16 News

Bill Shorten and the Labor Party are refusing to own up to their $387 billion tax bill, dodging questions about the cost of their policies and casting aspersions on Treasury officials and their work.
In a desperate attempt to distract attention from their $387 billion tax bill, Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen is clutching at straws by claiming Treasury costings of alternative policies are not legitimate.
It is an inconvenient truth for Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen that one of his predecessors and now ALP President, Wayne Swan, said as Treasurer in 2012:
“Treasury regularly gives us information on policies or particular proposals which may come from a number of groups … Because it’s very important to have an informed debate about the costs of various alternatives.” ABC News Online, 7 November 2012
These costings include $230 billion in higher personal income tax, which Chris Bowen himself admitted at the National Press Club just this week:
“Factoring in the cost of Labor’s enhanced Low and Middle Income Tax Offset, the difference between Labor and the Liberals is $226 billion.” National Press Club, 10 April 2019
These costings also include $57 billion for the retiree tax, to which Chris Bowen and Labor themselves admit.
The total of Labor’s new taxes is $387 billion over the decade, taking tax as a share of the economy under Labor to 25.9 per cent, making a potential Shorten government the highest-taxing in Australian history.
Despite Chris Bowen’s desperate attempts at distraction, none of his frontbench colleagues have disputed that Labor’s new taxes total $387 billion, the equivalent of an extra yearly tax bill of $5,400 per household.
Chris Bowen is welcome to come out of witness protection and explain the costings behind his big new tax experiment on the Australian economy, including the negative gearing policy which he has bungled.
As he himself has admitted, Labor’s new taxes would start in only 12 weeks’ time on 1 July. A vote for the Labor Party is a vote for $387 billion of additional taxes, but as Chris Bowen has told voters, if you don’t like them, don’t vote for them.
Labor can’t manage money and would weaken the economy. Only the Coalition can be trusted to deliver lower taxes, more jobs and a stronger economy which underpins record spending on essential services.

The Federal Court has today again condemned the lawless behaviour of the CFMMEU.
The Court granted an ABCC appeal to increase penalties to $668,000 against the union and seven of its officials for shutting down work at nine construction sites in Brisbane in 2016. The union had been attempting to force the projects to employ its favoured subcontractors.
The Court found that “senior officers of the union orchestrated the campaign” and that:
“the overall conduct involved a deliberate, premeditated and sustained campaign of unlawful industrial behaviour orchestrated by the union, including elements of intimidation, threat and coercion.”
The Court also observed the undisputed fact that the CFMMEU’s history of prior contraventions was ‘extensive’ and ‘vast’.
The conduct threatened the livelihoods of hundreds of subcontractors, whose employees were forced to walk off the job at the behest of militant union bosses. It has increased pressure on the affordability of thousands of residential apartments in central Brisbane.
The CFMMEU and its representatives have now racked up over $16 million in penalties for their unlawful conduct as a result of cases brought by the ABCC and its predecessors.
The CFMMEU has donated over $4.2 million to the Labor Party since Bill Shorten became Leader.
Bill Shorten and the Labor Party must today join the Morrison Government in condemning the lawless behaviour of the CFMMEU that is risking jobs and costing households.
Labor’s promise to abolish the ABCC – and not replace it with any watchdog at all – would give the CFMMEU free reign over construction projects across the country.
Last time Labor was in office, they abolished the ABCC and days lost to industrial action in the construction industry – our third largest industry – increased by nearly seven times.
Labor is a risk to jobs, subbies and the economy.

