House debates

Wednesday, 27 May 2026

Matters of Public Importance

Budget

3:56 pm

Photo of Simon KennedySimon Kennedy (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

It's despicable how these members look young people in the face in their electorate when they are paying higher taxes than they will ever pay. With bracket creep every year, taxes are going up. CGT is doubled. Anyone with money in ETFs or saving for a deposit will pay double than I have ever paid. It's not just young people; it's actually businesses as well. Businesses and young people will be worse off and taxed more. Why? Because we've got $1 trillion in debt. It will be young people who have to repay that $1 trillion.

Business woke up on Wednesday after the budget with a new cofounder owning 47 per cent of the business: the PM. It set off meme after meme, and, the next day, the PM described those memes as 'flattering'. How out of touch do you have to be to describe those memes as 'flattering'? Read the room.

Guess what? Australia's capital gains tax is the highest in the world. We have 47 per cent CGT. