Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The world we live in today is not the same as it was 30 years ago. It's not the same as it was a couple of years ago. Once-in-a-generation events are now more and more commonplace and no longer do we have the global stability previous generations grew accustomed to. In much of the commentary out there and in most of the correspondence in my inbox there's been a pretty clear message. It's what I get in my inbox and what I get out on the streets when I engage with locals in my home of Bennelong. It's clear to me and to them that things need to change and change for the better.

People who approach me, identify an injustice that working people are bearing the load of our nation's tax take, which is why people are demanding action. The bare necessities are now a struggle for so many people, and many hardworking Australians are scraping by. In no sector is this more profound and debilitating than housing. If you want to own your own home, housing prices are now eight times higher than the average salary. Rents have gone up across the country. My message is that the government hears you. While we have thrown record amounts of funding at housing supply—$47 billion to date—we have the understanding to acknowledge that there's more to do. That's why at this budget we have done more. Instead of just talking about reform, we're trying to deliver it.

It's not okay for a government that hears from people directly just to kick the can down the road. It's not fair on young people who have been locked out of the housing market for a generation or who are trying to get their start buying their first home. I want to talk about what we've done, what we are doing and what we will do in this and future budgets. From Medicare to housing, tax cuts and support for small business, we want to attack this cost-of-living crisis head on from every angle possible. This budget is another way we're helping Australians in these challenging and tumultuous times.

It'd be no surprise to you, Deputy Speaker, that Labor is committed to strengthening Medicare, and that's exactly what's happened in Bennelong and across the country. In Bennelong, we've recently officially opened the Top Ryde Medicare mental health centre, which provides an important walk-in service for our community, with no appointments needed. We've locked in the local Ryde and Chatswood Medicare urgent care clinics, now making them a permanent feature of our primary healthcare system with $1.8 billion worth of funding in this budget over the forward estimates. They are part of a national network of 135 clinics that are open, with two more to come. By the time those two more open, four out of five Australians will live within a 20-minute drive of an urgent care clinic, providing bulk-billing, urgent care and taking pressure off our hospital emergency departments.

Our record investment in GP practices and increasing bulk-billing is working. From 1 November, Bennelong has increased from nine bulk-billing practices to 23 as at March. In New South Wales, bulk-billing is up, as it is across the board. This is on top of making medicines cheaper, ensuring you pay $25 per script. Had we not made those changes for cheaper medicines, we'd probably be hitting $50 out of pocket per script now. But, when we came to government, we reduced it and we reduced it again down to $25 whilst also capping those who have concession cards to $7.70 until 2029-30.

We've also delivered tax cuts. We recognise that the tax burden on working Australians in particular is too high. So in four years in government we've delivered five tax cuts in four different ways. Firstly, we made the stage 3 tax cuts fairer, diverting more relief to low- and middle-income earners who would have missed out under Scott Morrison's plan. We've got more tax cuts coming in from 1 July this year and another round of tax cuts coming in from 1 July 2027. A huge reform being introduced in the parliament this Thursday is the $1,000 instant tax deduction for those with simple tax affairs. They'll be able to lodge their tax return in six clicks, I think, and they'll be able to claim that $1,000 tax deduction, which will save people between $200 and $300 on their tax bill every year. And we're introducing a new and targeted way to deliver tax relief to working Australians. That's through the working Australian tax offset—$250 coming off your tax bill, which will be fantastic. All up, that's around $2,800 for the average worker, delivered by Labor and specifically designed to ease the burden on income earned through labour, to help people keep more of what they earn.

But what we're seeing here in Australia is pretty common around the world. In the US, the UK, Canada, Europe, people are calling for change, calling for reform. They say here in Australia and across the world that the status quo isn't working. That's why we've taken the really tough decisions to put through these progressive reforms in this budget. Predictably, there have been scare campaigns about this. I mean, some of the stuff we're addressing has been talked about for 40 years. The Asprey review in 1975 recommended some of the tax changes we're seeking to address at this budget. The same people that have always opposed this reform are continuing to oppose this reform, and I'm not surprised. But, as a government, we need to take on those scare campaigns because we can't defend the status quo any more. We can't.

It would have been very easy to look at everything that's going on in the world and say: 'You know what? We're just going to leave things as they are.' That's essentially what the opposition are arguing for here. They don't have any other options to address the housing crisis, to help first home owners get into their home or to deliver costed, funded tax relief for working Australians. They're just there trying to tear this reform down and defend the status quo. What we're seeking to do is bring in a fairer system that allows more Australians to have the same opportunities that I did, that my parents did and that those before them did.

