We saw the final budget figures come in at $4.4 billion better than expected. This is very important. This is the first time since the last Costello budget, the last coalition government budget before the rabble of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government, where we've exceeded expectations, and this was delivered under Treasurer Morrison's watch. We have exceeded expectations. It's very important because, unlike the Labor Party, we underpromise and overdeliver. That is what that shows. Opposition members interjecting— Mr SUKKAR: The Labor Party might think that $4.4 billion is a trifling amount worth laughing at, but we think that is extraordinarily important and absolutely telling. The economy is seeing growth and strength in a way that we have not seen since the Howard and Costello government. But we've got a lot more to do and we cannot take it for granted. The Labor Party thinks we can take it for granted and thinks that we can tax our way to prosperity. It's false. I say to the shadow Treasurer: we don't want you bringing what you brought to the immigration portfolio in government to this debate. (Time expired)