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| Tax plan to pass after Pauline Hanson confirms support – politics live | Tax plan to pass after Pauline Hanson confirms support – politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| While Tony Burke is fighting to continue debate on the tax legislation before sending it back in the house, Penny Wong and Labor are working to get debate started again in the Senate. | |
| Scott Morrison has circulated the government’s reasons for rejecting the amended bill: | |
| Reasons of the House of Representatives for disagreeing to the amendments of the Senate | |
| Senate Amendments (1, 2 and 3) | |
| The amendments proposed by the Senate remove step three of the Personal Income Tax Plan. Step three of the Personal Income Tax Plan simplifies and flattens the tax system by abolishing the 37 per cent tax bracket entirely, reducing the number of tax brackets from five to four. | |
| The Plan is a package that gives certainty to Australian families that they will keep more of what they earn in the future. It comprises three steps. | |
| Step 1, prioritises low and middle income earners by providing tax relief of up to $530 to help with cost of living pressures. | |
| Step 2, protects what Australians earn from bracket creep, ensuring that a pay rise, extra overtime or working more hours do not get eaten up by higher tax rates. | |
| Step 3, by simplifying and flattening the tax system, ensures that, by 2024-25, some 94 per cent of taxpayers will face a marginal tax rate no higher than 32.5 per cent based on projections. | |
| High income earners will continue to pay their fair share with the tax system remaining progressive under the Personal Income Tax Plan. For example, a person on $200,000 would pay around 13 times more tax than a person on $41,000. | |
| In 2015-16, the top 20 per cent of taxpayers paid around 61 per cent of all personal income tax. Under the Personal Income Tax Plan, this cohort is projected to continue to contribute a broadly similar share in 2024-25. | |
| In 2015-16 those on the top tax bracket paid 30.3 per cent of all personal income tax collected. Under the plan those on the top tax bracket will pay around 36 per cent of all personal income tax collected in 2024-25. | |
| The Personal Income Tax Plan delivers lower, fairer and simpler taxes to all taxpayers. | |
| Accordingly, the House of Representatives does not accept these amendments. | |
| Sarah Hanson-Young is attempting to have the Senate censure Pauline Hanson for misleading the Senate – over this comment yesterday, where Hanson said she won’t be receiving a tax cut (she will – just over $11,800): | |
| Senator Hanson-Young read the bill and spoke on it, but unfortunately she did not understand it. It’s quite funny when the senator makes comments about me. She said that I’m getting a tax cut. No, I’m not. I’m on the same wage as Senator Hanson-Young. The tax cuts are going to be up to $200,000. I’m a very fortunate Australian to be earning more than $200,000. I am paying tax of 45c in the dollar on that. I’m not getting tax relief. To make that comment is to mislead this parliament. I don’t think she understands it. If she’s really worried about pensioners and the battlers and everyone out there, then I suggest that she flies economy class, like I do, instead of sitting up the front of the plane, at more cost to taxpayers, or taking her child on a taxpayer funded whale-watch or the overseas trips. | |
| Hanson-Young: | |
| We saw yesterday in this place, Senator Hanson, the leader of One Nation, come into here and try and tell this place and the Australian people that she would not be getting a dollar from the tax cut bill that is passing through this place and the other place today. | |
| Senator Hanson misled the Australian parliament, she misled the Australian people, because we know that what this tax cut bill does is give her and in every other person in this place a massive tax cut. Upwards of $11,000 worth of tax cuts. And for Senator Hanson, who prides herself on being the voice of the battler, the people’s Pauline, she misled the Australian people and misled this Senate. She said she will not financially benefit, when indeed she does, and she benefits more than most other Australians. The majority of Australians get very little under this tax cut, very little, but Senator Pauline Hanson, leader of One Nation, gets a whopping $11,815 worth of a tax cut, and yet she came into this place and she denied it. | |
| Greg Jericho has written on who exactly will benefit the most – but I think you already know who wins out of this $144bn package: | |
| The tax cut debate, as expected, has led to an absolute mountain of manure designed to mislead about who is going to benefit. Data on personal incomes out this week from the ABS, drawing on the 2015-16 ATO tax statistics, once again delivers a nice shot of reality to the debate. The biggest beneficiaries of the tax cuts are high-income earners, with median-income earners – especially women – largely ignored. | |
| The government would have you believe the main beneficiaries of the tax cuts are true-blue, dinky-die, aspirational Aussie battlers, while the opposition would have you think it is merchant bankers from Vaucluse. | |
| As I have previously related, certainly merchant bankers and their ilk are the ones who are going to benefit the most. While stage one of the tax cuts – lifting the low-income tax offset – benefits low- and median-income earners, stages two and especially three are focused mainly on benefiting those who earn more than $90,000 and, even more so, those who earn more than $120,000. | |
