Andrew Leigh

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

DOORSTOP

CANBERRA

MONDAY, 26 NOVEMBER 2018

SUBJECT: Labor’s plans to right the economic wrongs of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Governments.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Good morning. My name is Andrew Leigh, the Shadow Assistant Treasurer.

If you're a millionaire or a multinational, then under the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government, every day is your lucky day. You've got a government that will defend every single tax break, a government that will fight for the rights of tax haven users every step of the way.

But if you are a blue collar worker in Scott Morrison’s Australia, the past few years have been tough. As the Reserve Bank Governor told us last week, real wages have barely budged under the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments. We've seen penalty rates cut, we’ve seen energy bills flying as high as Scott Morrison's jet on a bus tour. Over the last few years, the government has shown an inability to tackle climate change, an unwillingness to look at inequality, it’s been an absolute failure on the energy front.

Only Labor has coherent plans in order to make sure that we crack down on tax havens. In my own policy area, we’ve announced that we're going to set up tax clinics, providing free tax help to lower middle income Australians. Because that's our priority - the vast majority of Australians. Labor will deliver the trifecta – under Labor the budget will be in better shape, your schools and hospitals will be better funded and the majority of Australians will get better personal income tax cuts.

Australians don’t want a country with the best tax loopholes in the world. They want a country with the best schools in the world.

Any questions? Thanks everyone.

ENDS

Authorised by Noah Carroll, ALP, Canberra