If elected Bill Shorten will lead easily the highest taxing government in the nation’s history with his plan to hit the economy with $387 billion in new taxes over the decade.
Treasury costings indicate that Labor’s tax hit on the economy has almost doubled from their initial costings of around $200 billion to $387 billion.
This is equivalent to an extra yearly household tax bill of $5,400 within a decade.
Labor’s tax grab would punish hard work, aspiration and enterprise and damage the Australian economy costing jobs and lowering economic growth.
Labor can’t manage money. Bill Shorten is proposing a dangerous experiment on a scale that has never been conducted before.
From Labor’s past experiments, like the Mining and Carbon Taxes, we know their tax grabs won’t work and it will be Australians that pay the price.
Making matters worse this tax bill doesn’t even take into account Labor’s electricity tax which we know will put up the cost of energy for families and businesses.
Cost of Labor policies:

*applies until 2022-23
Under Bill Shorten, Labor is refusing to put a cap on taxes as a share of the economy.
This is because under Labor their tax to GDP ratio would increase from 23.3 per cent in 2019-20 to 25.9 per cent in 2029-30, which would make a potential Shorten government the highest taxing in Australia’s history.
In 2013, after the Coalition came to government, Chris Bowen set a test for the government to keep taxes below 23.7 per cent of GDP.
Now Labor has abandoned any tax to GDP cap because there is no limit to the taxes they want to hit the Australian people with.
In contrast the Morrison Government has set a speed limit on taxes at 23.9 per cent of GDP and we are well below that at 23.3 per cent in 2019-20.
As part of our plan for a stronger economy, we will provide immediate tax relief to millions of low- and middle-income earning Australians.
Low- and middle-income earners will receive a benefit of up to $1,080 to support growth and ease cost of living pressures. That’s up to $2,160 for a dual income family. Taxpayers will be able to access the offset after they lodge their end of year tax returns from 1 July 2019, which is in just 12 weeks’ time.
Under the Morrison Government’s plan, 94 per cent of Australians will face a top marginal tax rate of no more than 30 cents in the dollar, providing a reward for effort and encouraging millions of Australians to get ahead.
Under Bill Shorten, Australian’s will be lumped with a higher Tax Bill, a weaker economy and another Budget mess that will take a decade to clean up.

On Melbourne radio this morning, Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek heaped scorn on the most popular vehicles Australians love to drive, calling Australia “the junkyard of the world” as she continued to push Labor’s electric vehicle (EV) policy.
Ms Plibersek went on to bell the cat on Labor’s policy, saying:
“We are the junkyard of the world….If you want to buy an electric vehicle in Australia you’re looking at least $60,000 bucks in most cases, many of the cars that are on sale here, well put it this way, very few of them cost less than $60,000. I think there’s four models that cost less than $60,000.” ABC Radio Melbourne, 12 April 2019
Ms Plibersek has confirmed Labor wants to force Australians out of the cars we love, and into vehicles that cost over $60,000.
Our favourite vehicles are on Bill’s hit list. 17 of the top 20 most popular models in Australia don’t meet Labor’s 105gCO₂/km vehicle emissions standard.
The average price of Australia’s 20 most popular vehicles is less than $35,000. Labor’s 105gCO₂/km limit will increase the cost of a new car by more than $4,800. This is a tax on all vehicles over 105g/km, so the Labor party can force Australians to help them meet their costly EV target.
The Liberal National Government supports a natural transition to EVs for Australians who want to drive them.
We will achieve that through investments in congestion-busting infrastructure, continuing our support for Australian companies that are benefiting from opportunities in global manufacturing supply chains, and coordinating initiatives across all levels of government – so that Australian car owners can make their own decisions.
Only the Morrison Government has a strong, costed and planned strategy for emissions reduction. The Labor Party has set “economy wrecking” targets without a plan to get us there. Nowhere is this more obvious than in their hopeless and damaging EV policy.
If Bill Shorten can’t tell you what his policy will do to the price of cars and fuel. Don’t vote for it.