| Graham Perrett had a few things to say about a certain Queensland senator this morning: | |
| Senator Pauline Hanson and the One Nation political party need to pay back every dollar that they’ve received from the votes of battlers in Queensland. | |
| Last night, Senator Hanson voted herself a tax cut and ignored the people of Queensland who actually put her into office. For 22 years Senator Hanson’s been on the public purse, receiving taxpayer money because of votes. And last night she completely ignored those Queenslanders. | |
| Under Labor, under our tax plan, 1.9 million Queenslanders will be better off. Under Bill Shorten’s plan, we do not forget the battlers. | |
| We saw One Nation last night showed their true Tory colours and forget Queenslanders when voting for the tax plan. It’s a shame. It’s a disgrace. | |
| Tony Burke is now attempting to move an amendment to the motion to return to the bill to the Senate, acknowledging that the government made a deal with One Nation to get the legislation through – among other criticisms – it hasn’t been moved as yet, but we all know where it is going to end up. | |
| While the house votes to send the amended tax package back to the Senate, Penny Wong is in the red chamber attempting to move a motion to force a debate on the tax package. | |
| Just in case you missed it yesterday, Tony Abbott has decided to openly go to war with his government over its energy policy. | Just in case you missed it yesterday, Tony Abbott has decided to openly go to war with his government over its energy policy. |
| Obviously, he has been vocal with his criticisms for some time. But just a couple of weeks after warning the prime minister about anarchy if Craig Kelly gets rolled at this upcoming preselection (which we are told still looks like happening), he is now openly bitching about party-room meetings and sounding the horn for the backbench to rise up. | |
| This is what he said to Sydney radio 2GB last night about whether he would cross the floor over the Neg: | This is what he said to Sydney radio 2GB last night about whether he would cross the floor over the Neg: |
| I hope it is not going to come to that. I really hope it is not going to come to that. | I hope it is not going to come to that. I really hope it is not going to come to that. |
| But I do think the government, the executive government, needs to understand that you can’t take the party room for granted. And I think there has been a bit of that, a bit of taking the party room for granted. | |
| For instance, the prime minister has developed this practice of discussing legislation at ENORMOUS length, every party-room meeting, before we actually get to backbenchers’ questions and comments. | |
| Now, this is completely unprecedented. When John Howard was the leader, when I was the leader, Malcolm Turnbull was the leader last time round, when Brendan Nelson was the leader, we always went straight from the leadership statement to the backbench questions and comments. | |
| But this has almost never happened under the current prime ministership. | |
| ... It is a fundamental failure of process and it is stifling the proper debate that we should be able to have inside our party room. | |
| And the other point I should make – obviously, because it has to, the government spends an enormous amount of time negotiating with the crossbench. I reckon the government needs to spend a bit more time talking to the backbench. | |
| Yes, the crossbench senators are important – don’t forget the backbench – because you are only in government because you have a backbench that is prepared to support your legislation. | |
| I hope it doesn’t come to questions of crossing the floor, I really do. It is not something that any Liberal would like to do. But, but, I don’t think we can be expected to support a policy that will continue to drive prices up, and which will deny our industries the affordable 24/7 power for jobs to continue. | |
| The other thing to remember with these tax cuts, is the first tier – a maximum of $530 in a tax offset rebate for those who earn under $125,333 – doesn’t come in until 1 July 2019. | The other thing to remember with these tax cuts, is the first tier – a maximum of $530 in a tax offset rebate for those who earn under $125,333 – doesn’t come in until 1 July 2019. |
| There will be an election before then. So no one will get anything before the election, and the government will be telling you to vote for them, based on passing something in this term, which you won’t get until the next term. | There will be an election before then. So no one will get anything before the election, and the government will be telling you to vote for them, based on passing something in this term, which you won’t get until the next term. |
| The house is voting to send the income tax bill back to the Senate. | The house is voting to send the income tax bill back to the Senate. |
| Wayne Swan had a chat to Sky News this morning, calling bupkis on the idea that a flat rate tax – the third tier of the government’s income tax plan – will benefit those looking to “aspire” to a higher wage: | Wayne Swan had a chat to Sky News this morning, calling bupkis on the idea that a flat rate tax – the third tier of the government’s income tax plan – will benefit those looking to “aspire” to a higher wage: |
| It’s a recipe for inequality, it makes the tax system far more unfair, and what it does is reduce the capacity to give tax cuts to the majority of the workforce, while creating the situation where there are further cuts to health and education because they are basically cutting away at the tax base. | It’s a recipe for inequality, it makes the tax system far more unfair, and what it does is reduce the capacity to give tax cuts to the majority of the workforce, while creating the situation where there are further cuts to health and education because they are basically cutting away at the tax base. |
