Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

They did indeed—they couldn't wait to see the back of you. But, anyway, be that as it may. I have a personal explanation: that is, I cannot cook. My wife, Catherine, will back me up on that. But I am going to give Labor a little bit of a cooking lesson. The minerals resource rent tax was the magic pudding which failed to rise. Annabel Crabb and her Kitchen Cabinet would not come near my home were I to be actually at the stove anytime soon. To listen to Labor in government, you would be forgiven for thinking that the MRRT was indeed a magic pudding. The member for Lilley baked it, former Prime Minister Rudd choked on it and former Prime Minister Gillard not only reheated it but then doled it out so many times over that it actually cost more than it ever raised. This was a pudding that was high in sugar and very, very low in fibre. Had it not been scrapped, Labor's mining tax could have been expected to raise $668.5 million over the forward estimates—that is, from 2014-15 to 2017-18. The associated spending was to reach more than $17 billion—that is, $17,000 million—over the same period. No matter how thinly you cut the slices, you cannot pay for $17,000 million worth of spending with $668.5 million in revenue. That is the great con. Let us remember that around 125 taxpayers were required to comply with the tax without ever having to pay anything, wasting millions of dollars in compliance costs and red tape, the economic equivalent of empty calories, if you will.

We came to government with a promise to repeal the carbon tax and the mining tax. And, in one year, that is exactly what we have done. It is true that we have had to negotiate the passage of the mining tax repeal; we had to get it through the Senate. The Minister for Finance is to be particularly commended for his diligence and resolve in these negotiations. Our repeal package will still deliver a significant improvement to the budget over the forward estimates and beyond. We are eating our greens—I am not really that in favour of the Greens, but I do not mind eating them—but not banking on a pudding which will not rise and which will not deliver. Labor is having its cake and eating it too.

Opposition members interjecting—

You thought Bill Shorten could throw out the one-liners, but I tell you: these are better than Bill's. If Labor had not continued to frustrate the government's clear mandate—and that is what we were given last September—on the repeal of the mining tax, the changes the government has had to make may not have been necessary. You cannot refuse to budget and then make ridiculous claims about dirty deals. You cannot do that. Instead, we are making responsible changes to the phasing of the superannuation guarantee. Labor claims to care about workers, but increases in the superannuation guarantee are funded from reductions in take-home wages and business profits. We heard that from the member for Kooyong earlier.

If those opposite had been listening in question time today they would have heard the Treasurer. He is a good man and he is doing a very tough job. I do not envy him doing the job that he is doing. But I can tell you that he is doing a fine job of fixing up the mess that that mob opposite left us.

We heard from the Treasurer, the member for North Sydney, in question time today talk about 24 successive years of economic growth, probably not helped in part by the six years that Labor were in office, but be that as it may. We heard the Treasurer talking about making decisions in the national interest—

Mr Conroy interjecting—

I will just ignore the member for Charlton—I can tell you that his electorate will at the next election! We heard the Treasurer talk about how the mining sector is contributing one per cent of the three per cent—indeed, a third—of growth in the national accounts. That is significant. So why, with all that growth that the mining sector provides, would those opposite trying to slug the mining industry with a job-destroying mining tax? That is why, thank goodness, we got rid of it yesterday.

We heard about iron exports, a record 181.4 million tonnes in the June quarter alone. That is significant. That is 28 per cent higher than for the same period last year. We are getting on with the job of fixing the economy in the national interest. Those opposite just want to bring back a mining tax and a carbon tax. (Time expired)

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