The election is only hours old and already we have the most disgraceful health scare campaign from Labor – this time on the flu vaccination and children.
It is utterly shameful that Daniel Andrews is politicising the flu season and we utterly reject the Victorian Labor Government’s assertion.
Daniel Andrews has been caught out deliberately and irresponsibly politicising the National Immunisation Program (NIP).
Immunisation is critical to maintaining public health and preventing the outbreak of infectious diseases.
Through the National Immunisation Program, the Federal Government funds free flu vaccinations for:

• All people aged six months and older if they have a medical condition that predisposes them to severe influenza (such as people who have weakened immune systems, heart disease and certain chronic conditions).
• All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people six months and over,
• people 65 years and over,
• pregnant women.

This is a very successful program which saves lives every year.
Last year a record 11 million Australians got a flu shot and over 6 million of these were free through the Federal Government’s National Immunisation Program.
In 2017 nearly 250,000 cases of influenza had been reported. This fell to 58,824 cases in 2018.
Last year 102 people lost their lives from influenza compared to 1150 in 2017.
It is highly hypocritical and dangerously irresponsible of Victorian Labor to raise these issues when in 2018 Victoria under-ordered and the Federal Government had to step in and secure additional flu vaccines to cover their failure.
By law, in order for a vaccine to be listed on the National Immunisation Program, it must be recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC).
The Government lists all medicines and vaccines recommended by the independent expert committee.
Last year alone, we invested $430 million in vaccines and activities which boost immunisation. This includes free vaccines against 17 vaccine preventable diseases, including 14 diseases for children aged four years or under.
Our immunisation rates for Australians aged 5 years is amongst the highest in the world with currently 94.67 per cent of all five year old children, nearing the herd immunity rate of 95 per cent.

The Liberal National Government will today launch the National Men’s Health Strategy 2020-2030 with more that $19 million to guide action over the decade to improve the health and wellbeing of every Australian man and boy.
We will release the National Men’s Health Strategy, which sets out a national approach to improving health outcomes for all men and boys in Australia, particularly those at greatest risk of poor health.
On the whole, Australian men and boys enjoy long, healthy lives, with a current average life expectancy of more than 80 years, the eighth highest in the developed world.
Despite this, Australian men and boys face challenges in their health and wellbeing. They die earlier than women, and more often from diseases that can be prevented. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men live significantly shorter lives than other men.
The Strategy is forward looking with a clear blueprint for actions on the five priority health issues affecting men’s health:

• sexual and reproductive health and conditions
• mental health
• chronic conditions
• injuries and risk taking
• healthy ageing.

Important health issues for men include infertility, coronary heart disease, prostate cancer, overweight and obesity, diabetes, bowel cancer, lung cancer, injuries, mental health and suicide.
We are pleased to announce $3.8 million for research into the causes and prevention of male infertility, a disease recognised by the World Health Organisation. It is estimated to affect one in six couples, causing significant suffering to thousands of Australians.
To date the vast majority of resources expended in research and treatment have been focussed on female infertility yet in couples seeking infertility treatment in Australia, male infertility is recognised by clinicians as being an equal contributor to couples being unable to achieve parenthood.
We are also pleased to announce $3 million in funding to Andrology Australia, through to June 2021. This will allow them to continue to deliver high quality education and training programs for health professionals and information for men on a range of reproductive health issues.
In addition, the Liberal National Government is providing continued and expanded funding to support the Men’s Shed movement ($11.2 million over 4 years). The funding consists of the following:

• Funding to men’s sheds through the National Shed Development Programme will be continued, and increased to $1 million per year for years ($4 million over 4 years). These grants enable sheds to apply for funding twice a year to assist with health and wellbeing activities and events, shed improvements and tools and equipment
• $1.5 million to fund regional coordinators at the grassroots level in each state and territory which aims to provide direct assistance in men’s shed
• $3.6 million to the Australian Men’s Shed Association in supporting to support Sheds at a national level
• $2 million to equip every Men’s Shed in Australia with a portable defibrillator
• $100,000 to establish a web based platform ‘Men’s Shed Exchange’. This platform aims to encourage the broader shed community to contribute ideas on how to attract and retain membership and participation and how to stage regional events. Andrology Australia will host the portal.

Health and medical research is one of the four pillars of the Government’s Long-Term National Health Plan.
Our Government’s strong economic management ensures the continued record investment into vital health initiatives.
$1.5 million over three years will be available to implement various key actions from the Strategy to support health promotion initiatives and health literacy, improve health professionals’ knowledge and a literature review and development of strategies to increase men’s and boys’ engagement with the health system.
Further research investment includes:

• The Australian Prostate Centre, Victoria, is receiving $600,000 to support prostate cancer research
• The Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre – NSW, at the Garvan Institute, is receiving to $437,535 to support prostate cancer research through safeguarding their biobank and databank
• The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health (Ten to Men Study) which examines social, environmental and behavioral factors of males aged 10-55 years. One of the themes the study is investigating is barriers to accessing healthcare and men’s attitudes to their own health, which may identify cultural or social barriers. The next stage of this research will be undertaken by the Australian Institute of Family Studies in 2019/20.

Today’s announcements add to the Liberal National Government’s strong record on men’s health.
In last week’s budget, our Government invested an additional $31 million to more than double the number of Commonwealth funded Prostate Cancer Nurses from 28 to 62 by 2022-23.
Earlier this year we announced $10 million in an advertising blitz to boost participation in the free and life-saving National Bowel Cancer Screening Program. By the end of 2019 all Australians aged 50 to 74 will be invited to screen.
Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death in Australia with 17,000 people diagnosed each year. Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death in Australia with 17,000 people diagnosed each year and is more common in men, with one in 11 developing bowel cancer before the age of 85.
Participation in the screening program is also lower for males (39.4% compared to 43.2% for females)
Tragically, deaths by suicide in Australia occur among males at a rate three times greater than that for females and that is why we are providing $114.5 million for a trial of walk-in integrated Adult Community Mental Health Centres at eight locations nationally; and $11.5 million for the National Mental Health Workplace Initiative to assist businesses to create mentally health workplaces.
On the PBS, the following medicines specific to male patients have been listed since 2013:

• Xtandi for prostate cancer. Treating over 900 patients and saving them over $9500 per year.
• Lucrun for prostate cancer. Treating over 2500 patients and saving them over $4200 per year.
• Testogel for male androgen deficiency saving patients over $700 dollar a year.

Since 2013, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has provided over $102 million in funding for Men’s health research. This includes nearly $14 million for clinical trials for Men’s health.
Through the Medical Research Future Fund’s (MRFF) Accelerated Research Initiative, the Movember Foundation is being funded up to $6 million over three years (2018/19 – 2020/21) to support the Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centres development of prostate cancer research.
We would like to thank Andrology Australia, the Expert Advisory Group, participants in the forum and those who provided online feedback in helping to shape this important piece of work.

A Shorten Labor Government would kick off the process of opening Rockhampton Airport to international aviation, looking to supercharge growth of the Central Queensland economy.
An incoming Labor Government would invest $1 million to develop a business case to determine the viability of upgrading Rockhampton Airport’s status to that of a Regional International Gateway.
It would connect Central Queensland producers to the lucrative markets of Asia, creating huge opportunities for high-end agricultural exports.
The change would also provide a direct international tourism gateway to the region’s magnificent tourism assets, including the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef to the north and east and the Sandstone Wilderness to the west.
Most importantly, upgrading the Rockhampton Airport would boost economic activity and jobs growth right across the region.
Regional International Gateway airports require the capacity to deliver international airport services including customs and immigration.
The business case is a crucial first step that will examine the cost of expanding such facilities at Rockhampton, as well as the economic benefits of opening the region to the world.
Airports at Townsville, Cairns, the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba are already designated Regional International Gateways.
It is beyond time that we look at the potential for Rockhampton Airport to join the international aviation community.
Over nearly six years of cuts and chaos,the Liberal National Party has been too focused on infighting to pay serious regard to regional economic development.
By contrast, Labor has a plan to assist every region in the nation to achieve its full economic potential through investment in critical rail and roads as well as support for tourism, aviation and economic diversification.
Labor’s plan for the Rockhampton Airport builds upon existing commitments for Central Queensland including $800 million for the Rockhampton Ring Road, $25 million for the South Rockhampton Flood Levee and $15 million to upgrade the Capricorn Highway.
Owned and operated by the Rockhampton Regional Council, the Airport is a major Australian regional airport, with flights to Brisbane, Mackay, Townsville, Cairns and the Gold Coast. Approximately 650,000 passengers pass through its terminal every year.

