Month: April 2019

Bill Shorten and the Labor Party are refusing to own up to their $387 billion tax bill, dodging questions about the cost of their policies and casting aspersions on Treasury officials and their work.
In a desperate attempt to distract attention from their $387 billion tax bill, Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen is clutching at straws by claiming Treasury costings of alternative policies are not legitimate.
It is an inconvenient truth for Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen that one of his predecessors and now ALP President, Wayne Swan, said as Treasurer in 2012:
“Treasury regularly gives us information on policies or particular proposals which may come from a number of groups … Because it’s very important to have an informed debate about the costs of various alternatives.” ABC News Online, 7 November 2012
These costings include $230 billion in higher personal income tax, which Chris Bowen himself admitted at the National Press Club just this week:
“Factoring in the cost of Labor’s enhanced Low and Middle Income Tax Offset, the difference between Labor and the Liberals is $226 billion.” National Press Club, 10 April 2019
These costings also include $57 billion for the retiree tax, to which Chris Bowen and Labor themselves admit.
The total of Labor’s new taxes is $387 billion over the decade, taking tax as a share of the economy under Labor to 25.9 per cent, making a potential Shorten government the highest-taxing in Australian history.
Despite Chris Bowen’s desperate attempts at distraction, none of his frontbench colleagues have disputed that Labor’s new taxes total $387 billion, the equivalent of an extra yearly tax bill of $5,400 per household.
Chris Bowen is welcome to come out of witness protection and explain the costings behind his big new tax experiment on the Australian economy, including the negative gearing policy which he has bungled.
As he himself has admitted, Labor’s new taxes would start in only 12 weeks’ time on 1 July. A vote for the Labor Party is a vote for $387 billion of additional taxes, but as Chris Bowen has told voters, if you don’t like them, don’t vote for them.
Labor can’t manage money and would weaken the economy. Only the Coalition can be trusted to deliver lower taxes, more jobs and a stronger economy which underpins record spending on essential services.

The Federal Court has today again condemned the lawless behaviour of the CFMMEU.
The Court granted an ABCC appeal to increase penalties to $668,000 against the union and seven of its officials for shutting down work at nine construction sites in Brisbane in 2016. The union had been attempting to force the projects to employ its favoured subcontractors.
The Court found that “senior officers of the union orchestrated the campaign” and that:
“the overall conduct involved a deliberate, premeditated and sustained campaign of unlawful industrial behaviour orchestrated by the union, including elements of intimidation, threat and coercion.”
The Court also observed the undisputed fact that the CFMMEU’s history of prior contraventions was ‘extensive’ and ‘vast’.
The conduct threatened the livelihoods of hundreds of subcontractors, whose employees were forced to walk off the job at the behest of militant union bosses. It has increased pressure on the affordability of thousands of residential apartments in central Brisbane.
The CFMMEU and its representatives have now racked up over $16 million in penalties for their unlawful conduct as a result of cases brought by the ABCC and its predecessors.
The CFMMEU has donated over $4.2 million to the Labor Party since Bill Shorten became Leader.
Bill Shorten and the Labor Party must today join the Morrison Government in condemning the lawless behaviour of the CFMMEU that is risking jobs and costing households.
Labor’s promise to abolish the ABCC – and not replace it with any watchdog at all – would give the CFMMEU free reign over construction projects across the country.
Last time Labor was in office, they abolished the ABCC and days lost to industrial action in the construction industry – our third largest industry – increased by nearly seven times.
Labor is a risk to jobs, subbies and the economy.

If elected Bill Shorten will lead easily the highest taxing government in the nation’s history with his plan to hit the economy with $387 billion in new taxes over the decade.
Treasury costings indicate that Labor’s tax hit on the economy has almost doubled from their initial costings of around $200 billion to $387 billion.
This is equivalent to an extra yearly household tax bill of $5,400 within a decade.
Labor’s tax grab would punish hard work, aspiration and enterprise and damage the Australian economy costing jobs and lowering economic growth.
Labor can’t manage money. Bill Shorten is proposing a dangerous experiment on a scale that has never been conducted before.
From Labor’s past experiments, like the Mining and Carbon Taxes, we know their tax grabs won’t work and it will be Australians that pay the price.
Making matters worse this tax bill doesn’t even take into account Labor’s electricity tax which we know will put up the cost of energy for families and businesses.
Cost of Labor policies:

*applies until 2022-23
Under Bill Shorten, Labor is refusing to put a cap on taxes as a share of the economy.
This is because under Labor their tax to GDP ratio would increase from 23.3 per cent in 2019-20 to 25.9 per cent in 2029-30, which would make a potential Shorten government the highest taxing in Australia’s history.
In 2013, after the Coalition came to government, Chris Bowen set a test for the government to keep taxes below 23.7 per cent of GDP.
Now Labor has abandoned any tax to GDP cap because there is no limit to the taxes they want to hit the Australian people with.
In contrast the Morrison Government has set a speed limit on taxes at 23.9 per cent of GDP and we are well below that at 23.3 per cent in 2019-20.
As part of our plan for a stronger economy, we will provide immediate tax relief to millions of low- and middle-income earning Australians.
Low- and middle-income earners will receive a benefit of up to $1,080 to support growth and ease cost of living pressures. That’s up to $2,160 for a dual income family. Taxpayers will be able to access the offset after they lodge their end of year tax returns from 1 July 2019, which is in just 12 weeks’ time.
Under the Morrison Government’s plan, 94 per cent of Australians will face a top marginal tax rate of no more than 30 cents in the dollar, providing a reward for effort and encouraging millions of Australians to get ahead.
Under Bill Shorten, Australian’s will be lumped with a higher Tax Bill, a weaker economy and another Budget mess that will take a decade to clean up.

On Melbourne radio this morning, Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek heaped scorn on the most popular vehicles Australians love to drive, calling Australia “the junkyard of the world” as she continued to push Labor’s electric vehicle (EV) policy.
Ms Plibersek went on to bell the cat on Labor’s policy, saying:
“We are the junkyard of the world….If you want to buy an electric vehicle in Australia you’re looking at least $60,000 bucks in most cases, many of the cars that are on sale here, well put it this way, very few of them cost less than $60,000. I think there’s four models that cost less than $60,000.” ABC Radio Melbourne, 12 April 2019
Ms Plibersek has confirmed Labor wants to force Australians out of the cars we love, and into vehicles that cost over $60,000.
Our favourite vehicles are on Bill’s hit list. 17 of the top 20 most popular models in Australia don’t meet Labor’s 105gCO₂/km vehicle emissions standard.
The average price of Australia’s 20 most popular vehicles is less than $35,000. Labor’s 105gCO₂/km limit will increase the cost of a new car by more than $4,800. This is a tax on all vehicles over 105g/km, so the Labor party can force Australians to help them meet their costly EV target.
The Liberal National Government supports a natural transition to EVs for Australians who want to drive them.
We will achieve that through investments in congestion-busting infrastructure, continuing our support for Australian companies that are benefiting from opportunities in global manufacturing supply chains, and coordinating initiatives across all levels of government – so that Australian car owners can make their own decisions.
Only the Morrison Government has a strong, costed and planned strategy for emissions reduction. The Labor Party has set “economy wrecking” targets without a plan to get us there. Nowhere is this more obvious than in their hopeless and damaging EV policy.
If Bill Shorten can’t tell you what his policy will do to the price of cars and fuel. Don’t vote for it.

The election is only hours old and already we have the most disgraceful health scare campaign from Labor – this time on the flu vaccination and children.
It is utterly shameful that Daniel Andrews is politicising the flu season and we utterly reject the Victorian Labor Government’s assertion.
Daniel Andrews has been caught out deliberately and irresponsibly politicising the National Immunisation Program (NIP).
Immunisation is critical to maintaining public health and preventing the outbreak of infectious diseases.
Through the National Immunisation Program, the Federal Government funds free flu vaccinations for:

• All people aged six months and older if they have a medical condition that predisposes them to severe influenza (such as people who have weakened immune systems, heart disease and certain chronic conditions).
• All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people six months and over,
• people 65 years and over,
• pregnant women.

This is a very successful program which saves lives every year.
Last year a record 11 million Australians got a flu shot and over 6 million of these were free through the Federal Government’s National Immunisation Program.
In 2017 nearly 250,000 cases of influenza had been reported. This fell to 58,824 cases in 2018.
Last year 102 people lost their lives from influenza compared to 1150 in 2017.
It is highly hypocritical and dangerously irresponsible of Victorian Labor to raise these issues when in 2018 Victoria under-ordered and the Federal Government had to step in and secure additional flu vaccines to cover their failure.
By law, in order for a vaccine to be listed on the National Immunisation Program, it must be recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC).
The Government lists all medicines and vaccines recommended by the independent expert committee.
Last year alone, we invested $430 million in vaccines and activities which boost immunisation. This includes free vaccines against 17 vaccine preventable diseases, including 14 diseases for children aged four years or under.
Our immunisation rates for Australians aged 5 years is amongst the highest in the world with currently 94.67 per cent of all five year old children, nearing the herd immunity rate of 95 per cent.