| … Trickle down economics doesn’t make sense, greater inequality doesn’t make sense, because greater inequality in Australia, giving more to the people at the top, hollowing out the middle class and creating armies of working poor, is a handbrake on growth and it poisons our society. | … Trickle down economics doesn’t make sense, greater inequality doesn’t make sense, because greater inequality in Australia, giving more to the people at the top, hollowing out the middle class and creating armies of working poor, is a handbrake on growth and it poisons our society. |
| Things got a little messy in the Senate last night. | Things got a little messy in the Senate last night. |
| Penny Wong and Labor, and the Greens, as well as Tim Storer were FURIOUS the vote was occuring last night without debate. | Penny Wong and Labor, and the Greens, as well as Tim Storer were FURIOUS the vote was occuring last night without debate. |
| The government won the motion to guillotine the debate, which means they voted through the amended package without continuing the debate and sent the bill back to the house. | The government won the motion to guillotine the debate, which means they voted through the amended package without continuing the debate and sent the bill back to the house. |
| Malcolm Turnbull said the government would send the package straight back to the Senate, rejecting its amendments. There will be no more debate – it will go to the vote, and based on the numbers as we know them, it will pass. | Malcolm Turnbull said the government would send the package straight back to the Senate, rejecting its amendments. There will be no more debate – it will go to the vote, and based on the numbers as we know them, it will pass. |
| Rex Patrick was on Radio National this morning explaining why Centre Alliance was going to let the whole income tax package go through, despite having voted to split it yesterday: | Rex Patrick was on Radio National this morning explaining why Centre Alliance was going to let the whole income tax package go through, despite having voted to split it yesterday: |
| Yes, we are. We’ve gone on record and said that. We’re interested in making sure that low- to middle-income earners reap the benefits of our much stronger economic position. The dilemma for us is that if we were to knock out all of the tax package, then no one gets any benefit. | Yes, we are. We’ve gone on record and said that. We’re interested in making sure that low- to middle-income earners reap the benefits of our much stronger economic position. The dilemma for us is that if we were to knock out all of the tax package, then no one gets any benefit. |
| “The downside, if we do vote for all three, is that of course the high-income earners get a tax break, but we’ve got to remember that that doesn’t occur until 2024, and indeed the Labor party have said they are going to repeal that if they were to gain power. | “The downside, if we do vote for all three, is that of course the high-income earners get a tax break, but we’ve got to remember that that doesn’t occur until 2024, and indeed the Labor party have said they are going to repeal that if they were to gain power. |
| Amanda Stoker, who replaced George Brandis, delivered her first speech just before the Senate closed overnight. | Amanda Stoker, who replaced George Brandis, delivered her first speech just before the Senate closed overnight. |
| Here is some of what she had to say: | Here is some of what she had to say: |
| We need to be prepared to take the difficult case for increased productivity to the community, which offsets the appeal of raising minimum wages and penalty rates, because they both reduce job opportunities for those most in need. I understand that telling lower paid workers they will take home more money today is popular; it’s easy. | We need to be prepared to take the difficult case for increased productivity to the community, which offsets the appeal of raising minimum wages and penalty rates, because they both reduce job opportunities for those most in need. I understand that telling lower paid workers they will take home more money today is popular; it’s easy. |
| But we need to be honest enough to say frankly that each time we do, we deny a job to another person desperately in need of one. The unions rail against casualisation or layoffs, but it is the direct product of the policies for which they advocate. | But we need to be honest enough to say frankly that each time we do, we deny a job to another person desperately in need of one. The unions rail against casualisation or layoffs, but it is the direct product of the policies for which they advocate. |
| We must also be honest enough to say that it is the productivity gains that will sustainably deliver real wage growth for those who need it most. We need to introduce competition to workplace representation. Teachers, nurses and trades usually join unions to access insurance and representative services, not to gain a political affiliation. | We must also be honest enough to say that it is the productivity gains that will sustainably deliver real wage growth for those who need it most. We need to introduce competition to workplace representation. Teachers, nurses and trades usually join unions to access insurance and representative services, not to gain a political affiliation. |
