PM undeterred by Hanson's view of tax plan

Malcolm Turnbull hasn't given up negotiating the government's business tax plan through the Senate as One Nation said its support cannot be guaranteed.

Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison

Scott Morrison says policies to drive economic growth must be the focus of his May 9 budget. (AAP)

Malcolm Turnbull will continue to negotiate with senators to back the government's business tax cuts, as One Nation leader Pauline Hanson warned her party's support cannot be guaranteed.

Labor and the Greens oppose the $50 billion plan to lower the company tax rate to 25 per cent over the next decade, meaning the government needs the support of One Nation and the Nick Xenophon Team in the federal parliament's upper house.

"We will leave the negotiations to the Senate, see what develops," the prime minister told reporters in Barcaldine, far western Queensland on Sunday where he was visiting a solar farm.

He said there had been many predictions the government couldn't get its Australian Building and Construction Commission and registered organisations legislation through the Senate: "We did."

Asked on ABC television if One Nation was supporting the company tax cut, Senator Hanson said: "It's not guaranteed, no."

She was concerned about the ongoing impact on the budget.

"If you think I'm going to give a company tax (cut) and then a few years down the track, they are saying, 'Hang on a minute, we haven't got enough money to run the country or we can't lower our deficit, we are going to increase the tax on all Australians for five per cent' ... I will not support that," she said.

The Queenslander would rather see payroll tax cut because it's stifling growth and employment, but says Treasurer Scott Morrison found the states - who administer the tax - are not prepared to entertain the idea.

The business tax cuts were the centrepiece of Mr Morrison's first budget to lift jobs and growth.

Driving economic growth will the key focus of his second effort on May 9, because he says it improves the budget, wages, business expansion and living standards.

Last week's national accounts for the December quarter showed the economy rebounded by 1.1 per cent after contracting in the previous three months.

Mr Morrison is cautiously optimistic about the economic outlook, but said people shouldn't get overly excited about what the latest figures will mean for the budget.

"What you pick up on the swing you lose on the roundabout," he said

"We remain very concerned about wages growth. That has a much bigger impact on revenues and collections."

The budget will include a housing affordability package which will focus on social housing as well as people trying to break into the housing market.

He would not be drawn on whether this would include changing housing tax concessions, like negative gearing, which Labor says it would limit to new properties only.

But Mr Morrison said there wasn't just one solution to the housing issue.

"It is a cruel hoax for the Labor party to present a tax increase as the sliver bullet which says 'you will be able to buy a house wherever you like, at the price you want, the suburb you want'," he said.

He applauded the decision of the Victorian state government on axing stamp duty for first time home buyers for properties less than $600,000.


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Source: AAP



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