Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has called for greater tax cuts for small business as part of his official budget reply.
In delivering his second budget reply in Canberra, Mr Shorten offered some support to the Abbott Government in the wake of the federal budget.
“When it comes to small business, I will offer you another thing you never extended to your opponents - co-operation,” he said.
“There are measures in this Budget that Labor will support in the national interest. We will co-operate on national security. We will co-operate on overdue drought relief for our farmers and we will co-operate on small business.”
But Mr Shorten called on further measures for small business, urging a five per cent cut rather than the 1.5 per cent measure proposed by the government.
The call for change followed Mr Shorten’s description of Treasurer Joe Hockey’s budget as a “hoax”.
'It is nothing but a cosmetic job by a very desperate make-up artist'
Labelling it “an election budget”, he said it did not address challenges posed by an aging population, climate change, gender inequality or an increasingly digital world.
“It is nothing but a cosmetic job by a very desperate make-up artist,” he said.
“…The truth is there are a trifecta of in decencies underpinning this Budget. One, the repack ageing of last year's unfairness, cuts to schools, hospitals, universities and family support. Two, relying on bracket creep to increase taxation by stealth. Three, their unconscionable attack on the States.
“Yes, Madam Speaker, it is a bad Budget. In every respect, this Budget is a hoax.”
Mr Shorten outlined Labor’s plans for revenue raising, including $7 billion to be made from cracking down on multinational tax avoidance.
Labor’s superannuation reforms were also pitched as saving the government $14 billion.
Mr Shorten called for the establishment of a $500 million smart investment fund “to help more Australians convert their great ideas into good businesses”, as well as prioritise digital knowledge.
“Coding is the literacy of the 21st Century and under Labor every young Australian will have a chance to read, write and work with the global language of the digital age,” he said.
“All of us who have had our children teach us how to download an app know how quickly children adapt to new technology. But I just don't want our Australian children playing with technology - I want them to have a chance to understand it, to create it and work with.”
Other measures included an $18.5 million boost to Infrastructure Australia, as well as providing 25,000 teaching scholarships over 5 years to new and recent graduates of science, technology, engineering and maths degrees.
Mr Shorten also pledged to provide 20,000 science, technology, engineering and maths graduates the chance to write off their HECS-HELP debts to boost the workforce.
'It didn't even have a go at apologising for the last Budget'
Mr Shorten also took aim at the budget buzz of “have a go”, saying “it does have a go at some things”.
“It does have a go at pensioners and the States,” he said.
“It does have a go at working women and working families. It does have a go at the students, the veterans, the carers, the job seekers. It does have a go at the sick and the vulnerable.”
Mr Shorten also criticized the government over bracket creep, which he described as “the invisible hand in the pocket of every Australian worker”.
“Nowhere on Tuesday night did the Treasurer utter the words ‘bracket creep’,” he said.
“He should have because bracket creep is the biggest driver of revenue in his Budget. The Treasurer should have told Australians that for every dollar that the Government keeps in spending cuts, $2 will be collected through higher taxes in a lazy Budget.
“Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey are getting inflation to do their dirty work. 80 cents in every dollar in the rise in revenue comes from bracket creep.”
'From praising women of calibre, to demonising rorters and frauds'
Mr Shorten also repeated Labor’s opposition to the planned deregulation of universities, sledging the government over cuts in the “fine print” and changes to paid parental leave.
“It confirms what we’ve always known – no employee, no employer, no family can ever trust this PM with their rights at work,” he said.
He had previously flagged Labor’s opposition to changes to paid parental leave, as well as cuts to family tax benefits first proposed in 2014.
Last year, he pledged to oppose around $13 billion of the savings measures outlined in the first Abbott Government budget, including cuts impacting on pensioners and families.
He accused Prime Minister Tony Abbott of breaking promises.
“The Australian people have now witnessed this Prime Minister repeatedly promising one thing before an election while doing something completely different after,” he said.
Read the budget reply in full below.
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