QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Prime Minister) (14:01): Thanks for the question. Well, on budget night we made it very clear that we foreshadowed Treasury's discussion paper. It was all there for all to see.

But, of course, for those who were busy hyperventilating and saying they were opposed to things before they even saw legislation, they didn't look at that detail. We outlined that the implementation would happen in steps—far fewer steps than happened the last time there was major tax reform, way back under the Howard government. Then, there was something like 30 separate pieces of legislation.

What we've done is to continue to consult. We will continue to do that. On top of retaining all four of the existing capital gains tax concessions for small businesses, we're also increasing the turnover threshold for small businesses to access the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount from $2 million to $10 million.

That's a fivefold increase, and what that means is that every active small business will be included in that. What it means is that 98 per cent of all active businesses in Australia will be included in that. There's now $3.8 billion in the budget that lowers taxes and provides support for small businesses, making the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent.

Mr Taylor: My point of order is on relevance: I asked whether a single country will have a higher real capital gains rate than Australia. The SPEAKER: Standing orders provide that the Prime Minister must be directly relevant to the question, and the question was regarding the budget and the tax position of the government, to which the Prime Minister is being directly relevant.

I can appreciate you would like a direct answer. I can't compel the Prime Minister to do that, but I'll encourage him to make sure he is being directly relevant. Mr ALBANESE: What we've done is what we said we'd do on budget night: consult widely, back small business to succeed and grow, make the tax system fairer and make sure that young Australians get a fair crack.

That's what we've done. Those opposite have continue to do what they've done the entire time since this gentleman here replaced Susan Ley after the infamous meeting on the day of a funeral in Melbourne. He promised there that he would restore faith in the coalition, and what we've seen since then has been diminished each and every day.

The worse he goes, the more he interjects.