Mr GARETH EVANS —My question on this occasion is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer take any steps to ensure that a wealthy family which chooses to split its savings income four or five ways through family trust or similar arrangements will not be able to collect four or five different $450 savings rebates? If not, why not?

Mr COSTELLO —Because I have already taken the steps. It can only be claimed by individuals. It cannot be claimed by trusts or any other personality. If you had read it, you would have known that. This is a universal rebate of $450 which is open to savers. And the government wants to send this message to the Australian people: the tax system is going to recognise saving. If you save, you are eligible for a 15 per cent rebate on your individual marginal tax rate, and it is open to all and it is open in relation to all classes of savings.

When you see the Labor Party getting up here and going in and out and doing their mental gymnastics, the people of Australia have only got to take into account one thing: Labor is against reducing taxes on savings. That is all you have to understand here. The coalition is in favour of reducing taxes on savings and the Labor Party is against it. They always do this. They sit there and say, `Oh, we are really in favour of it, but we have a thousand reasons why we can nitpick and raise points.' What was the question that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition put to Prime Minister? What was his big point? Why aren't you giving tax cuts to people who don't pay tax? That was your big point. Why is it night when the sun is not out? Why is it day when the sun is out? These are very deep questions, and I am sure you sit around in your office and try to think them up but they go nowhere. Here we have the twin act, Beazley and Evans—up, up, up, up, trying to figure out reasons why they are against reducing taxes on savings.

Mr Beazley —Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order. The point of order goes to relevance. The Treasurer got a very clear-cut question on where the application of that $450 rebate would lie—whether it would lie in taking income from trusts. We have not yet got an answer to that question. What we have got is an excuse for the fact that a pensioner with $40,000 worth of savings gets nothing.

Mr SPEAKER —The Treasurer is concluding his wide ranging answer on this contentious topic.

Mr COSTELLO —I am, Mr Speaker. As I have made it clear, this is a savings rebate on your marginal tax rate for an individual who saves. The great thing about it is, as I have already said, that 66 per cent of the benefit goes to people who are earning under $40,000 and it is progressive, unlike the l-a-w tax cut. The l-a-w tax cut was $1,250 of tax cuts to Labor ministers and zero to $20,000 income earners.

Mr Howard —Zero!

Mr COSTELLO —Zero. Absolutely zero. When we see the Leader of the Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition going up, down, up, down, telling us—

Mr Beazley —Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order. The point of order goes to relevance again. The Treasurer has an interesting way of excusing the three per cent co-payment that he has just taken off low income earners.

Mr SPEAKER —I have taken the point of order. You can resume your seat.

Mr Beazley —What I would like to know is the answer to the question.

Mr SPEAKER —The Treasurer is winding up his answer.

Mr COSTELLO —Up, down, up, down. In getting up here, the one message they are giving is they are against the savings rebate. That is the message that you are giving. The Leader of the Opposition and the deputy leader—the 1983 Mal Colston defence team. That is who they were.

Mr Beazley —Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order.

Government members interjecting—

Mr SPEAKER —Order! Members on my right!

Mr Beazley —Mr Speaker, I take a point of order on relevance.

Mr Reith interjecting—

Mr McGauran interjecting—

Mr SPEAKER —The Minister for Industrial Relations! The minister for science! Order!

Mr Beazley —The bunch who have been feeding and defending Mal so loyally over the last 12 months have nothing to say about that. Mr Speaker, I know the Treasurer is upset that the Prime Minister scuppered his budget—

Mr SPEAKER —What is your point of order?

Mr Beazley —The point of order is this: it was a simple question on $450 worth of gain potentially split four or five different ways from income received from a trust and the Treasurer has not managed to answer it yet.

Mr SPEAKER —I am under the impression the Treasurer has finished his answer.

Mr COSTELLO —Generally you let senior counsel take the points of order in the defence team, but I will leave it to the Leader of the Opposition on this occasion.