Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

Life for people in my electorate has certainly changed for the better since Labor won the election. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts) Bill 2024, because this is a bill that reflects the Albanese Labor government's commitment to not only making life better and fairer for Australians but also addressing the cost of living and providing cost-of-living relief for Australians. Australians across the board are experiencing a cost-of-living crisis, one which is very strongly felt in my own community. My constituents more often are the ones who are doing it the toughest. They're also almost always the first to shoulder the brunt of any challenging economic times, and they often endure those challenges for much longer. That's why I strongly welcome the government's cost-of-living tax cuts.

These tax cuts provide tangible, real cost-of-living relief and support to Australians—again, especially to my constituents—while also providing reward right up and down the income scale so that aspiration is indeed rewarded and not thwarted. Every Australian taxpayer—13.6 million people—will receive a tax cut on 1 July under this government's plan, and 84 per cent of taxpayers will receive a bigger tax cut under our plan than under the previous government's plan. In Calwell, where cost-of-living relief is, as I said, much welcomed in the electorate, every single one of the 72,000 taxpayers will now get a tax cut—a permanent reduction in tax—of an average of $1,300 per annum. Of the 72,000 taxpayers, 64,000 people in my electorate, close to 90 per cent, will receive a bigger tax cut under these measures than they otherwise would have under the previous government's stage 3 tax cut package. This is among the highest proportion of Australians to benefit right across Australia.

This legislation means our government will be delivering a bigger tax cut for more people—welcome news for workers and families benefiting from these changes. It will help take some of the pressure off people who are at this very moment struggling and doing it very tough. It will do so while ensuring that, while more people in our community get a bigger tax cut to help with the cost-of-living pressures, these measures are delivered without adding to inflation and without burdening the budget. The measures will benefit people who, as I said, would have received absolutely no tax cut under the opposition's plans—people in my community who would have been left behind if the opposition had their way. These are culturally and socioeconomically diverse working families already under the pump from the rise in the cost of living, for whom meeting the cost of day-to-day living is an ongoing challenge. This Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts) Bill 2024 puts cash back into their pockets when and where they need it most.

Cutting taxes, boosting wages, bringing inflation under control and driving fairer prices for Australian consumers is what this government's economic plan is all about, because tackling cost-of-living pressures, done fairly and delivered responsibly, is Labor's No. 1 priority. In addition, and more importantly, Labor's sensible economic management offers our community greater protection against bracket creep, particularly for low- and middle-income taxpayers, and supports the progressivity of our tax system. Our relief and reform package means more relief for workers and better reform in our economy, and that's what the changes in this legislation are all about.

Calwell reflects modern Australia in all its diversity, and just as Middle Australia is aspirational Australia, so too migrant Australia is aspirational Australia. Focused on building homes, building families and building our economy into the future, my migrant communities carry on the tradition of the great nation-building enterprise of the post Second World War migration program, which has seen this country and this country's economy develop. One of the central things that allows this social and economic reality to play out, which has benefited modern Australia, is the enabling of what we describe as the fair go—a fair go for those who want to live in a society that affords them opportunities and rewards aspiration, a fair go for every worker.

The nurses, the teachers and the tradies, who are some of the most likely to benefit, are also professions and trades that we're experiencing a high shortage of in this country. These are important skills and professions where this needs to be addressed and the skills need to be encouraged and developed domestically in order for us to fulfil the existing and looming work shortages going forward. A nurse earning $76,000 will get a tax cut of $1,579, and 96 per cent will be better off under Labor's plan. And what better way to assist and incentivise to grow our domestic capacity in areas where we have skill shortages? Many young people in my electorate, perhaps inspired by the focus and dedication, importance and value of frontline medical staff during the pandemic, are now considering and taking up careers in nursing. This is an aspiration which we should enable and assist. Making our tax system fairer for these professions will certainly bolster interest and their financial viability and attract young people or even those who may wish to retrain mid-career for another profession.

Our tax package also brings a similar attraction to other professions that will now benefit directly from our tax cuts. In that context, I refer to primary school teachers who will benefit. Teachers who are earning $80,000 a year will get a tax cut of $1,679. Truckies who are earning $77,000 a year will get a tax cut of $1,604 per annum. Police officers earning $110,000 will get a tax cut of $2,429 per annum. A shop assistant can expect a tax cut of up to $414 per annum. There are many people—a very large number of people—in my electorate who work in the IT sector. An IT manager on $160,000 per year, for example, can expect a tax cut of $3,729.

Many of my emerging communities have come here under the Skilled Migration Program and have chosen to make Australia their permanent home. Many international students who have settled permanently in Australia are also trained in the IT sector. They have chosen to build lives—lives for themselves and their families—here in this country, and they are certainly living in my electorate. They, too, make up the face of Middle Australia, which will benefit from this package.

Australian women, on average, will get a tax cut of $1,649 per year. There will be a bigger tax cut under Labor's plan, and this puts more money in women's pockets and, just as important, makes it easier for them to pick up extra hours of work, if they want to, as they will keep more of what they earn. This, alongside Labor's reforms to close the gender pay gap, support workplace flexibility and security, and rebalance unpaid care work, will help to address workforce participation for women. Women from my emerging refugee communities and my emerging migrant communities deserve the dignity of being paid fairly, of being able to keep more of their take-home pay and of having choices so that they can participate in the workforce and contribute to their families and to their own self-development.

Our modern economy must reflect the reality of our modern society, and our series of action packages, together, responds with this reality in mind and in practice. Whether you're on a low income and working part time or on a medium income, whether you're a couple with a single income earner, a dual-income couple who are both working full time or, indeed, a dual-income couple with one full time and one part time, every Australian will be better off under the tax cuts outlined in this important piece of legislation.

Importantly, ours is a government that understands that there is no one silver bullet to tackle the myriad of factors that add to the cost-of-living pressure ordinary Australians are facing. That is why all the measures in the proposed legislation will build on our $23 billion cost-of-living relief package, which includes significant support for lower-income earners, including energy bill relief and increases to income support payments. It's part of our broader plan and economic strategy to provide relief by boosting incomes, reducing costs and putting the budget on a stronger footing.

Those opposite consistently show a disconnect from the challenges faced by Australian workers. This disconnect is reflected in their standing against our measures and the actions that we have taken, whether it be on electricity bill relief, making medicines cheaper, cheaper child care, building more social and affordable homes, fee-free TAFE or getting wages moving again, including for minimum-wage and aged-care workers. They have stood against these measures. That those opposite are standing against these cost-of-living measures should come as no surprise to anyone. They are simply building on the previous government's record of inaction, which did absolutely nothing to arrest the escalating cost of essential goods and utilities.

People in my electorate know and understand the importance of a functioning government. They know that it is critical for government to intervene and put forward policies that reverse negative trends—policies such as increasing the Medicare levy low-income thresholds to ensure that people on lower incomes continue to pay less or are exempt from the Medicare levy. These have tangible, real take-home pay benefits. These are particularly important for the people of my electorate, because, as I said earlier, the cost of living is a huge concern to my constituents. These measures, along with the range of actions this government is taking to help ease cost-of-living pressures, is the core business of the Albanese Labor government, and I am very pleased to commend this bill to the House.

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