Labor urged to scrap plan to raise company tax, Malcolm Turnbull accuses Bill Shorten of declaring war on business

Updated

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has seized on Bill Shorten's move to put company taxes back up if Labor wins government, declaring a "political war" is now raging over tax policy.

Key points: Yesterday Bill Shorten announced if elected Labor would repeal company tax cut for businesses with between $10 million and $50 million turnover

PM today called that decision an "assault on jobs", accused Opposition Leader of waging war on business

Mr Shorten says Labor has other options for those businesses that would face a tax increase under its plan

The Opposition Leader surprised some of his colleagues yesterday when he said a Labor Government would put tax back up to 30 per cent for businesses with turnover between $10 million and $50 million.

"This is an assault on jobs, it's an assault on enterprise, it's an assault on innovation and small and medium-sized family businesses," the Prime Minister said of Labor's decision this morning.

To drive home his point, Mr Turnbull visited a Canberra building business, Universal Trusses, that is jointly owned by recent ACT Liberal Party president Arthur Potter.

"They're not a giant multinational, they are a hard-working, Australian-owned family business," Mr Turnbull said.

The company tax cuts that have already been implemented mean Universal Trusses will pay a 27.5 per cent rate of tax rather than 30 per cent.

The changes kick in this Sunday, when the new financial year starts.

Universal Trusses owner Arthur Potter told the Prime Minister that would help his company and its 60 employees.

"We want to expand the business, we want to continue to grow, which means we employ more people and we can pay them better. And we need incentive to do that," Mr Potter said.

"In the long run you actually get more tax if we are more successful."

Mr Turnbull said Mr Potter's business had confidence and was "making a quid".

"Bill Shorten is the biggest threat to a strong economy and his assault on small and medium family-owned Australian businesses yesterday is just the latest part of his war on business," Mr Turnbull said.

'Pharmacies and supermarkets' put at the heart of tax row

Mr Shorten announced the Labor policy in a single-word answer to journalists yesterday.

But he said the ALP had other options for those businesses that would face a tax increase.

"I am saying to them that what will happen is we will make sure that you've got highly skilled apprentices, we'll make sure that when your workers are sick they can get to see the doctor quickly so they can return to work more effectively," Mr Shorten said.

He said a Labor Government would offer better broadband, training and infrastructure, as well as lower power prices.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) called the Labor policy a "kick in the guts", saying it would affect more than 10,000 businesses, with a combined workforce of more than 1 million.

"This is your local pharmacist, your local supermarket, your local builder," ACCI chief executive James Pearson said.

"We call on Labor to reconsider its position and back business, not pull it down."

The PM has also attacked Mr Shorten's approach to the announcement, calling it a "captain's call" because he did not follow the normal process of taking the decision to shadow cabinet.

Opposition frontbencher Mark Butler confirmed it was Mr Shorten's decision but said he did not want to go into details.

"I'm not going to go into those process arguments, it's a decision and an announcement that's been made by Bill Shorten," Mr Butler said.

"Frankly, it's been well understood out in the community since the election that we've been considering our position."

This morning Labor backbencher Ross Hart directly characterised his leader's decision as a "captain's call" in an interview with radio program Tasmania Talks.

In a protracted and awkward exchange Mr Hart was pressed on whether he agreed with Mr Shorten's position a dozen times.

At one point the Member for Bass tried to end the live interview.

"We'll have a conversation about that another time, thank you very much, bye," Mr Hart said.

But the exchange continued and Mr Hart went on say it was a "matter for Bill Shorten" and eventually that he "supported this decision".

The Senate has so far refused to pass the Government's full plan for corporate tax cuts.

Topics: government-and-politics, federal-elections, elections, federal-government, federal-parliament, alp, political-parties, tax, company-news, business-economics-and-finance, australia

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