MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Mr CONAGHAN (Cowper) (16:11): We, on this side of the floor, know that, if you tax something more heavily, you get less of it. This Labor government has decided to take aim at aspiration, ambition and Australian values. Are those the things that we really want less of in our nation?
We need our nation to prosper. They also appear arrogant enough to believe that the promises made prior to an election can be arbitrarily broken with the flick of a pen and that Aussies should thank them for it, because let's be clear: no-one voted for these taxes. Before the election, the Prime Minister stated, more than 50 times, he would not introduce them.
So much for 'my word is my bond'! In the pages of this budget, we see a desperate Treasurer at the helm of a sinking ship that's sailing on a sea of broken promises—and I should say 'a pirate ship', because Labor is pillaging the pockets of millions of hardworking Australians because it cannot mention the nation's finances. And the hardest hit by this pirate Treasurer parading as an intergenerational Robin Hood are our small-business owners and our generational farmers—the backbone of our economy and the largest employers in regional Australia.
They're the ones that take the risks, and train and employ our young people, and, more importantly, produce things—produce things for their communities and this nation. But the government is reaching into their tills and taking a 47 per cent stake claim. All those unflattering memes of the PM and his Treasurer alongside small-business owners have flooded our social media pages, and they paint a very clear picture: they've done none of the work and taken none of the risk, but they'll take half of what you earn in the end.
And, like pirates, they're taking something that they haven't earned because they saw the opportunity to do so and just because the lower house has the numbers on their ship to do so with disturbing ease. It's no wonder that Australia is now in the unenviable position of having more than 50 per cent of voters reliant on government as their main income, because why would you take a punt?
Why would you get out there and risk everything? Creating, managing and growing a small business or farming enterprise is hard. I can say this from personal experience, having run a business for 18 years before coming to this place—unlike those opposite, who roll out of university into union jobs or political office and have never once shouldered the burden of managing the bottom line, keeping their staff safe and paid, or dealing with cash-flow issues or midnight BAS submissions.
Very few have also ever tended to crops or livestock while battling the weather and global factors and everything in between. A government member interjecting— Mr CONAGHAN: I take the interjection from across the floor. Perhaps they should go and speak to the member for Forde, who has actually worked on a farm and has made the concession that Australians are worse off.
In this country our business insolvency rates are leading the world. We are clocking in at eight closures per business hour. But, rather than sending life rafts, this government ship seems to be intent on aiming its cannons at those who are now somehow managing to survive against all odds.
These are businesses and primary producers that have already taken hits to their bottom line in the form of rampant power and fuel increases, out-of-control insurance premiums surges and skyrocketing rents. It's a far cry from robbing the rich. In reality, this government will be sending former gainfully employed Aussies to the dole line once these small businesses finally break and are forced to start laying off staff.
The Treasurer and Prime Minister insist there will be carve outs that protect small businesses and family farms. The problem is there's no tangible evidence of that to date. We have to take them at their word—and we all know how good that word has been in the past!
In stark contrast, we on this side of the floor want to provide Australians with a hand up, rather than a handout for what they have earned. We promise we will repeal these punitive taxes once this government is thrown out by the angry Aussies it represents. Rather than tax something we need more of, we'll provide a tax incentive to build and produce and look after those Aussies that deserve it.