Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

When an Australian makes a decision that the effort isn't worth it, we all lose. We lose when a small-business person decides expanding their business is not worth the stress and the paperwork. We lose when a talented leader decides to base themselves overseas, and we lose when a businessperson chooses to invest offshore rather than in Australia. The stage 3 tax cuts were a major economic reform. They were designed to end bracket creep as well as provide a way to challenge government to live within its means—to focus on growing the economy rather than stifling it. It meant taking away the tax penalties middle income earners faced when getting a new job or expanding a small business.

But deeper than any concern I have about the value these tax cuts have for Australia is my concern about the way this government is attacking the idea of aspiration. The government believes its future pathway to success is an embrace of a class-war outlook rather than long-term reform. The problem with Labor's class-war vision, which always pits one group of Australians against another, is that it's removing the incentive to work harder, to take a risk and to grow. Our job in this place is to unleash Australians—not to continue to look for ways to hold them back. That's for everyone, from young people entering the workforce to older Australians contemplating retirement.

I'm reminded of a visit I had before Christmas from an 18-year-old named Emma, who'd just completed her HSC. I spoke about Emma recently at the Young Liberal National convention. Emma embodies aspiration but wonders if the economy still works for young people. Emma has just finished her HSC and has been accepted into midwifery at the University of Newcastle. She hopes to transfer to medicine there after finishing her degree. In high school, Emma saved for a car, because she lives in an area of my electorate that is not well served by public transport. There wasn't enough money in the family budget for another car, so she worked three jobs, she saved, and she bought her car. Then she had to fund the petrol, the rego, the insurance, the servicing and all the general running costs. With petrol on the up and up and some unexpected repairs, Emma found herself at the end of high school with no savings and seriously questioning what was ahead. That is many years of HECS, the cost of living away from home and the realisation that, even if everything goes according to plan and she becomes a doctor, it may be many years before she gets the money for a deposit for a home.

She said to me: 'I don't want to be 30 or 40 and living in my mum's basement. My mum has done so much for me, and I don't want to leech off her forever.' I thought to myself: 'Here is someone who's smart. Here's someone who's motivated, with great values, who is about to start her studies, and even she's lost confidence in our economy to deliver.' I acknowledge, of course, that Emma will get a tax cut. But the bigger issues around housing, incomes and job security aren't being faced by this government. And what of the Australia Emma will inherit as she enters the full-time workforce as a medic in the 2030s? Will it be one where her effort will be rewarded, or will she be waved down and held back by tax scales that punish middle-income earners? Australians are suffering under a government with no economic plan. These tax changes offer many Australians some temporary relief. My concern is that, without economic reform and a culture committed to encouraging effort and aspiration, Australia and Australians will continue to go backwards. The temporary relief is welcome, but this government needs to make changes to make our economy stronger.

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