Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

It's wonderful to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2025-2026 and Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2025-2026 in the context of this current budget, because we know full well that this current budget was born of deceit, was built on a house of broken promises and continues to be perpetuated by a prime minister whose relationship with the truth has, let's say, a gulf—a divide much larger than the two sword lengths that divide this House.

Unfortunately, we have a situation now where you simply cannot trust anything the Prime Minister says in the lead-up to an election, let alone what he then goes on and does afterwards. Normally, you would expect, in this set of circumstances, some humility, but what we have seen instead is a doubling down of that deceit, untruth and misleading, deceptive conduct. If you think about it, Deputy Speaker Chesters, if this were the Competition and Consumer Act, the Prime Minister would be in direct violation. But, in the Parliament of Australia, he's just another member of the Labor Party—that's the problem. At the heart of this budget is a deceit for which every Australian is paying a significant price today, but the real damage is in the hollowness it gives to the walls that surround us, because Australians lose faith in their democracy and in the people who seek public office. That is a condemnation not just of the Prime Minister and his budget but also of the Labor Party, who continue to tolerate his deceit and the impact it has not just on them but also on the entirety of the institution of the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia.

Let's look at the specifics of this budget and what it is doing to the Australian community. It has proposed a series of new tax measures that were not supported by the government in the lead-up to last election, when the Prime Minister was red hot with his own rage—today, in question time, was another day the Prime Minister struggled to keep his cool—denying 50 times over, when asked by impertinent journalists, whether he was going to introduce new taxes in this budget. We now know the truth, which is, despite his denials, his obfuscation, his attempts to mislead and deceive, he has had to confront the Australian people, and the Treasurer does as well.

I'm very much enjoying the extent to which they're quoting from an excellent book in their answers in question time. There's a difference between somebody who has read Marx and someone who understands it—or between someone who's read or written the new social contract and the Treasurer, who simply does not understand it. At the centre of our political worldview is the idea that young Australians can get ahead—that they can back themselves and one day put themselves in a position not just to own a home but to continue on and of course go all the way through to be able to buy a home and set up a business.

Instead, the Treasurer seems to only half read content in excellent books because he somehow thinks it can be part of his political manifesto or a distraction. He doesn't understand that we Liberals believe in lower income taxes. We believe in lower income taxes because we believe that young Australians get ahead because, when they pay lower income taxes, they're actually able to keep more of what they earn. They're then able to use it as leverage to put themselves in a better position into the future. Of course, being in the strongest position, they can then go on and financially support themselves through every stage of life.

But what have we had from this government? Within six months of the last election and the so called income tax cuts it offered, they were obliterated by the Treasurer's active inflation agenda. In this budget, again, the government has said that it's going to introduce income tax cuts, but they will be obliterated by inflation within six months. So, when the Australian people are sitting around their Christmas tables later this year, everything they have got back in their income tax will have been obliterated; they will be paying more for what they buy, paying more for the cost of their Christmas dinner; and, of course, they'll be in a weaker position to be able to support themselves and their families at a critical time.

But the real tragedy of this situation is the extent to which the government is now seeking to punch down at the small-business owners of this nation. During question time, we saw the most bizarre question asked to the Minister for Small Business, and I almost thought to myself, 'I don't know that people should be taking hallucinogens in the chamber,' after hearing some of the answers. The reality of the situation now being faced by small businesses across this country could not be starker, could not be clearer.

Small businesses in Australia right now are living through the highest number of insolvencies in our nation's history. I hear one of the ministers, on the other side of the chamber, exhaling a deep sigh at the moment as though it's unfortunate that somebody dare make this subtle point. But the reality is Australians are living this reality. Australians are living in a small-business environment of carnage because of the decisions of this government. They are facing a cost-of-small-business crisis, where their costs are rising faster than their revenue and where they are desperately gasping for air to get ahead.

On the weekend I was down in Black Rock, in the federal electorate of Goldstein, and—I can't say I was shocked—in one sense I was relieved that so many small businesses still felt like it was worth talking to elected officials about the scale of the problems rather than giving up, because there's nothing more disastrous than silence. Small businesses are coming to me and saying: 'We can't get ahead after the measures from COVID, particularly from the state government; after the taxes; after the GST; after the WorkCover premiums; after the costs; after inflation; and after the interest rates. We can't get ahead and we just need six months to breathe rather than spending our whole time feeling like we're completely under assault.'

All they've heard from this government since then has been: 'Why don't you pay more taxes? Why don't the small businesses of this nation continue to contribute just that little bit more? Why can't the small businesses of this country afford more costs? Why can't the small businesses of this nation afford more electricity bills? Why can't they afford more wages? Why can't they afford more rents? Why can't they afford to pay more tax? And, even if you voted Labor at the last election, we are going to break the promise we took to you at the last election.' That's why small business is angry. That's why small businesses are looking at this government and saying, 'Your job is supposed to be to back us.' That's why small businesses are looking at this government, the Albanese government, and saying, 'You said you'd be on our side, but now you're punching down at us instead.' And they're angry.