47,570 full-time jobs a year would be created in Queensland under the Greens plan to rapidly transform Australia’s energy system to renewables by 2030.
Greens energy spokesperson Adam Bandt MP said: “coal is the world’s biggest cause of climate change and Australia is the world’s biggest exporter of coal with 80 per cent of what we dig up being sent overseas to be burned. Unless we phase out coal, we can’t deal with climate change and the Greens are the only party to have a plan to do it.”
Queensland Greens Senator Larissa Waters said Queenslanders needed and deserved real jobs that last – not fake jobs and false promises like those made by Adani – which the Greens Renew Australia 2030 plan would deliver.
“We’ll build a clean energy export industry to replace the dying coal industry which will create jobs right here in Queensland. Our fully-costed plan will take our energy system from one of the oldest and dirtiest in the world, to one of the cleanest and smartest.
“We’ll support coal workers and their communities with a $1billion transition fund to ensure no Queenslander is left behind. Our plan will also lower energy costs for households and businesses and drive fossil fuels out of the economy.
“Right now, giant, multinational coal and gas companies are extracting our resources for free, polluting local environments and paying no tax. They get away with it because the Liberal and Labor governments take their dirty political donations – $5million over the last four years – and then do their bidding at the expense of everyone else and the planet.
“The world economy is changing and it’s time to turf the coal huggers out and for Australia to become the renewable energy superpower the global market is ready for.”
The climate and energy plan includes:

• 100% renewables by 2030 including support for households and business solar and batteries and the establishment of renewable energy zones
• A new public energy retailer Power Australia and re-regulation of electricity prices
• Phasing out the burning and export of thermal coal supported by a $1 billion transition plan for workers
• The building of a solar export industry based on hydrogen and direct exports to Asia
• Doubling energy productivity and a reduction in pollution across the economy driven by industry programs, a energy efficiency target and a carbon price
• A shift to electric cars with the phase-out of petrol car sales
• Support for farmers to drawdown carbon in the land

The plan will create 180,000 new jobs nationally and drive Australia towards zero-net emissions by 2040.
Read the full plan: greens.org.au/platform/renewables#repower

Australian Greens Leader and Foreign Affairs spokesperson Dr Richard Di Natale has called upon the Australian Government to swiftly intervene to ensure that Julian Assange is not extradited to the United States.
“This arrest is a dark day for press freedom around the world,” Di Natale said.
“Regardless of what you think about Assange as an individual, he is facing extradition to the US on charges relating to his work to shine light on potential war crimes – an act that won him Australia’s highest honour for journalism.
“Seeking to punish Assange for exposing evidence of US atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan would put a chilling effect on moves towards open and more transparent democracy.
“This is not a simple case of someone breaking local laws while overseas. If extradited to the United States, Assange will be on trial for alleged crimes he committed while not even in the country. Foreign nations must not be able to extradite and charge journalists who have exposed their wrongdoing. It sets a terrible precedent and would be a disaster for the free press.
“Australia must do more than simply provide a tokenistic offer of consular assistance. I call on the Foreign Minister to make the most of our so-called special relationship with the United States to ensure that Assange is not extradited to the US”
“It’s time the ALP showed some courage and stood up for a more open and transparent democracy instead of again falling into line behind the Coalition.”