Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

I must say, I look forward to the member for Forde speaking out against the EU free trade agreement that his government just signed, given that he is such an advocate against free trade! It's also interesting that the member for Forde talked about the challenges that have been there for 40 years for the Australian people. It is staggering. Where was this passion from those opposite, 12 months ago, when they went to the election, committing to not changing negative gearing or capital gains tax? Their commitment wasn't there, the passion wasn't there, 12 months ago.

And then there's this other confusion. On the one hand, you get the Minister for Housing standing up in question time today and this week telling everyone how great this government is and how they're fixing housing for the Australian people, and then, in exactly the same question time, you've got the government saying: 'Housing is a disaster. We failed. That's why we've had to break our word to the Australian people.' They can't have it each way. Either the minister is doing a good job and they're fixing housing or the minister is failing and they cannot deliver.

I understand that the member for Forde wants to be out of order and interject on the way out, because I, too, would be embarrassed to sit there and be a nodding head as their own leaders contradict each other in question time. But I'll look forward to him speaking out against the EU free trade agreement. I'll also look forward to him talking to the minister for energy and telling the minister for energy that he's wrong in supporting the energy system as it is and that he wants to nationalise it. I thought that was an interesting contribution from the member for Forde.

But this is really about this budget. There are lots of failures in this budget. It is important that we talk about it because the Australian people are struggling on so many fronts. They're worried about their future, their children's future and the state of the country. Disappointingly, Labor's budget only makes those worries worse. It does not help Australians today. This budget provides zero cost-of-living relief for the Australian people today. When I'm out listening to locals in my community, many express that they don't feel this government has their backs and that this government doesn't understand the challenges they have.

The reality is that it's getting harder and harder to get ahead. It's getting harder to pay the mortgage, to pay the rent, to keep the lights on and to put food on the table. For example, Australians with an average mortgage are $32,000 a year worse off under Labor. When interest rates go up, mortgage holders and renters will be worse off. Rent goes up as the cost to the landlord goes up. Australians have seen their living standards erode under this government.

Inflation in Australia is at 4.6 per cent. It's forecast to hit five per cent—and that's greater than France, Japan, Italy, Canada, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. The Treasurer and the Prime Minister will try to spin the inflation crisis by blaming the Middle East. And the Middle East has absolutely had an impact on inflation, but let's be clear—and every Australian knows this—interest rates increased before the conflict in the Middle East and before the Strait of Hormuz was closed. As the Governor of the Reserve Bank herself said, 'This government is spending.' So they made an already tough situation with issues in the Middle East even worse for the Australian people, with no economic buffer for the government, for the RBA governor or for the Australian people at home.

This budget centres around three key themes for this government: broken promises and lies, higher taxes and rising debt. It's a budget that does what Labor promised they wouldn't do. It shows the true colours of this government, which is comfortable breaking promises to the Australian people who put them in this place. The Prime Minister said this would be a budget about Labor values. Well, I guess it's a budget about Labor values in tribute to Julia Gillard and 'No carbon tax under my government.' It is in their DNA to lie to the Australian people.

The papers also show that we are dealing with the highest taxing government in our nation's history. We all know—and you feel it at home—that this government can't manage the budget and can't manage money. We're facing a decade of deficits, and the Australian taxpayers will foot the bill for Labor's decisions to increase taxes. The budget sees our economy burdened with $50 billion in higher taxes, and that includes $15 billion in higher personal income taxes. Put simply, Labor is taking more of what you earn, and every time you get a pay rise and every time you work that overtime shift and earn more, Labor takes more—through their little secret called bracket creep. Labor talk about being for workers, but they don't talk to the Australian worker about bracket creep and how, when you work that extra overtime, you pay more tax.

If they really wanted to support the Australian people, they would support the Liberal Party's tax-back guarantee, because the coalition's tax-back guarantee will index tax thresholds to inflation. By indexing the bottom two income tax thresholds to inflation, we will fully protect 85 per cent of income earners, year on year. It will start with relief of around $250 in year 1, and it will grow to more than $1,000 a year in year 4 and continue to grow, year on year. By 2031-32, we will index the top two tax thresholds as well, and this will fully protect all income earners from inflation. This is generational tax reform that will put more money back into the pockets of the hardworking Australians who earn it.

Labor will try—and we already saw it with the member for Forde—and run class warfare about working people and those that own businesses. The reality is that this supports every Australian that earns a wage and every Australian that risks it all to start a small business. What this government doesn't understand is that it is not a competition. It is not a competition between those that own businesses and those that work in those businesses and earn a salary. It's about business owners and workers working together to help those businesses grow and share more of what they earn, growing the pie. That's what the coalition is doing—supporting workers and supporting business owners. When business owners are doing well and business is strong, the workers are strong as well and our community is strong.