There have been so many stories. There was one from Warren from Hampton, who talked explicitly about how he struggled to keep his business going, particularly during the COVID years, which turned a company worth about a million dollars plus into one with income tax losses. Due to unprecedented circumstances outside of their control, they're now at the point where they're struggling on how they're going to get ahead. The company has run for 16 years and had 20 staff at its peak. For the first three years, of course, like many small-business founders they didn't draw a wage whatsoever and instead worked for what we call sweat equity, which is to get ahead to be in a position one day to cash in, and that might also be the foundation of their retirement planning. If they had just, by comparison, stayed in the workforce and not tried to build something, they could have been substantially financially better off, but instead they backed themselves to create pathways to get ahead for themselves and their family because they wanted to leave a legacy and they wanted to build something that their kids would be proud of.

Well, what's the Albanese government's response to that? They're just going to kick Warren to the kerb. They're just going to turn around and say, 'Your life's hard work and savings aren't worth the effort.' And they're turning around to the next generation of Australians and saying, 'Don't even try.' We heard that in question time today. The Treasurer was wishing failure for a 17-year-old who set up a small business in her bedroom. I can't believe how despicable the conduct of the Treasurer has become, but such is his defence of his own budget, an environment where—this is utterly indefensible—he hoped that a 17-year-old failed in their small business, to get him out of a political bind that he started with the Prime Minister, having stitched it up on the back of a house of broken promises before the last election, and betrayed in this budget. That's not something adults do and it's certainly not something they should be proud of, but that's the reality of this budget: deceit, broken promises and a willingness to punch down on teenagers.

Where is the aspiration? Where is the willingness for young Australians to get ahead? Where is the government turning around to the next generation of Australians and saying, 'Look to the horizon with confidence and hope, because we can build a better future together'? Instead what we have been told by this government in this budget is that young Australians shouldn't dare to dream; instead it's better to pay a higher tax rate, which makes it harder for everybody to get ahead, and not lift the nation to a better future together.

I've never seen a government that has so wallowed in the soft bigotry of low expectations as the Albanese government. I have never seen a government in this nation's history, certainly not in my lifetime, that seems to have enjoyed the failure of Australians through more burdensome taxes rather than empowering and lifting them up. For them to come into this chamber and to boast with excitement that somehow they have a vision for the future that's going to improve the living standards of Australians has simply not been borne out of their political agenda to date, where Australian households have gone backwards, but more importantly it has not been borne out by the political program they have taken for the future.

This government has a disgraceful record. I still remember when they came into this chamber after the 2022 election and carried on about getting real wages moving. The reality is real wages have gone backwards under this government. Australians are poorer. Real wages have gone back by three per cent over the life of the Albanese government because of their active inflation agenda, and where inflation goes interest rates go as well. They have seen 15 rate rises, and Australian households with an average mortgage and with an average wage are now receiving $32,000 a year less in purchasing power.

There's a reason Australians feel like they're falling behind under the Albanese government. It's because they are. And for this prime minister and this treasurer to get up, cock-a-hoop, in this chamber and say what a wonderful job they're doing and that they're backing Australians to get ahead is arguably even worse than the deceit that they took to the last election. When are you going to own the fact that you broke a promise and you betrayed the Australian people? The least you could do is say it was necessary because you were trying to build a better future. But they were in complete reverse—what they're doing is kicking Australians while they're down.

You heard this today again from the Treasurer, who kicked young Australians while they're down and while they're studying their HSC. His conclusion was to hope for their failure, because then it would get him out of his political problem. The Australian people see through the deception, the dishonesty and the fraud of this government, this prime minister, this treasurer and the legacy they're going to leave behind. When we see the members who sit immediately behind the Prime Minister and the Treasurer in question time, my new nickname for them is 'cannon fodder', because you can tell very clearly that they're the ones the Prime Minister has chosen to throw to the wolves at the next election and make sure they're discarded. That's a necessary price. So to all of those members there: I wish you well in your endeavours, because the Australian community will never forgive you for the deceit, the dishonesty and the betrayal that they have brought upon this House.

There are so many different stories, from capital gains tax to income taxes, where the communities have been betrayed. I hear this all the time from young Australians who are saving to get ahead. There is nothing more basic than young Australians saving to be able to buy their first home and secure a deposit. Well, there was—until the Albanese government. We know that the Labor government's only answer is to turn around to every single young Australian that now uses an online platform to buy shares, to buy crypto and to buy ETFs and double the tax rate that can apply to the growth they secure. So, if you're getting ahead, the answer from the Albanese government is, 'How do we take half the share?'

