Malcolm Turnbull election pitch 2016: Opportunities for growth and jobs have never been greater

THE opportunities have never been greater so the challenge for us is to take advantage of them and build the strong growth, and the great jobs of the 21st century for all Australians.

“This is the most exciting time in history to be an Australian,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull writes. Picture: AP / ROB GRIFFITH

THIS is the most exciting time in history to be an Australian.

The opportunities have never been greater so the challenge for us is to take advantage of them and build the strong growth, and the great jobs of the 21st century for all Australians.

Success is not guaranteed.

Our economy remains fundamentally strong. In the last calendar year, our economy grew at 3 per cent – stronger than any of the G7 nations.

And the number of Australians in work increased by around 300,000 last year – the highest jobs growth since 2007.

Our plan is to make the economy stronger still, so we can generate the revenues we need to provide the high-quality services and infrastructure Australians expect.

On Tuesday night, my Government laid out our economic plan to ensure Australia continues to make a transition from an economy driven by mining to a strong and prosperous 21st century economy.

It was not a Budget full of giveaways and sweeteners.

That is because this was not an election Budget – it was a Budget with the longer-term economic security of this country front of mind. We outlined our three clear aims:

To deliver on our economic plan for jobs and growth;

To ensure we have a sustainable tax system fit for the 21st century;

To hold faithfully to a responsible, fair and prudent approach to ensure the Government lives within its means.

Our plan powers growth, boosts investment, inspires a strong business sector and will deliver new and better-paid jobs.

We will introduce tax incentives for business to invest and grow, with our plan to reduce the company tax rate to 25 per cent over the next decade. Small businesses and medium-sized businesses will benefit first.

This initiative will encourage new investment, new jobs and higher real wages.

Over time, it will deliver a growth dividend of a full 1 per cent of GDP.

There will be modest tax relief for taxpayers on average full-time earnings of $80,000 which will keep around 500,000 Australians from moving into the second top tax bracket.

We are also ensuring that our tax system has integrity so that multinationals and high wealth individuals pay their fair share.

And we are better targeting superannuation concessions and making sure they are more flexible to support and encourage Australians to save so they are not dependent on the age pension in retirement.

96 per cent of Australians will be positively affected or unaffected by these changes.

Getting the young unemployed into the workforce is also a priority.

Our PaTH program will place up to 120,000 young people into workplaces, to get them into the habit of being employed, and to introduce them to employers, many of whom will take them up for long-term jobs.

We are also committed to ensure young Australians have the skills they need to make a success of their working lives before they enter higher education or the workforce. Our student achievement plan will improve student outcomes in literacy, numeracy, STEM subjects and teacher quality.

My Government accepts the reality that we must live within our means.

The way to return the Budget to balance is by getting expenditure under control and by growing the economy so revenues can lift.

One of the greatest risks to the successful transition to a strong and prosperous economic future is for government to spend unwisely and to increase the tax burden or the deficit - or both - to cover the extra spend.

After three years, all Labor have been able to come up with is an agenda to increases taxes by $12 billion dollars over the next four years and $100 billion over the next ten.

This is not a plan for the future. Labor’s policy will mean less investment, fewer jobs and lower wages.

This election will present Australians with a very clear choice.

My team is working hard to make sure we pull every lever we can to set Australia up to take advantage of the exciting opportunities ahead of us in this century.

Labor and Bill Shorten, are doing everything they can to hold our economy back.

Originally published as Malcolm Turnbull election pitch 2016: Opportunities for growth and jobs have never been greater