Labor accused of envy and smear as it highlights Cayman accounts

LABOR’S attack on Malcolm Turnbull’s wealth appeared to backfire yesterday, when his response stunned MPs into lame silence.

MALCOLM Turnbull yesterday acknowledged he and wife Lucy had been lucky and were wealthier than most Australians who worked harder than them.

But the Prime Minister, one of the richest members of Parliament, made no apologies for his wealth: “We’ve worked hard, we’ve paid our taxes, we’ve given back.”

Mr Turnbull was responding to Labor attacks on his investments in funds based in the Cayman Islands, a tactic that has highlighted how well-off the Prime Minister has become.

He returned the attack, accusing Labor of taking Parliament down the “the avenue of the politics of envy”.

It was a strong response, which left the Labor benches quieter than they were when Opposition Leader Bill Shorten put the question to Mr Turnbull. And it showed that the stridency that dominated Parliament for two years under Tony Abbott was not necessary to win a political debate.

“I don’t believe my wealth, or frankly most people’s wealth, is entirely a function of hard work,” Mr Turnbull said.

“Of course hard work is important but, you know, there are taxi drivers that work harder than I ever have and they don’t have much money.

“There are cleaners that worked harder than I ever have or you ever have and they don’t have much money.

“This country is built upon hard work, people having a go and enterprise.

“Some of us will be more successful than others, some of us are fortunate in the turn of business, some of us are fortunate in the intellect we inherit from our parents.”

For a second day, the Prime Minister took questions on his and wife Lucy’s investments — all declared in public and none considered illegal — and repeated his argument he had sent his money off shore to avoid a conflict of interest from Australian investments. He said the investment vehicles had been selected by a New York-based Australian financial adviser Josephine Lyndon, who has managed that portfolio. He said: “Is tax being paid in Australia by Australians? In my case and in Lucy’s case, in the case of our family interests, the answer is absolutely yes, in full.”

And he turned on Labor’s leader Mr Shorten who, he said, “could be talking today about the economy, could be asking about growth, could be proposing some new ideas on innovation or enterprise”.

Instead, he said, Labor wanted “Just another wander down the avenue of the politics of envy, just another smear”.

Originally published as Labor accused of envy and smear as it highlights Cayman accounts