Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

In the proud tradition of the major political parties of Australia, the Albanese Labor government continues to squib opportunities for significant tax reform. The stage 3 tax cuts promised to Australians by both major parties have not been delivered. More than a million Australians will be worse off. Bracket creep will take an additional $28 billion out of their pockets over the next decade thanks to Labor's broken promise. We were told dozens of times the full cuts would be delivered, while Labor was busy changing them. Labor cannot be trusted.

One Nation can be trusted. If we're in a position to do so after the next election, we'll ensure the full tax cuts promised to the Australian people are delivered. That's because One Nation does not support punishing success and aspiration. We don't subscribe to Anthony Albanese's politics of envy, his class warfare or his tall poppy syndrome. We don't trust Labor with Australians' money. We trust Australians with their own money, and we'd rather more of it were in their hands than in those of this reckless Labor government.

This is especially the case right now, with Labor's other policies directly driving inflation and the national housing crisis. Labor pretend to deliver cost-of-living tax cuts with these bills, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts) Bill 2024 and the Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living—Medicare Levy) Bill 2024, but their other policies will negate any relief. Labor's record immigration is driving Australians into homelessness, and Labor's pathetic housing policy will do nothing to prevent it. Labor's reckless rush to renewables is driving up the energy bills of Australian households and businesses. Labor's many attacks on our farmers are driving up the cost of our groceries. Labor's attacks on small business and casual employment will drive up costs for consumers and kill jobs. Labor giveth and Labor taketh away.

Labor cannot be trusted, but One Nation can be trusted. No-one is ever in doubt about what I'm doing, because I tell it like it is. Every Australian I talk to is worried about putting food on the table for their family. Every Australian I talk to is increasingly insecure about having a place to live. Every Australian I talk to thinks immigration levels are much too high. And every Australian I talk to says Labor cannot be trusted.

The major parties must stop paying lip service to genuine tax reform. They must pull their finger out and actually do something. They could start with getting back to fundamentals. Taxes are required to ensure government can fund the things it must do. Taxes are not meant to be used to redistribute wealth or punish success and aspiration. It's time we looked at an overhaul of income tax, and we can start with a flat tax rate. One Nation considers that, above a tax-free threshold, there should be a flat income tax rates of 25c in place of progressive taxation and inevitable bracket creep. A person earning $30,000 a year will still pay 10 times less tax than a person earning $300,000 a year.

This would mean we would not be punishing those who, through hard work and skill, earn more than others. It would still generate revenue, with increased discretionary spending contributing to the GST. They could invest their hard-earned money in Australian property to increase rental supply and relieve Australia's—Labor's—housing crisis. They could invest their hard-earned money in Australian companies and Australian small businesses, creating Australian jobs.

For many years One Nation has also been advocating for taxation reform regarding foreign-owned multinational resource companies. Many of them make billions of dollars in healthy profits from exploiting our natural resources. They pay virtually no tax in Australia for this exploitation. The major parties have squandered our natural wealth for decades, making Australia a cheap dirt mine. We could have had a sovereign wealth fund even bigger than Norway's, which is more than $2 trillion. One Nation considers that even minimum reform of taxation, like the petroleum resource rent tax, could generate $25 billion to $30 billion in additional revenue.

To hear the Greens saying we should wipe the debt from students is ridiculous. There's a debt of over $60 billion owed by students who have gone to universities. They say they're not going to tax students going to universities, and we have people going to universities now who shouldn't be in universities; they don't have the qualifications. If you were to open it up for anyone to attend university, those hard-working taxpayers would then fund people who don't have to pay a cent towards it. If people don't pay and don't contribute, they won't put the work and effort in to it. It is not up to the taxpayer. We have provided universities. Those who genuinely want to improve their lot in life, who want to study and learn, must pay their way. We expect people to fund their own health insurance, so they have to pay for their education. We have free education right up to year 12 for students but it's not a given that you should get free education. Who is going to pay the $60 billion? Where is that going to come from? I have no problem with TAFE colleges, but we are pushing people through a university program where they are being brain washed into an ideology where students believe they have to think that way to go out into the world. These are a lot of the things we need to address.

