The implications of the historic tax cuts the Turnbull Government has passed are at once practical and profound. The people who live in our electorate of Fisher will see the day to day benefits of the Turnbull Government in their back pockets straight away. But the values and beliefs that underlie these policies are fundamental to the weighty choice that will face all Australians at the next Federal Election. It is a choice between two visions for the future of our country and between two contrasting beliefs about the success that Australians deserve.
From July, 60,000 people in our electorate are going to be better off because of the Turnbull Government. Working Australians who live in communities like Caloundra, Beerwah, Maleny or Mooloolaba, are going to see up to $530 more in their pay packets every year. Ordinary families in those communities, and in towns like Kawana, Alexandra Headland, Beerburrum or Landsborough will get up to $1060 back from this Government.
At a time when wage growth is low, and when bills for electricity and housing are high, the Turnbull Government has acted responsibly and pragmatically and said to people in our electorate “We are not going to take any more of your money than we absolutely have to”.
Small businesses in Fisher who are creating the industries and jobs of our future are already feeling the practical benefits of the Turnbull Government’s policies. For companies like Helimods at Caloundra Airport, Eniquest in Bells Creek, or APAC Infrastructure in Caloundra West, they are already investing in new products and offering new jobs in the knowledge that the return on those investments will be greater under the Turnbull Government’s corporate tax cuts. For the day to day businesses on which local residents rely like CK Whole Foods in Mooloolaba, Maleny Jewellers or Peachester Fuel and General Store, they have been given greater confidence that they can earn, employ locals and invest for the future because this Government is taking less of their income every year. We all see the benefits in thriving shopping districts and a low unemployment rate in our region of 5.1%.
The people of Fisher will experience the positive practical impact of the Turnbull Government in their pay packets from next year. Local businesses have been feeling them for months. Under Labor my constituents would receive none of these practical benefits.
Labor voted against our Personal Income Tax plan. They voted to take $70 billion more from the back pockets of 60,000 working Australians in Fisher. Labor have promised to repeal the Turnbull Government’s company tax cuts and undermine the investment decisions taken by tens of thousands of businesses in my electorate. Labor have promised more than $200 billion in other new taxes on housing, electricity, small business, investment income and even pensions.
Every day, whether you are a working Australian, a small business owner, or a retiree you will be better off under the Coalition than under Labor.
But this debate over taxes reveals something more fundamental about our competing visions for Australia. Members of the Liberal National Coalition believe that the success that Australians want is a success built on hard work and personal responsibility. We believe that Australians want the satisfaction of knowing that they have earned what they have and that they have provided for themselves and their loved ones.
We know that Australians want the freedom to build their own life and we believe in a fair reward for their efforts.
That is why the Turnbull Government has passed historic tax reform which ensures that 94% of Australians will never have to pay a marginal tax rate of more than 32.5 cents in the dollar. We believe that if you choose to put in the effort to succeed, you deserve to enjoy the fruits of that aspiration. This week we have legislated to make that a reality for millions of Australians.
Labor fought tooth and nail to stop us because Labor don’t believe in aspiration. They don’t understand it. Labor don’t believe in rewarding hard work or celebrating the success of ordinary people. For them, the more you work, the more the Government should take. Labor demonise achievement. They punish hard work and they penalise ambition because Labor believe that the only success Australians deserve is a success the Government hands out.
That is the choice that faces the people of this country; opportunity and prosperity under the Coalition or Labor’s politics of envy. I think I know which Australians will choose.
