Doorstop: Corporate tax cuts, marine parks disallowance motion

 SENATOR DOUG CAMERON, SHADOW MINISTER FOR HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS, SHADOW MINISTER FOR SKILLS, TAFE AND APPRENTICESHIPS:   Well it’s interesting to see Tony Shepherd out this morning, former President of the Business Council, arguing for tax cuts for big business. The same guy that gets $50 000 from this government for seventeen days’ work. The same guy that was out there arguing for cuts to health, cuts to education, putting young kids out on the street with no money for six months. That’s the Business Council for you.

 

I have got to say that the Business Council arguing that they are going to do a twelve month advertising campaign is absolutely outrageous.

 

Every time you see a Business Council ad about cutting tax, remember that the key players in the Business Council have not been paying tax. Some of the key players in the Business Council have been sending money offshore, borrowing money offshore to rort the system back here.

 

This is just unacceptable and to hear Mathias Cormann last night trying to lecture Labor about economics, this is the guy who did the 14/15 budget that absolutely devastated people in this country.

 

This is the guy who supported Malcolm Turnbull when he wanted to increase the GST, the same guy who supported Malcolm Turnbull when he wanted to put taxing powers back to the States, and now he is supporting Malcolm Turnbull in terms of this company tax cut.

 

This government has got absolutely no comprehension about the key issues for the economy. Malcolm Turnbull is a weak Prime Minister, Mathias Cormann just gets out and runs the same rhetoric every day, they don’t have a clue about the key issues and they are just not going to get this through on the basis they thought they would.

The public are onto them, the public know that if this tax cut comes in it is going to have significant effects on health, significant effects on education and significant effects on infrastructure spending in this country.

 

It’s good to see that at least a couple of the backbenchers, unlike Pauline Hanson, didn’t cave in to this government and are prepared to have a good look at the implications of this government’s tax cut.

 

JOURNALIST: Are you surprised that the government doesn’t have the numbers? They talked about having them by Wednesday and now they are having to put it off. Are you surprised?

 

CAMERON: Yes I am surprised, I thought that they would have bribed the cross benchers the way that they normally do, but it’s good to see that Derryn Hinch is obviously listening to the public, Senator Storer is listening to the public,  and the public know that this argument about jobs and pay increases is just a nonsense.

 

There have been significant increases in profitability in this country over the last twelve months and wages are stagnating.

 

During the global financial crisis it was Business Council of Australia members who were cutting jobs harder than anyone else. And if you remember Dr Ken Henry during the global financial crisis indicated that if everyone had behaved the way some of these Business Council members behaved we would have had eighteen percent unemployment in Australia.

 

They don’t deserve a tax cut, there is absolutely no validity in the argument that if they don’t get a tax cut then investment will go overseas.

 

This is a good country to invest in. We have got high skills, we have got a stable economy, we have got a stable government – not this government – but we have normally got a stable government, it’s a good place to invest and investment will keep coming in.

 

JOURNALIST: The government has got a bit of time now to try and get Hinch and Storer on board, how likely is that to happen do you think?

CAMERON: Well who knows? I just hope that the public actually don’t just talk to Senator Hinch and Senator Storer, that they get on to this One Nation mob who are out there saying they are looking after working people but capitulate to the government, capitulate to big business, you know, lunch with Twiggy Forrest and that’s Pauline Hanson gone. I mean what kind of deliberation is this? She one minute says it’s a bad thing to do then she caves in.

 

They may get it through but if they do it will be bad for the economy, it will be bad for working people, it will be bad for health, education and infrastructure.

JOURNALIST: Will Labor be looking for cross bench support for a second attempt at challenging the government’s marine park plans?

CAMERON: Look we just think that this again demonstrates how crazy this government is. I mean there is absolutely no sense in what they have done with the marine parks plan. This is about ensuring we have got a decent environment in this country and obviously we would want to continue talking to people and make sure that we look after our environment.

 

This is not simply about giving business tax cuts and everything will be OK, workers will not get pay increases under this proposal, the secret document from the Business Council is the one you have to look at, the one that they wouldn’t talk about, the one that they won’t be advertising, and I challenge the Business Council – when you do your adverts advertise what your members really think and that is only one in five are prepared to give a pay increase, four out of five are not prepared to give a wage increase or increase jobs.

 

They are an absolute disgrace the Business Council the way they are behaving. They should not get any support in this. It’s bad for the economy, bad for working people.

JOURNALIST: Marine Parks - will Labor be having another crack at that?

CAMERON: You will have to talk to Tony Burke about that but I would think we want to make sure that we have got a decent environment in this country and we leave a decent environment for future generations.