Intergenerational equity was at the heart of this budget and something that was identified by leaders of business, by unions and by experts at the productivity roundtable late last year. Firstly, we're going to reform negative gearing for residential property investments and target this reform to new builds only. This could have been done long ago and probably should have been done long ago, because it will still encourage investment in housing—and that's a good thing—but it will target that investment into the construction of new homes, not just bid up the prices of existing ones. New homes have a substantial benefit to our country through more jobs on the tools and more homes to go into the market to help with rental affordability and housing affordability. Naturally, the changes we're bringing in are grandfathered so that, if you currently own a negatively geared home as an investor, you can continue to do so.

We're fixing the errors of the Liberal government when they introduce the capital gains tax discount with their blunt measure in 1999, which only ended up completely distorting the housing market and locking people out for a whole generation. This policy was a mistake. It was originally designed to encourage investment into the share market. Well, that failed. Investment in shares did not grow as intended. Instead people invested in housing, and that's what has led to the complete distortion of the housing market that young people face today.

But it's not just in tax reform that we're addressing housing. On top of our $47 billion we've now got an additional $2 billion in funding for critical infrastructure like roads and sewerage through another round of the Housing Support Program. All these things are meaningful and ongoing action to help with the housing crisis.

On small business there's $3½ billion worth of new measures alone. There's been a lot of noise around the impact of this budget on small business but not much acknowledgement that this budget goes a long way to helping small businesses invest and maintain growth. The instant asset write-off will be made permanent from 1 July 2026. This is a great Labor reform, first brought in by the Rudd government. That instant asset write-off gives small businesses the incentive to purchase equipment valued at up to $20,000, and have that instant asset write-off. What has happened since it was introduced is that every year it has needed to be reconfirmed. This didn't give small businesses certainty. Even in the last parliament, the legislation would only pass right at the last minute. Cautious small businesses wouldn't go out and invest throughout the year, probably on sound advice from their accountant, until that legislation went through. 'Wait until the law goes through before you spend this money.' It being made permanent means that small businesses can go and invest up to $20,000 and get that instant asset tax deduction.

We're delivering a permanent two-year loss carry-back for all companies with up to $1 billion worth of turnover, which can offset future profits. We are introducing loss refundability to support startup businesses invest and grow in their first two years of operation. This is a huge reform for small startups. It means they can get cash flow relief if they have loss refundability in their first two years of operation. We're expanding tax incentives for venture capital to help unlock capital for young and expanding businesses. And we're reforming the R&D tax incentive, targeting that a lot more to allow young businesses greater access to the refundable tax offset as they grow.

And don't forget that our reforms and tax cuts in the PAYG system, in the marginal tax rates, also benefit sole traders. The working Australians tax offset will go to 1½ million sole traders. A lot of them are tradies, a lot of them are hairdressers—they will have access to that $250 tax offset as well.

Predictably, those opposite oppose these changes. That's despite both the current shadow Treasurer and former Treasurer Joe Hockey who, we heard today, during his last speech to this parliament, said: 'Do you know what? We really should target negative gearing towards new supply.' Never mind that he could have done that for—how long was he in parliament for? Ten years or something? He could have advocated for it when he was actually the Treasurer. He could have done that, but no. Instead of doing it on the way out, we're going to do it while we're in government. It's a good reform. These reforms are necessary because the status quo isn't working. We can't continue to ignore the facts out there, and the facts are that the status quo isn't working.

Those opposite have voted against every cost-of-living measure we've brought to this place, and they went to the last election promising to increase taxes for working Australians. We'll see what they do on Thursday, whether or not they will once again vote against tax cuts brought forward by this government.

And then, of course, there was the opposition leader's budget reply. It was one long dog whistle, seeking to blame migrants and permanent residents—building on his policy announcements from before—and calling them a drain on Australia. That's not the Australia I grew up in, and it's certainly not an Australia that I want to continue. The Liberal Party's budget response is just trying to emulate One Nation. It's more about what's happening on the Right of politics than what's the best for our country.

We need to build a better Australia for young people, to give them the opportunity to own their first home, to give them a foothold. Already these policies are working. Every weekend, we're seeing news reports of first home buyers getting into their first home. They're shocked, surprised that they are no longer competing against investors for existing stock. This is a good thing. We need people to have the aspiration to own their first home, just like I was able to and just like many people in previous generations were able to. These are tough reforms, but we are doing them for the right reasons and at the right time. I commend these bills to the House.

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