One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has thrown her support behind hard-working Aussies, claiming they are struggling to get by while global companies reap the benefits of the current tax system.
Labelling the Labor party as a “scarecrow with no brains” and the Liberals as “a tin man with no heart”, the Senator was passionate in her speech to the upper house on Wednesday, pointing fingers at both parties for not supporting the general population.
“My dilemma is that Australians are doing it tough. Wage growth is very low, certain cost of living items are rising much faster than wages, people are struggling to pay electricity bills,” she said.
“They manage by going without adequate heating or cooling when needed. Electricity bills are the number one cost of living concern for Australians and that’s a tragedy for a country rich in gas and coal.”
The Turnbull Government’s $144b income tax package in question entails three stages, beginning with a $22b package in July, $80b in July 2022 and $42b in July 2024.
Labor is currently only in support of the first stage, with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on Tuesday announcing they will not support the whole package if the government didn’t split the bill.
Accusing the two parties of favouring multinational companies over the everyday Aussies, Hanson said while Labor and the Liberals say they are different, when it comes to these global companies paying tax, they are one.
“In the past 20 years we have had both Labor and Liberal national government and neither of them have had the wit nor the will to do anything to fill the revenue hole foreign owned companies and their wholly owned subsidiaries,” she said.
“The length of the list of multinationals not paying tax in Australia should be a matter of shame to the government and the previous Labor government.”
While the Senator didn’t clearly state whether she was in support of the income tax package, her comments hinted she was in support of tax relief for those earning up to $200,000 annually, while also labelling herself as a lucky Australian due to her wages.
“How can Labor and the Greens deny these tax cuts to hundreds of thousands of hard working Australians on taxable incomes from $120,000 up to $200,000 when they have accepted pay rises in excess of 6 per cent in recent times,” she stated.
The Liberal Democratic Party’s David Leyonhjelm, Australian Conservatives’ Cory Bernadi, United Australia Party’s Brian Burston and Katter’s Australian Party’s Fraser Anning have already announced their support of the package.
Hanson took to her Facebook page shortly after her powerful speech with a message for her supporters.
“I believe hard-working Australians need a helping hand,” she said. “We can give them this helping hand and repair the budget at the same time but the Government needs to listen to One Nation when we say stop giving handouts to overpaid bureaucrats, stop giving our money away overseas and start reigning in the multi-nationals who are ripping the guts out of Australia!”