Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This budget is about relief, recovery and resilience, and I'm proud to speak on the appropriation bills associated with it. It delivers more tax cuts and a fair go at buying your own home, and it strengthens Medicare for all. It's about getting workers, families and businesses in my community through the current global fuel crisis while building a stronger economy that works for more people. At the outset, I want to say that the budget is a budget dedicated to tax relief for 13.3 million Australian workers, helping more people realise the great Australian dream of homeownership and creating a fairer and more sustainable tax system for all Australians.

I listened to the previous speaker—who, by the way, should be changing his party room, the National Party, the great agrarian socialists of Australian politics, into the Liberal Party. I look forward to the membership of the HR Nicholls Society as well. I grew up under the Bjelke-Petersen regime, and I can recognise someone that doesn't actually adhere to National Party values.

The highest taxing government in the history of the Commonwealth of Australia, by the way, was the Howard government. The highest spending government in the history of the Commonwealth of Australia was the Morrison government. That's a fact—not a belief, a fact. Those opposite think that, when we make some modest, reasonable and just changes to the tax system, somehow we're creating a sort of a Berlin Wall. It's quite an astonishing claim from those opposite in relation to the reality of what we're doing here.

It'd be even more sensible if they had voted at any stage for the income tax cuts that we took to the last election. Don't forget that at the last federal election, this mob, the Liberal and National parties, were going to increase people's taxes—that's what their platform was—and create a greater debt and deficit for the public. So they weren't exactly a prudent, pragmatic, sensible, economically responsible opposition when it came to the last budget, and the people marked them down accordingly. That's quite clear.

Eighty thousand taxpayers in my electorate of Blair will benefit from this cost-of-living relief, with the second of the three tax cuts to come into effect this year. From 1 July 2027, every working Australian taxpayer will receive the $250 working Australians tax offset, a permanent annual tax offset of up to $250 for income earned, increasing the effective tax-free threshold for workers by nearly $1,800 to $19,985, or $24,985 for workers eligible for the low-income tax offset. This is the largest permanent increase in the effective tax-free threshold since 2012-13 under the Gillard Labor government, and it's a big win for workers in my electorate. I'm going to be very interested in how the Liberal and National people opposite vote in relation to that particular bill when it comes into the chamber, having opposed income tax in the last parliament and having gone to an election opposing income tax cuts as well.

We've also introduced a $1,000 instant tax deduction for work related expenses, to offset employment income. This automatic deduction will make tax time simpler and deliver more cost-of-living relief from 2026-27. This will benefit 6.2 million workers, with an average tax saving of $205. We've already cut income taxes five times since coming to government, a record that those opposite cannot claim, despite having served nearly 10 years on the Treasury benches. The combined effect of all of this, on top of the government's existing tax cuts and instant deduction, is that the average worker in Blair could benefit by almost $3,000 by 2028, and they would not experience that if the coalition had won the last election.

The 2026 budget also includes important tax relief for small businesses, the backbone of my community across Ipswich, the Somerset region and the Karana Downs area. The government will make the per asset $20,000 instant asset write-off for small businesses permanent to support greater business investment and productivity.

The budget is focused on helping households, businesses and farmers in Blair get through the disruption caused by the conflict in the Middle East. We've already slashed the fuel excise, which is flowing through to local motorists at the bowser, saving them money when they fill up. That has been reported to me, and I discussed it with people at the Willowbank area group just last Monday night. We're investing to buy more fuel and fertiliser and keep more here, with a $10 billion Australian fuel security and resilience package, which will help Ipswich and the Somerset region keep moving. Again, I received positive feedback about that at the Ipswich Show last Saturday, and I was there for three days.

With an interest in electric vehicles up in Blair as a result of the global fuel crisis, we want to encourage the take-up of EVs. We've introduced some pretty sensible changes, I think, to the fringe benefit tax exemption for EVs to deliver fairer and more financially sustainable tax incentives.

On top of this, there's a 20 per cent domestic gas reservation scheme, which will secure more gas supply and put downward pressure on gas prices for local residents and businesses. When we talk about energy costs, who can ever forget those opposite voting against energy bill relief?

I want to commend Stacey Schinnerl and the Australian Workers' Union, particularly the Queensland branch but across the country, for their strong advocacy in relation to that gas reservation scheme. They took it to regional conferences, state conferences and national conferences of the Labor Party and pushed and pushed this, and I want to commend them for the work they've done in relation to this. This is a good outcome, I say, for people in my electorate. We've seen reforms to the petroleum resource rent tax, which, for the budget, will see and has seen an uptick in tax revenue from offshore gas projects. It's a pretty uncertain world, but we're preparing for future energy stocks.

In particular, we're focusing on helping people get an opportunity to get ahead. We want to make sure there's a level playing field for young people and first home buyers, with a fairer tax system. We're reforming how capital gains tax and negative gearing work, to help 75,000 extra homeowners into the market for the very first time. This is about putting householders first and helping more people in Blair buy their home, whether they live in Ripley Valley; South Ripley, where I was last week; Springfield; or Spring Mountain. Right now, first home buyers are being priced out of the market by property investors—I've received story after story in relation to that issue—backed by tax breaks like negative gearing. We want to level the playing field. From 1 July 2027, we'll limit negative gearing for residential property investments to new builds to ensure investors contribute to housing supply and give first home owners a fair go. We're replacing the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount for individuals, trusts and partnerships with cost base indexation and a 30 per cent minimum tax rate on capital gains.

As former prime minister Paul Keating—and I heard the previous speaker laud him—pointed out recently while backing in these changes, the simple fact is that, in our current system, income is taxed too heavily while capital is taxed too lightly. That was a point Paul Keating made very clearly. These changes will rebalance our tax system, make it fairer and allow government to take pressure off wage earners and first home buyers.

