Mr MORRISON (Cook—Treasurer) (10:30): They're not happy, are they? They're not happy. I'll tell you what they're not happy about. They're not happy that a million jobs have been created since this government was first elected in 2013. They're not happy that the unemployment rate is falling. They're not happy that we've turned the corner and we've wrestled Labor's runaway debt to the ground and we're turning that debt around. When we came to office it was running at 30 per cent a year. They're not happy that 3.1 per cent is now the growth rate of the Australian economy. They're not happy about that. They're not happy that the deficit has halved in the last couple of years and that it'll come back into surplus in 2019-20, a year earlier than had been projected. They're not happy the AAA credit rating has been retained when, all the way through, over the last few years, the shadow Treasurer, in particular, has been seeking to goad ratings agencies into downgrading Australia's credit rating. They're not happy that the jobs and growth that the Turnbull government pledged at the last election are being delivered, and are being delivered in spades. The Turnbull government has a plan for a stronger economy, and it's a plan that is working. That is demonstrated in the more than 10 per cent growth in non-mining investment in the most recent national accounts. This is five times the historical average, turning around the investment story in this country. Do you know how that happens? It happens because of lower taxes and understanding that, when businesses and individuals are given the opportunity to keep and invest their own funds, it gives them hope, it gives them aspiration, it gives them incentive and it gives them purpose. That is what leads to the results that we're seeing in our economy today. Our plan for a stronger economy is working. The plan for a stronger economy was set out in the budget, a strong document which sets out a strong plan to deliver the growth that we pledged and the jobs that follow from it. That plan has five key points that I set out in this budget. The first of those was lower taxes—lower taxes for personal income tax and lower taxes for businesses to ensure they remain competitive. Having lower taxes relieves the pressure on households, but it also empowers those households. The plan that has been voted on in this place today is a plan that the Labor Party voted for in full when it first came into the House, and now they've voted against it. They voted for it; they voted against it; they voted on at least two other options in the last few weeks. You cannot trust a party that cannot keep its line straight when it comes to tax. Who knows what the Labor Party believes on taxes? Ms O'Dwyer: Higher taxes! Mr MORRISON: I haven't got the faintest idea what they believe on taxes, except for one thing—as the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services reminds us—which is that they should be higher. It's pretty simple: under Labor, the taxes are going on; under the coalition, the taxes are coming off. That's what it is—tax on under Labor; tax off under the coalition. That's the simple contrast. Before the budget, I made it very clear that the contrast and the choice that will exist for the Australian people before the election is: do they want to pay more under Labor? Do they want to pay more in more taxes? Do they want to pay more in higher electricity prices with their reckless renewable energy targets and their reckless emissions reduction standards? Do they want to pay more for electricity? Do they want to pay more for private health insurance? They will pay more and more and more under Labor—for one simple reason: Labor cannot control their spending. They have no capability of controlling their spending. We are pleased that our plan for lower taxes—and, in particular, personal income taxes—has today gained the support of this House, and we look forward to it having the support of the other chamber today. That will be not only a message from this parliament that the budget, which is a strong plan for a stronger economy, is passing this parliament but also a message to Australians all around the country that there's tax relief for all Australians. This is tax relief that is provided for by a strong economy—not by taxing some more, but by ensuring that all will receive that relief. We believe that every Australian, no matter what job they have or income they pay, should get tax relief, because they're all putting in. It is true in this country, under our progressive system as we designed it and as we endorse, that those on higher incomes pay higher rates of tax, but, as the studies showed yesterday, the households that are in the top 20 per cent of income in this country pay more than 50 per cent of the taxes in this country—actually, it's closer to 60 per cent. That's how it is, because those who've done better and have greater means are ensuring that the benefits of hospitals, schools, pension payments, welfare payments and all of these can be provided for. That is largely done by them, and the burden of taxation is carried largely by those who do better—and they do so, pleasingly, in this country on the basis that they know that that's the fair society in which they live. But there's got to be a limit. There has to be incentive; otherwise, it's the image of that snake eating itself from the tail— Opposition members interjecting— Mr MORRISON: Those opposite jest at this, but what they don't understand is that if you tax your economy too hard and too high it eats the economy. The shadow Treasurer used to believe this. He used to have as a mentor Paul Keating, who used to talk to him of aspiration and speaking to that aspiration. Ms O'Dwyer: Not anymore. Mr MORRISON: Not anymore. He's mystified by aspiration as much as the member for Sydney is. I've been wondering: why has the shadow Treasurer gone from supporting competitive tax rates for businesses to opposing them? Why has he gone from supporting personal income taxes based on aspiration to opposing them? Let's not make any mistake today: the Labor Party today is voting to cut in half a personal income tax plan that will deliver more than $140 billion in tax relief to Australians right across the country—to everybody paying tax. They want to cut that in half. That's what they're doing: they're taking a $140 billion plan and turning it into a $70 billion tax relief measure. That's what they're doing: they're cutting tax relief in half with this measure. What has caused this massive change from the shadow Treasurer? He's clearly got another mentor. That mentor must be the member for Sydney. The other week he was going out there and repeating that ridiculous line that, somehow, in the tax system you have pink forms and blue forms when it comes to introducing income tax! He was embarrassed to repeat it, but he dutifully went out there making an absolute embarrassment of himself—and he knows he did. It was absolutely incredible that he could drag himself to be so humiliated, to put such a ludicrous argument out in the public debate. So we know who the shadow Treasurer's new mentor is: it's the member for Sydney, the professor of economics and tax policy known so well around the country—and let's not forget geography. We're backing business to create more jobs. There is record jobs growth under the Turnbull government. The stronger economy is guaranteeing the essentials that Australians rely on. Those sitting up in Longman today, those sitting down in Braddon and those sitting out in Mayo, where the Liberal and National parties are with our candidates, know this— Mr Burke: What about WA? Mr MORRISON: And in WA, for sure, because it's important for them, too, that they understand this. They need to understand that, when you hear a Labor Party member say, 'We're going to do this on hospitals,' or, 'We're going to do this on education,' or, 'We're going to do this on disabilities,' or, 'We're going to do this', it means nothing unless you have a plan for a stronger economy. You cannot take Labor's promises to the bank, because when Labor gets into power there's nothing in the bank, because they cannot manage the budget and they cannot run a stronger economy. It's just not in their DNA. What's in their DNA is spend, spend and spend, which means tax, tax and tax—more than $200 billion in higher taxes, which they've added $70 billion to today by opposing this measure. How high does it go? When is too much tax too much for the Labor Party? The answer is never. The sky's the limit. The shadow Treasurer used to believe in a tax cut. In fact, he said we would be judged on if taxes rose above 23.7 per cent. Gone is the tax cap, because he is unable to control the spending of his colleagues. If he were to ever sit in the Treasurer's chair, the budget would go into disrepair, because he hasn't got the strength to manage it. We are living within our means as a government. We are creating the stronger economy that Australians need and that guarantees the essentials that Australians rely on. Our record speaks for itself. (Time expired) The SPEAKER: The time allotted for this debate has concluded. The question is that the motion moved by the Manager of Opposition Business be agreed to.