Chris Crewther (Dunkley, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Personal Income Tax Plan) Bill 2018. I note the strong budget that we released a couple of weeks ago, through Treasurer Scott Morrison, and our strong five-point plan under that budget, instead of Labor's one-, two-, three-, three-, four-, not quite five-point plan. By growing our economy and delivering back to people through tax cuts we're incentivising people into jobs, helping people to aid their kids into what they aspire to achieve and helping everyday businesses—people who are working in their own businesses and as employees—and more. Not only that, we will be delivering a surplus in 2019-20.

Under Labor we've seen a situation where our grandchildren and your great-grandchildren will still be paying down the debt. Instead we are finally getting back to surplus after the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years. We were in surplus in 2007, in the last year of former Prime Minister John Howard. In fact, I was five years old when Labor last delivered a surplus, so Labor doesn't have a very strong record in this regard. This offset will assist over 10 million Australians, with a maximum benefit of $530 being provided to around 4.4 million taxpayers. Taxpayers earning between $48,000 and $90,000 will benefit, and will receive the maximum benefit of $530. For the average working couple or working family that means a potential $1,060 extra in the pocket each year for food, for school uniforms, for petrol, for sporting activities, to go towards their mortgage or rent, for car repayments and more. These changes also mean that around 94 per cent of taxpayers are projected to face a marginal tax rate of a maximum of 32.5 per cent or less in 2024-25.

Let's look at some local examples in my electorate. If you're a high-school teacher on $75,000 in Dunkley you'll have an extra $740 in your pocket from the budget year onwards, with an extra $3,740 in your pocket over the first seven years of in tax plan. If you're a hairdresser, like Wayne at Colour Collections in Frankston—let's say you're on $50,000 a year—you'll have an extra $530 in your pocket from the budget year onwards and, as I said earlier, an extra $3,740 in your pocket over the first seven years of the tax plan as the tax relief increases. This is in addition to other changes, such as the higher rebate and higher threshold for childcare costs for those on low-to-middle incomes, in particular, which benefits 5,618 families in Dunkley, not to mention our relief for small businesses, where we're reducing the tax rate down to 25 per cent over time. That is not backed by Labor, who want to make the 16,000 small businesses in Dunkley pay more.

These changes strike the right balance between improving the system for all Australians and ensuring that the top earners pay their fair share. We are helping people to manage their household budget pressures. We are providing certainty for most working Australians that they will face the same tax rate over their working lives. In comparison, the Australian Labor Party have already announced more than $200 billion of taxes in opposition. We've had the housing tax, the savings tax, the family business tax and now the retirees tax. Labor are, indeed, for higher taxes. They are part of the high-tax club.

John Billing, a local resident in my electorate, originally established and used to head up the 3199 Beach Patrol, which has done and continues to do a lot of great work cleaning up our local beach. I asked him, via Twitter, what the budget would mean for him. He told me that his situation is that he is on $800 a week take-home pay, with child support needed for one, and rent, utilities and living expenses to pay. His gross income is between $50,000 and $60,000 a year. For John, this measure would mean $530 extra in his pocket from reduced personal taxes. With one child, if that is his combined total family income, that would mean up to 85 per cent in rebates for child care, meaning additional savings of at least $1,000 per year on childcare costs. Plus, the implementation of our National Energy Guarantee would mean an extra $400 in savings. So, for John, that makes over $2,000 a year that he will save. That applies to others in my electorate in a similar situation, of whom there are many thousands. Let's say you're on $50,000 a year. By 2024-25, you'll get an extra $3,740 back. If you're on $80,000 a year, you'll get $3,740 back in personal income taxes alone—not to mention, as I said, other savings in child care, small-business benefits and much more. But, of course, everyone on the tax spectrum benefits by us reducing bracket creep and reducing the overall tax burden on all taxpayers over time.

I must raise a number of other things that are worth noting regarding the benefits of this budget and personal income taxes in my electorate. Our strong economic management means we can deliver more, such as these personal income tax cuts, while paying down our debt. By paying down our debt, it means our grandchildren and great-grandchildren won't have continuous debt over time and we won't be continuing to pay interest on our credit card. By having less debt, it means we can spend more on important services. For example, in the recent budget, we increased spending towards health. For example, Spinraza has been recently listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to treat people with spinal muscular atrophy—people like Ally in my electorate. I've mentioned this a number of times before in parliament. She's a person I've advocated for who lives locally, in Seaford. As with many other people with spinal muscular atrophy in my electorate and across Australia, access to Spinraza would mean that her family won't have to pay over $300,000 per year for this treatment. They can get it at a very low cost and it is a life-saving treatment. It means that Ally can go from a position of her health deteriorating over a quick period to, potentially, living for many, many decades and living a strong and fulfilling life.

Our economic management of also means increases in education funding across the whole electorate, not to mention the quality education review that we recently announced and was recently finalised. We hope to introduce further changes that will provide for not only an increase in funding but also higher quality education. We are also providing for those in aged care and for retirees by not, by example, introducing measures that will see franked dividends taken from retirees. There will also be more than 14,000 additional home-care places, and more.

It also means an investment in my electorate of $225 million towards the Frankston to Baxter train line duplication and electrification, which will provide much crucial connectivity to people in my electorate. This goes towards what will be the largest infrastructure investment in my electorate's history. It will connect Frankston via metro rail to Frankston Hospital, Monash University, Karingal, Langwarrin and Baxter. It will mean park-and-ride options, potentially, at both Baxter and Langwarrin, meaning that people living on the peninsula won't have to travel as far. They won't have to go to Kananook or Seaford or Frankston to get to the train; they will be able to go somewhere much closer to their home and won't have to drive around looking for parking. It will also mean that people won't have to queue up to park at the local hospital. They will have greater accessibility by a train service to the hospital, reducing parking pressures there and meaning that families can visit their relatives in hospital. That is a project that we're also calling on the state government to co-contribute to in an amount matching our $225 million. It is an important connectively project that will mean at least 4,000 jobs created in the Dunkley electorate—connectivity, jobs, education, community connectivity and more.

These are some of examples of what we've been able to achieve through strong economic management. At the same time, we are introducing these personal income tax changes, paying down our debt over time and, therefore, spending more on crucial services like infrastructure, health and education. Thank you. I certainly do commend this bill to the House.

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