Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) | Hansard source

It's a pleasure to rise and speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts) Bill 2024. It has taken 18 months of coalition warnings and Australians crying out for help, but the message seems to have finally sunk in for the Treasurer and the Prime Minister: Australians are in a cost-of-living crisis. It may have occurred to them once they saw the national figures which show that, over the past 18 months, groceries are up by over nine per cent, housing is up by over 12 per cent, electricity has gone through the roof for many and is now up by at least 18 per cent, insurance costs have risen by 22 per cent and gas is up an incredible 27 per cent. Inflation remains stubbornly higher than in other developed nations. These are incredibly difficult conditions for ordinary Australians, and the pressures that we see in the households across the country are reflecting this. More and more Australians are being forced to use what money they have saved just to stay afloat, and this was confirmed by the Reserve Bank governor in hearings last Friday.

You would have thought these figures would have caused concern for the Treasurer and the Prime Minister long before now and that they would actually take the time and effort to produce a serious long-term economic plan to address these issues. But what have we seen? Another broken promise. They could have provided the full tax reform package that was legislated as stage 3 and was intended to address the creeping problem of bracket creep and the exact economic conditions which exacerbate the issue in a high inflation environment, but they chose to do something else. They chose instead to remove the low- and middle-income tax offset rather than extend it, a $1,500 loss for many families across my electorate of Forde. They could have taken action last year rather than waiting until now. Instead, they held back from outlining any meaningful cost-of-living relief through last year's budget and failed to outline an economic agenda that works for the Australian people. As I've said before in this place, my electorate of Forde has many hardworking Australians from a wide range of occupations. They have been screaming out for this government, the Labor government, to act on this cost-of-living crisis. When the government had the opportunity to do something to alleviate this burden in the last budget, they did nothing. They spent all of 2023 ignoring these problems and being distracted by a $450 million failed referendum, but in the morning leading up to a by-election they have gone: 'Oh dear! Now we need to do something.' In their haste to right their political fortunes, the Labor government have taken the easy option of breaking another promise instead of implementing a clear and coherent economic agenda.

We've seen over the past couple of weeks a multitude of those opposite willing to get in front of a television camera and tell Australians how great these changes are and how much they'll help reduce these cost-of-living pressures. I say to those opposite that it only tells part of the story and fails to take into account a much broader range of issues that are facing Australians. I might reflect on some of those issues.

Real net disposable income per person has fallen by 8.6 per cent across this 18-month period. For an average income earner, this is a decline in take-home pay of around $8,000 over the course of the year. We see that with these changes to the stage 3 tax cut package an average worker will be better off by some $15 a week, yet $8,000 a year equates to about $150 a week. So, in net terms Australians on average incomes are still $135 a week worse off under this government, and yet we've got those opposite crowing about their economic success and how they're relieving the cost-of-living pressures for everyday Australians. Well, they come from a different world to the one from which I do. This $15-a-week saving is less than one per cent of the average annual wage and returns just 10c in every dollar people have lost through the cost-of-living pressures through this Labor government's first 18 months in office.

Over the course of this second reading debate I have heard multiple members on the other side ringing off these dollar savings amounts. But let's look at some of the other things that have been missed in this discussion. If we go back to the broken promises of this government, of which this one is just the latest: a $275 reduction in energy prices—well, that's not materialised; no changes to superannuation taxes—well, that has gone by the wayside; an increase in real wages—no, we haven't seen that; no changes to franking credits—well, that's gone by the wayside as well; cheaper mortgages—no. On average, in my electorate, people are paying an extra $24,000 a year just in extra interest on their mortgage, let alone the capital component on top of that, all from after-tax income. And no changes to the stage 3 tax cuts. As the Prime Minister said, his word is his bond. Well, that's obviously not worth particularly much.

If I look directly at an example of some of the employees and occupations in my electorate, a truck driver in Forde on the average wage will receive an $804 tax cut. However, when combined with their real income drop, they will be roughly $7,200 a year worse off. I know those opposite, in various answers to questions in question time, are waxing lyrical about the various occupations across the country and the tax savings they will achieve. But they never address the full picture. This is what the Australian people should be very, very careful about. It is not what Labor says; it is what Labor does that they need to watch out for, because nine times out of 10 they are two very, very different things, and Australians are paying the price for that right now.

An electrician in Forde can thank this government for being $7,200 a year worse off as well, even with these changes. A concreter in Forde will find their $15 a week tax cut will still see them $138 a year worse off under this government's economic plan. A receptionist working in one of the many small professional services businesses in my electorate will be some $238 worse off this year because they will lose the low- and middle-income tax offset, even taking into account these changes.

I have yet to touch on the impact of the government's failed economic policies on small to medium businesses in my electorate. If we think that household electricity costs have gone up by some 18 to 20 per cent, for many small to medium businesses their electricity and gas costs have gone up significantly more than that—significantly more. Many of those small to medium businesses rent their premises and many of those lease increases are tied to CPI, to inflation. So their rents haven't gone up by three per cent, unlike some of the big retailers in major shopping centres; they have gone up six, seven, eight per cent. Now the interest costs for their overdrafts have also gone up significantly more than household borrowing costs. Who pays for all of those cost increases? Households and consumers.

So once again the government has failed to have a detailed economic plan which takes into account all of those issues that flow right through our economy. I know the member for Wright is here in the chamber. He has a very significant agricultural base in his electorate. How many of those producers of agricultural products are struggling to make ends meet because of their rising input costs, including the cost of water, electricity and fertiliser? That is feeding directly into the cost-of-living pressures that our Australian households are feeling. What has the government done to address any of those issues? Zero—nothing.

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