Taxation is collected by governments. There are only two ways to fund it—through taxation or by increasing productivity. The government are continually raising taxes, and now Minister Plibersek is talking about putting a tax on clothing, which will only increasing the cost of living for the Australian people, because it will be passed on to the consumer. This would rake in in another $37 billion in taxes that the Australian people can't afford. This is all the government do—more regulation and more control and more taxes put onto the Australian people who are struggling. They don't get it and don't understand how people are struggling with the cost of living, because they're only making it worse. I don't see government services getting productivity up. The government are not watching where the spending is going, and haven't even had an investigation into the Aboriginal industry, which I've been calling for nearly 30 years, to find out where the money is going. They wasted $450 million on the Voice, and this money could have gone to taxation relief.

As I said, if we had a fair taxation policy where everyone paid the right amount of tax, if we had a 25 per cent taxation right across the board, more people would actually show that they have earnt that money. They would have nothing to hide. Businesses wouldn't be paying employees under the counter. They would admit they've earnt the money but they would go out there and spend it as well. People would actually save a lot of money in accountants while putting their taxation claims in. The Taxation Office would save a lot of money as well. How much does that cost the taxpayer?

There is no clear thinking or vision for this country at all. All the government are worried about is where they will reap the next round of money from. We have failing defence forces, veterans who have not been looked after properly. The farming sector is being destroyed because of the ideology of going after climate change or net zero, which is a big scam and which is costing the taxpayers billions of dollars to fund.

If they think it's so good, then why don't they stand on their own two feet and prove to the Australian people that they can reduce the cost of it, instead of going for all these subsidies? What I see in this government is incompetency. You really have no idea what you're doing. That's why you ram legislation through this parliament. You don't open up for debate. You won't answer the questions. You can't answer the questions! It's the worst government that I've actually had to see working in progress while I've been in the parliament, from 1996 even to this time that I've been involved in the Senate.

Unless you really truly want tax reform, you have to look at your own before you go taking these tax cuts off the Australian people. It was promised by the PM that he would not touch these personal tax cuts. He's lied again to the people. He is doing it. The fact is that you're trying to fill up the coffers because of the waste of money that you've allowed to happen. As far as I'm concerned, look at real tax reform. Incentivise people to get that second, third and fourth job. As one man up around Rockhampton said, he's got five jobs. How much of that money does he lose because of taxes? Put more money back into the pockets of the Australian people. They will spend it. They will make productivity. They will employ more. Instead of denying people tax cuts, what you should be looking at is working with the states to get rid of payroll tax. Incentivise companies and businesses to put on more employees instead of forcing them to pay a payroll tax through the states. All that people have seen is lies and more lies all the time. When we got the GST, we were told that all these other taxes would go. They never went. That's why the people don't trust governments or a lot of the politicians here anymore.

Just come up with something, will you? Both sides should get together to actually come up with something that is going to help the Australian people, because they are seriously struggling out there. These days, both parents have to go out and work to earn money, possibly even to pay a mortgage or a bill, and they're still struggling. And you keep hitting them with higher and higher taxes, one way or another, like the clothing tax that Plibersek is looking at. It just disgusts me that you can't come up with some decent solutions to actually pay down our debt to forge ahead in this country and create productivity. Your answer to it is to increase the immigration levels. That's all it is. Let's increase the immigration levels to—what was it? Nearly a million people? You're bringing 750,000 students into the country, causing a housing crisis. What are you doing?

You can't even look after the pensioners. That's another suggestion I'll give to you. Allow the age pensioners to work unlimited hours. Whatever they work, let them pay the taxes on the money that they've earnt without it affecting what they're entitled to in the pension and with the healthcare benefits. Get the people of the older generation. You can't get the younger ones to work. You're quite happy to pay for the welfare system of over $250 billion a year. Why don't you let the older Australians get up there and work? A lot of them would dearly love to be able to without being crucified and having to pay these ridiculous taxes that you always want to take from them.

Anyway, as I said, I don't support your bill. I won't be supporting it. I support the fact that it's giving those tax cuts to the people, but, in full, you've lied to the Australian people. It was a promise made. You've taken that promise. But I will fight for the Australian people, if we get control of this Senate at the next election, to give those full tax cuts to all Australians.