| They don’t trust union representation in a bargaining process, where the unions arrange kickbacks for themselves and forget or sell out the needs of the workers. | They don’t trust union representation in a bargaining process, where the unions arrange kickbacks for themselves and forget or sell out the needs of the workers. |
| A simple way to reduce these abuses of member interests is to end union monopolies. Many workers value workplace representation, but they don’t want politicised workplace representation. Let the market give them the choice. | A simple way to reduce these abuses of member interests is to end union monopolies. Many workers value workplace representation, but they don’t want politicised workplace representation. Let the market give them the choice. |
| It is the height of hypocrisy that the Left in this country rails against big business but supports the continued tax-free status of unions, which have become multimillion-dollar businesses with sophisticated commercial operations. It is pure irony that those selling the socialist dream have taken so well to capitalism. | It is the height of hypocrisy that the Left in this country rails against big business but supports the continued tax-free status of unions, which have become multimillion-dollar businesses with sophisticated commercial operations. It is pure irony that those selling the socialist dream have taken so well to capitalism. |
| When a union is selling insurance, investing, selling education services and running all manner of start-ups, they should be taxed like the business they are. | When a union is selling insurance, investing, selling education services and running all manner of start-ups, they should be taxed like the business they are. |
| We owe the Australian taxpayer no less. And we must never give up on the principle that government should provide the lightest possible burden on the entrepreneurial spirit of Australians.We should test every piece of legislation, every regulation against the standards of necessity and efficacy until red tape and green tape no longer hold back the projects needed for Queensland and Australia to grow and prosper. | We owe the Australian taxpayer no less. And we must never give up on the principle that government should provide the lightest possible burden on the entrepreneurial spirit of Australians.We should test every piece of legislation, every regulation against the standards of necessity and efficacy until red tape and green tape no longer hold back the projects needed for Queensland and Australia to grow and prosper. |
| Well, the government officially have the numbers. | Well, the government officially have the numbers. |
| In the least surprising news since One Nation lost another senator, Pauline Hanson has confirmed she is on board with the government’s entire income tax plan. | In the least surprising news since One Nation lost another senator, Pauline Hanson has confirmed she is on board with the government’s entire income tax plan. |
| That gives Mathias Cormann the numbers he needs to get the whole kit and caboodle through the Senate. Centre Alliance, after voting yesterday to remove the third tier – which benefits high income earners – has confirmed it will vote through the whole package when it returns to the Senate later today. | That gives Mathias Cormann the numbers he needs to get the whole kit and caboodle through the Senate. Centre Alliance, after voting yesterday to remove the third tier – which benefits high income earners – has confirmed it will vote through the whole package when it returns to the Senate later today. |
| Here is why Hanson said she is giving her support (hint – it’s Labor’s fault): | Here is why Hanson said she is giving her support (hint – it’s Labor’s fault): |
| “[Labor] are talking about the big end of town, you know the millionaires as the Greens are saying, they’re getting these tax cuts, do you really think those on $200,000, you know and they’re making more than that, a $7,000 tax cut is going to make a big difference to them?” she said. | “[Labor] are talking about the big end of town, you know the millionaires as the Greens are saying, they’re getting these tax cuts, do you really think those on $200,000, you know and they’re making more than that, a $7,000 tax cut is going to make a big difference to them?” she said. |
| “It’s not. It’s all about the people below that income, they need a helping hand.” | “It’s not. It’s all about the people below that income, they need a helping hand.” |
| Labor has confirmed it will repeal the parts of the tax bill it doesn’t like if it gets into government. | Labor has confirmed it will repeal the parts of the tax bill it doesn’t like if it gets into government. |
| But for now, it is all done but for the final vote. | But for now, it is all done but for the final vote. |
| Everyone is out and about this morning, so we’ll get straight into it – Mike Bowers caught the vote last night, so I’ll bring you what he saw. Amanda Stoker cried as she was sworn into the Senate – I’ll bring you some of her speech. | Everyone is out and about this morning, so we’ll get straight into it – Mike Bowers caught the vote last night, so I’ll bring you what he saw. Amanda Stoker cried as she was sworn into the Senate – I’ll bring you some of her speech. |
| You can find Sir Mike at @mpbowers and @mikepbowers and me at @amyremeikis. You might also see us on the instagram story at @pyjamapolitics, where we (when we have time) throw up some of our day. | You can find Sir Mike at @mpbowers and @mikepbowers and me at @amyremeikis. You might also see us on the instagram story at @pyjamapolitics, where we (when we have time) throw up some of our day. |
| Does everyone have their morning pick-me-up? | Does everyone have their morning pick-me-up? |
| Let’s get into it. | Let’s get into it. |