Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts) Bill 2024 will deliver a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer. That's all 13.6 million taxpayers, not just the select few as under the proposal of those opposite. The 19 per cent rate will be cut to 16 per cent and the 32½ per cent rate cut to 30 per cent. For the 37 per cent rate, the threshold will be raised from $120,000 to $135,000, and for the 45 per cent rate the threshold will be raised from $180,000 to $190,000. It is actually the first increase in the threshold since Labor was last in office. A tax cut for every Australian taxpayer is something every member of parliament should vote for. But we'll wait to see what happens when we get to the vote, given the conflicting, confused, chaotic response of those opposite.

In my electorate 89 per cent of taxpayers will be better off under Labor's tax cuts than under the Liberals' proposals. People in Dandenong, Doveton, Dandenong North, Noble Park North, Noble Park, Eumemmerring, Hallam, Narre Warren, Narre Warren North, Narre Warren South and Endeavour Hills will be better off under Labor's proposals. Every taxpayer will get a tax cut. Eighty-four per cent of Australians nationally—11½ million taxpayers—will be better off under Labor's tax cuts than under the Liberals' proposals. All taxpayers earning up to around $150,000 will be better off under Labor's tax cuts than under the Morrison government's proposals. Nurses, teachers, truckies and care workers get a bigger tax cut under Labor than under those opposite.

It is important, given the significant fiscal impacts of this bill to reflect on why Labor's tax cuts are needed and why this is the package, why this is the right plan, right now. It's part of the government's economic plan to allow Australians to earn more and to keep more of what they earn. Now, there's no magic bullet, of course, to the cost-of-living crisis and the pressures people are under. I represent one of the most disadvantaged parts of the Melbourne metropolitan area in south-east Melbourne. Indeed, I think the biggest—what's a synonym for 'hypocrite', because I can't say that—

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