This will be warmly received in my electorate. We've got a younger population that even Brisbane does; our average age is 33, and, in suburbs I've referred to in this speech, it's even younger—below 20. Brisbane has an average age of about 36, which is still below the national average. We've got young people moving into the corridors in places like Ripley. I was there last week, at the Stockland Providence shopping centre's opening. This is really important in terms of housing affordability. There are houses going up everywhere in that area. It's people like these who we want to help get into the market. This budget is about helping these workers and first home buyers, as well as businesses, so that more people can earn more, keep more of what they earn and get ahead. That's aspiration—to get ahead.

When the Howard government introduced the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount in 1999, they saw too much—and we've seen too much—investment going into the property market, as opposed to more productive parts of the economy. Shareholdings actually reduced; house prices skyrocketed. That distortion made housing unaffordable for a whole generation. What we need to do is address this issue, and that's what this budget is about. We're fixing the tax treatment of capital gains to remove these distortions and help to ensure investment flows to where it's most productive. And, can I just say, that is good for the economy, that is good for private enterprise and that's good for aspiration.

I heard those opposite say on numerous occasions, 'It's socialism, leading to communism.' That's what they say. Realistically, that's just nonsense. It's about getting people to own private property, which is the heart of capitalism and the free enterprise system. People who own private property contribute to the economy. They look for jobs, they engage in jobs and they contribute to their local communities even more. They feel a sense of ownership. That's not about communism; that's about capitalism. That's about free enterprise. The party of Menzies and the party of 'Black Jack' McEwen opposite—honestly, where have the Liberal and National parties gone in relation to this issue?

It's early days, but, in recent days, we've seen some reports of the housing market moderating and normalising after the post-COVID highs, including in Brisbane and Ipswich, in anticipation of these tax changes. There are a range of factors at play, but I think these reforms will have a significant impact on housing affordability. When it comes to housing, I can tell you there are more than 5,100 people in my local community, first home buyers, who got their first home as a result of Labor's five per cent deposit scheme.

I hear those opposite make speeches about wanting to get more homes. It's a pity they voted against every housing bill in the last parliament, and I anticipate they're likely to vote against housing bills in this parliament. The Homes for Australia Plan is a commitment of 1.2 million households—more homes for Australia. Those opposite, who couldn't even find a housing minister for most of their term, are voting against that sort of legislation and then applauding, for example, in my home state of Queensland, when we do a deal with the Crisafulli government for 51,000 more homes across fast-growing areas like Yarrabilba and other places in South-East Queensland—and 20,000 being geared for first home buyers. Those opposite, the Liberal and National parties, who think this is a good idea—even the Crisafulli LNP government think it's a good idea—voted against the funding. These people in this chamber voted against it. So, when they lament, when they claim they've got some real concerns about housing and when they want to link migration to housing, look at how they vote. They vote against housing for young people and for other people every single time.

They talk about their $5 billion plan for local infrastructure. I want to tell the member for Nicholls, who spoke here in this chamber, that our $2 billion extra in the local infrastructure fund adds on and accumulates to $6.3 billion to get up to 65,000 new homes. They claim that's a good idea. It's a pity they didn't vote for our housing bills in the last parliament. Now, in opposition for a second time, they've had a sort of road-to-Damascus conversion and, somehow, think this is good.

I want to tell you we've doubled the Roads to Recovery funding from $500 million to a billion dollars. We've increased by 40 per cent the black spot funding. They claim we don't do it. These are the people that paused funding to local councils when they were last in government. They paused the funding; we doubled the funding, in terms of Roads to Recovery. We've increased black spot funding by 40 per cent and provided extra funding under financial assistance grants. The coalition, in government, paused it and didn't do anything about it, much to the chagrin of local government associations around the country.

We're doing things like building 24 social homes with the $14.2 million North Ipswich social housing project in conjunction with the state government. This is funding that we delivered but that the coalition opposed. They think it's a good idea to go to these projects and think it's a good idea for housing per se, but, when push comes to shove, they won't vote for it. They won't. They just will not vote for it. Despite what they say in this place, they're all bolshie. It's a good word, bolshie, because that's a word they really don't like. They're really bolshie about that. When they go back to their electorates, they think, 'Oh, this is a good idea. It's very, very nice to see this happening in my electorate.' But when they come here, they vote against it again and again.

For example, they don't think the $1 billion we put aside for the Building Early Education Fund is a good thing. We've worked with the Crisafulli government for five sites in Queensland. We've done that, including in my electorate of Blair, where the Rosewood State School will get funding to improve access for early childhood education, helping children transition to primary school. They think that's a waste of money. I can tell you that John-Paul Langbroek, the minister for education in Queensland, doesn't think it's a waste of money. He stood up and did a press conference with us, thinking it's a good idea. Here, of course, the Liberal and National parties think that sort of funding is a waste of time, but when they go back to Queensland they say something very, very different. And the Crisafulli government says something very, very different, I can assure you.

My electorate is one of the fastest growing in the country. In fact, I've got more electors in my electorate than has any federal seat in the country. One of the big things we've got in my electorate, which I'm so pleased to see, is the nearly 37,000 visits to the Ipswich Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, which those opposite would have closed down if they'd won the last election. In a huge investment, we've now got 30 bulk-billing medical practices in Ipswich and Somerset in my electorate and, of course, in the Karana Downs region. This is a massive increase. Those opposite thought that was a waste of time. They claim they don't believe in socialism or anything like that. Perhaps they should tear up those green cards they hold in their wallets. Medicare has made a huge difference. This bill—and this budget—provides a massive investment in health care, PBS and pharmaceuticals, and those opposite haven't supported it one little bit.

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