The prime minister’s Coalition colleagues have criticised a new Labor ad that targets the personal windfall Malcolm Turnbull stands to gain if his bill to lower corporate tax rates passes the Senate this week.
The company tax cuts, which have been stalled in the parliament since the 2016 election, would gradually lower the tax rate on all businesses from 30 to 25 per cent.
Labor’s ad, released weeks ahead of a key set of five by-elections on July 28, draws a link between the cuts and Mr Turnbull’s large portfolio of investments in firms that stand to benefit.
The prime minister “has millions invested in funds which hold shares in dozens of big businesses that would benefit from the tax cuts,” the ad says.
“Why is former banker Malcolm Turnbull so keen to give big business a tax cut instead of properly funding our schools and hospitals?”
Company tax cuts for businesses with a turnover of up to $50 million annually have already passed, but the Coalition’s long-promised cuts for all companies will be raised for debate in parliament again this week.
Mr Turnbull said the opposition had "turned its back on everything it stood for".
"They want to attack me for having a quid. They want to attack me and Lucy for working hard, investing, having a go, making money, paying tax - plenty of tax," he told reporters at a Canberra cafe on Monday morning.
"[Labor] used to be a party that supported aspiration, people getting ahead, people aspiring to build businesses ... if you make a buck, pay your tax, all that. Luce and I have done that all our lives. Absolutely all our lives. Now they want to attack that."
Nationals senator John Williams said the ad was “appalling”, recounting Mr Turnbull’s upbringing from a “pretty rough start”, raised by a single father.
Another National, Darren Chester, said the ad was “grubby politics” and “beneath contempt”.
“I'm surprised the Labor Party has gone down to such levels,” Mr Chester said.
Labor’s shadow finance minister Jim Chalmers said he was “comfortable” with the ad.
Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten (left) and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Source: AAP
He said Mr Turnbull’s former career as an investment banker meant he brought a “certain background, a certain set of influences” to his politics, and the opposition was “well within its rights” to point them out.
“[Mr Turnbull has] a “habit of siding against middle Australia,” Mr Chalmers told ABC Radio on Monday morning.
Mr Turnbull's pecuniary interest register shows through at least 15 of his 39 managed funds, he invests in 18 firms that have a turnover of more than $50 million. A further 14 businesses have a turnover of more than $1 billion a year.
The government is still short of the numbers it needs to pass the company tax cuts, with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson maintaining her opposition. Centre Alliance is also a long-term opponent of the plan.
The debate comes as a new Australia Institute-ReachTel poll shows low levels of support for company tax cuts in two of the by-election seats.
In the South Australian seat of Mayo, only one in four voters backs the cut, while in Queensland's Longman one in three voters are in favour.
Both electorates want the government to prioritise spending on services and infrastructure and reducing debt, before tax reductions.
The poll also showed a tied race in Longman between Labor and the Liberals in two-party terms.
And in Mayo, the Centre Alliance's Rebekha Sharkie had a clear 62-38 lead over the Liberals' Georgina Downer.
- with AAP