That's why you're seeing so many small-business owners and young Australians in open revolt at this government. They don't just feel betrayed; they know the Albanese government is coming after them and their capacity to get ahead. You're seeing this with what's been changed with rents and of course with saving a first home deposit. The Albanese government's own budget makes it clear that rents will increase under their new tax changes. I don't know about you, Deputy Speaker, but I generally think it's good to have lower rents. But we're now living in the parallel Chalmers universe. Then, of course, they've added new taxes to the investments that young Australians put into the market so they can save, whether it's crypto, whether it's ETFs or whether it's shares or some other type of investment vehicle.

What's happening? Young Australians are writing to us through, amongst other things, our 'Not the Tax' website—www.notthetax.com.au—and telling us stories. For example, Michael and Daisy are at uni and have jobs in hospitality to support themselves. Both invested some of their earnings in a small share portfolio to help grow a nest egg. Now, they will be liable for 30 per cent tax, when they don't even qualify for the lowest tax bracket on their earnings as waiters. We see this all the time. That was a story from somebody in Beaumaris, where young Australians are applying themselves and putting energy into getting ahead, and the response has been that those opposite turn around and chuck a higher tax on those who are actually saving to build a better future.

So, under the Albanese government, it's higher rents and higher taxes on your first home deposit—and then they're going to build fewer homes. I don't know whether we're all going cuckoo bananas, but I would have thought that, if you're going to run a budget that is focused explicitly on how to get young Australians into buying their first home, building fewer homes probably isn't the way to get there. But, in the parallel Albanese universe, that's where we are—where facts, reason, evidence, rational thought are now a bygone consideration of the focus of this government. We have a government that have proposed higher rents, higher taxes on first home deposits and fewer homes—and that, according to their narrative, is the way we're going to make sure that young Australians can get ahead and buy their first home.

It's like the betrayal that they took to the last election continues unabated. It's like the betrayal of the Australian community that the Albanese government took is something that they're proud of. It's like it's something that they continue to perpetuate because they just don't have the capacity to turn around to the Australian community and say: 'Perhaps we got it wrong. Perhaps we should have been more truthful. Perhaps we should have been straight with the Australian community.' But here we are, and the consequence will be the carnage that is going to be experienced by so many Australians—and it's devastating.

It's clear this government doesn't actually understand how the Australian economy runs. You see this consistently. The Treasurer keeps borrowing from the future to pay for today. The Treasurer keeps pouring debt petrol on the inflation fire, so inflation rages. Every time somebody says, 'Do you think we should put that out?' the Treasurer says: 'I've got a solution. We'll chuck more debt petrol on it and inflame it further.' And, as the living standards of Australia continue to corrode, everyone else on the Labor Party side encourages them to keep burning away the future aspirations and dreams of the Australian people. It's truly extraordinary. The Treasurer doesn't understand the economy, and he's lost control of the economy. Inflation is going in one direction; fiscal policy is going in the other. We have a situation where interest rates continue to go up in direct correlation with the challenges of inflation that the government is persisting with.

At some point, the government are going to have to accept that they are not the solution to this problem. The Albanese government is the cause of Australia's inflation problem. They're the reason that interest rates continue to rise. They're the reason that Australian households feel worse off. The Albanese government is the reason why Australians are falling behind. The Albanese government is the reason that we have record small-business insolvencies, and under this package that has come through the budget, more small businesses are going to be kicked to the kerb.

We have changes around trusts. During question time, in the most extraordinary act of hubris—actually, I'm not sure that I could say it was the most extraordinary act of hubris on the Prime Minister's part, but it's certainly a contender for his top 10—he openly dismissed concerns about trusts set up to protect the interests of people with a disability. He openly dismissed concerns about the impact of the Albanese government's new taxes on those in vulnerable situations. The Prime Minister openly showed contempt and laughed during a question about the challenges faced by Australians with Down syndrome. He openly laughed. The Assistant Treasurer, who sits there and dismisses that in the chamber right now, can go back and look at the record. He openly laughed at people with a disability and people living with Down syndrome and the impact their tax change might have on them.

Do you know what it reminds me of, Deputy Speaker? I remember this behaviour from 2018-19. I remember that, in 2018-19, so many members of the Labor caucus behaved like trained seals and simply applauded Bill Shorten, who was then the Leader of the Opposition, while we showed evidence after evidence of human stories. They were set to push 85-year-olds down the financial stairs, and they mocked and they laughed. They mocked and laughed at people with a disability who were going to be harmed then just like they did today.

They stand condemned because, when it comes down to it, they know that, in addition to the deceit and the broken promises that led to the government betraying the Australian people at this election, the human stories of the impact of their new taxes are the ones that deserve tears. But instead today we got mocking and laughing at people with a disability, when yesterday the Prime Minister shed a tear for his own new taxes—such was his joy.

