Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Curtin for raising this matter of public importance. It's clear that the Economic Reform Roundtable held last month highlighted the growing issue of intergenerational inequality in our tax system. There's a little bit of irony in that coming out so clearly when there were very few young people sitting around the table to give input. It was certainly noted that the same usual representatives were there in relation to industry, unions and other interests. I call on the government: if genuine intergenerational inequality is going to be addressed, there has to be a broader analysis and taking on board of different perspectives.

We also saw that there was no consideration of climate resilience, though climate will have the biggest impact on future generations and intergenerational inequity, given the debt and the cost that will come from it. There was no focus during that productivity roundtable on climate risk or on investing in the resilience of the economy. The insurance sector wasn't even at the table, and how we're going to actually mitigate risk was not addressed.

What we do know is that Australia's tax system is outdated. It no longer reflects the realities of modern life. Young Australians are being asked to carry a disproportionate burden. They're locked out of homeownership due to an inflated property market and tax incentives that favour investors. Saddled with rising tertiary education costs and student debt, they're struggling to access capital and the supports needed to start businesses and build their futures. They're taxed under a system that rewards asset accumulation over innovation and productivity. The very things that are essential to our wellbeing—housing and education—are the very things that are increasingly out of reach.

These issues were raised in the Henry tax review some 15 years ago, and much of it remains unimplemented. And, whilst there's a lot of talk from government ranks around investment in housing supply, there's a complete silence when it comes to really talking about the other demand levers and other pressures. What we need is ambitious reform. We can't have a 21st century economy continuing to fund 19th century industries. We need to move away from taxing income and productivity. We need to unshackle ourselves from legacy policies, industries and vested interests.

We know what needs to be done. Earlier this year I released the Re-energised Economy paper developed alongside economist Dr Emma Aisbett. It aims to lift productivity and to address intergenerational inequality and its key drivers—especially around climate risk. To restore fairness and accessibility in housing, we have to talk about phasing out CGT discounts for multiple investment properties. We need to talk about reducing stamp duty to incentivise downsizing and greater mobility and better utilise existing housing supply.

We cannot just have a conversation about increasing supply; we have to talk about limiting negative gearing tax breaks to rental properties that meet and ensure minimum energy standards, encouraging greater energy efficiency, solar panels and batteries for rental properties, and making things like the affordable batteries program available to strata.

We have to empower young people to be ambitious and economic drivers by investing in STEM education and future skills and reducing barriers for young people to access start-up capital and flexible finance. We need to enhance opportunities for research and development investment, and we have to move away from taxing individuals to instead raising better revenue from key sectors like fossil fuels. We have to introduce a fossil fuel export levy aligned with the Safeguard Mechanism to prevent that cost externalisation that's occurring. We have to broaden the Safeguard Mechanism to an economy-wide reach, because too many proponents and projects are simply not caught. We have to strengthen the petroleum resource rent tax and urgently wind back the fuel tax excise rebate that overwhelmingly disincentivises the mining sector and the transport sector from decarbonising.

If we're serious about talking about tax reform and intergenerational inequity, we have to address these issues. We have to reward innovation, not extraction. We have to embrace technology responsibly and create opportunities for all. We have to address all of those looming risks to productivity—especially the climate risk. Yet, whilst the government talks a big game about wanting to do this, it continues to approve projects that will only make the problem worse. I call on this new generation of members of parliament in the Labor government to actually have ambition and drive change.

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