Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to say at the outset that I really appreciate the constructive engagement from the crossbench on this issue, particularly from the members for Curtin and Wentworth and from so many of the crossbench who have been engaging with this debate in a really constructive and thoughtful way. I know many of the crossbench came into this place because they wanted to ensure we were creating a better place for future generations, and I can say, on behalf of the Labor caucus here, that that is exactly the reason that we are all here. It's certainly the reason I put my hand up to run, and one of the guiding policies that has energised us has been action on climate change. That is the big burden that we will leave for future generations if we do not address it now. Intergenerational inequity, the impacts of climate change and how they will be felt by future generations, I think, are the big, glaring challenges that we have to confront, and they're something that we on this side of the House and, I know, the crossbench are very, very interested in working on.

When we think about young people, on this side in the Labor government, we don't have them siloed in one area; we have them throughout our entire decision making process. We have created youth advisory groups to ensure that young people have a seat at the table when it comes to the decisions that we are making about their lives. We also have four millennial ministers on our frontbench, which I think goes to show that, in this Labor government, we have young people who are at the decision-making table as well. And, of course, we've got the youngest senator in Charlotte Walker. I just wanted to read a few lines from her first speech, because I think they're very instructive of how young people feel about politics. She said:

What I bring to this parliament is the experience of young people today …

Young Australians aren't a side issue. We aren't a future issue. We are Australians now.

She also went on to say:

… in 2050 I won't be in my late 90s, like some who want to abandon net zero; my friends and I will be in our 40s, and we demand an inhabitable planet.

This Labor government is squarely focused on what we need to do to make this world a better place for young people, and part of that will be changes to our tax system, but part of that will also be some of the work that we have already done, including making HECS indexation fairer; wiping 20 per cent off student debt; paying students studying social work, midwifery, nursing and teaching who have to go on prac placements—we heard today that 30,000 people have already taken that up—and also providing fee-free TAFE. These are all measures that are going to directly benefit young people, but I want to address the points around making our tax system fairer.

We have taken bold steps to make our tax system fairer for younger generations. We're delivering tax cuts in a way that is going to be more equitably distributed, and the biggest beneficiaries of our changes to the stage 3 tax cuts were young people—99 per cent of gen Z and 95 per cent of millennials got a bigger tax cut because of the Albanese Labor government. That is something that we are incredibly proud of. I do want to remind the House that the coalition opposed it the whole way through.

A further change that we are making to make our tax system fairer is around the $3 million super balances. We want to make sure that our tax system is working for everyone, not just the few who have super balances over $3 million. Let's be honest: there are very few young people who will have balances over $3 million. And I want to point out a stat to show the inequity: 43 per cent of super earnings tax concessions go to the top 10 per cent of income earners. This change is about bringing intergenerational fairness into action.

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