Labor promised that this budget was about intergenerational reform. Instead, they've handed down a budget of intergenerational fraud. The government is pulling up the ladder on every young Australian who is trying to get ahead. Labor's toxic new taxes make it even harder to get ahead in this country—to save, to invest and to buy a home. Not one Labor member, from the Prime Minister down, has been able to explain to the Australian people how taxing shares, stock options and ETFs will help reduce housing prices for the Australian people. The reality is that it's actually not about helping people with housing. That's a cover for increased taxes from this Prime Minister and this Treasurer.

We do know that getting in the housing market is one of the biggest challenges that's raised with all of us by young people. They expect their government to make it easier. But, as I said, these changes will not. They're going to make it harder. These tax changes will reduce supply in housing. Twelve months ago, this Treasurer was defending the current negative gearing and capital gains tax system because he said it wouldn't help supply. Suddenly, today, he won't talk about his own budget papers that show supply will be reduced by 35,000 houses because of their changes. He won't talk about how rents will go up for the Australian people because of his changes. The reality is that, despite the spin from this government, it's not about housing; it's about taxing you more. If you're trying to save for a deposit and build your future by investing in shares, ETFs, crypto and other assets, as so many young people and so many other Australians are, Labor want to take a bigger share of your gain.

To make it worse, older Australians have had the benefit of a capital gains discount while they build their wealth, including the Prime Minister and 20 of 23 cabinet ministers. But younger Australians are now being whacked from every angle and not given the same opportunities by this government. This isn't reform; it's an assault on aspiration. It's shutting the door on young Australians, who have already been locked out of too much opportunity.

This is why the Liberals have said we will repeal these taxes and put in our tax-back guarantee. We will support all Australians. We will support you to build a future for you and your family. We will support wage earners. We will support business owners because we know that they are stronger together.

But not only does this budget destroy hope and aspiration for young Australians; it's an attack on every older Australian that is over 65. This government have ripped out private health insurance support for three million older Australians, costing singles up to $800 a year and couples over $1,600 a year. This will not only impact those Australians that will have this cut on them; it will put more pressure on public housing. I've been inundated with older Australians on fixed incomes who cannot absorb this cost and who will have to remove their private health insurance at a time that they need it more than ever. They will go to the public health system, putting more pressure on the public health system and impacting every Australian.

But we know in Victoria and the seat of Casey that these governments, whether it's the Albanese Labor government or the Allan Labor government, don't care about the Australian people and that they are all about spin and announcements. That is epitomised locally by the Maroondah Hospital. Twice the Allan Labor government have promised to upgrade Maroondah Hospital but failed to include the money in the budget. This is the closest hospital for many in my community. Reefton, Warburton, Healesville, Lilydale, Chirnside Park—so many rely on this hospital, and this Labor government federally and this Labor government in Victoria led by Jacinta Allan continue to mislead my community by talking about announcements and failing to deliver.

When we're talking about failure to deliver and broken promises, my community remembers the broken promise from this prime minister when it comes to dirt roads. The coalition committed in 2019 to seal 150 kilometres of dirt roads in my community, because we are a periurban community and we have natural disasters. It keeps residents safe. It allows emergency services to get in. Prime Minister Albanese, when he was the shadow infrastructure minister, committed to that 10-year program. He gave his word to my community that he would fund it. Like so many things that he does, he broke his word and ripped that funding from my community. But I'll keep fighting because my community deserves safe roads. They deserve promises being met.

When we're talking about roads, we need to talk about Maroondah Highway and Killara Road, another example of failure by Labor governments. In 2019 the coalition committed $20 million to upgrade the Maroondah Highway-Killara Road intersection. The money was given to the Labor state government in 2019. In 2024 I wrote to the minister, and they committed to starting the works and having it delivered in 2025. Here we are in 2026, and nothing has started. I genuinely struggle to find one thing that this prime minister has done to keep his word. The real thing is, as my mum used to say to me, watch out because, if they lie about the little things, they'll lie about the big things.

In looking back at the Prime Minister who didn't fall off the stage, despite the video footage, and then denied it, that was an insight into this prime minister. The Prime Minister had the gall to look at the Australian people and say, 'My word is my bond.' He made that commitment to the Australian people and then, time and time again, this prime minister has broken his word. He's forced every member of this government to break their word with the Australian community. I feel a little bit sorry for the first termers. It is fewer than 12 months into their careers, and they have broken faith and broken their word with their community. Now, they don't really have a choice, because you're not allowed to speak out in the Labor Party ,or you get kicked out. But that broken promise will haunt them. Every time they speak to a community member, they'll have to know that they've broken faith with their community. (Time expired)

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