This government isn't interested in the Australian people, their advancement or their aspiration. This government doesn't have the best interests of the Australian people at heart. This government is focused on how they empower themselves, control Australians and kick people to the kerb. This government was built on a pile of broken promises and is simply not empowering young Australians to get ahead, but they're quite happy to suffocate their spirit.

Whether it's the changes they're making to the number of houses that are being built, which they openly acknowledge will lead to higher rents; whether it is the changes they're making to capital gains tax, which will increase the taxes on first home deposits for those who save, sacrifice and invest to build a better future for themselves and their family; or whether it's the changes they're making so that families can secure their financial future, their freedom and their confidence, the only answer the government has is to kick them and to take away the hard work and effort that they've applied. They show disinterest towards the most vulnerable in the community, because, at the end of the day, they are just speed humps in the government's active agenda to corrode the very social fabric and economic fabric that makes the success of this country.

This is the challenge. Normally we have a government where, whether we love them or dislike them, they at least have a sense of empathy for people who are doing it tough and they have empathy for those who've sacrificed and worked hard to get ahead. They've worked hard, and there's a simple respect. This is no longer the Labor Party of years past; they would never seek to punish or kneecap the next generation of Australians to get ahead. But today that is the Labor Party that the Australian people live with, and that's embodied in the very attitude that this government now brings. From their voting for censorship of members of parliament for calling out deceit through to their kneecapping of young Australians who are saving for a better future and their undermining of people with a disability trying to be financially independent, no-one is safe from the Albanese government's agenda to increase taxes on Australians.

So the question now for all of us is: what do we do about this legislation? We have so many Australians looking to this parliament and asking, 'How do we rebuild a sense of trust in an environment built of so much deceit?' They're not looking to the Albanese government and concluding that they have our backs. Instead, they're looking at this parliament and questioning what has happened to our country and asking how we take it back.

There are so many Australians now who are looking to this parliament and saying, 'We cannot wait for this government to end.' They want a change in direction and they want a renewal of our country, and the start of a renewal of our country is the end of the Albanese government and its higher-taxing agenda that seeks to punish those who work hard to get ahead. Now is the time Australian people need to rise up and stand up against their government and overturn the record of dishonesty, deception and distrust that they have sown within our community. When Australians turn to each other and build a brighter future, we can build a better country. The only thing standing in the way of a better nation is the Albanese government, who are treating Australians like roadkill, but the Australian people should treat them in kind.

Now is the time for us, as Australians, to define our future. We can look to the horizon and build a better economic future where young Australians can get ahead, a future where they can aspire to own their own home, a future where they can aspire to build a small business and employ others—a future where they can be part of sewing themselves into the great story of this country because they believe in themselves and our trajectory as a people. That is what this government is seeking to suffocate. This government has no respect for the Australian people. It has no interest in advancing the Australian people and in enabling them to get ahead. It has no interest in finding the energy that sits at the heart of the Australian people and their entrepreneurial spirit, enabling them to be enterprising, to grow and to be part of a better future.

But that day will end. This government will end. There will be a time in this nation when the Albanese government will be kicked to the kerb, where as they belong, and we will see a pathway of growth and opportunity because we will have a government, led by Prime Minister Angus Taylor, that is focused on empowering the Australian people—a government that is led and focused through a Liberal-National coalition. In our hearts, we believe that the best interest of this country does not come from Canberra down. It comes from empowered citizens, families, communities and small businesses getting ahead. From that foundation, we fundamentally believe that we can build a better nation. We have hope for the future, we believe in Australians, and we know that the best days of this country are ahead of us.

The Albanese government want to permeate, to create and to feed an environment of despair. We will not let them snuff out the torch of liberty, hope and aspiration for the future of this country. We will not let them cackle and gesture and cheer from the sidelines on the government benches, because some of us still believe in this country and its promise. Some of us believe that this nation can reach its full potential. Some of us believe that this nation's best days are ahead of it.

The only thing that is getting in the way of the Australian people is the Albanese government and the members who get up here and repeat their talking points to justify the deceit, distrust and dishonesty that has been at the heart of this government, has been born of this government and sits in the Prime Minister's chair. He is a man who has no integrity or trust left with the Australian people. That, of course, has long part been of the Labor Party legacy. But there's a time in this nation's history when good people need to stand up and call it out. Whether it's the startups of this country, the small businesses, the investors, the workers or anybody else who can now see through the dishonesty and distrust of this prime minister, they now know that the only way we will achieve change as a country is if we see the back of the Albanese government.

Do not give up, people of Australia. Better days are ahead. This government will end their higher-taxing agenda that saps the energy of this nation. It will end, and that cannot come soon enough.

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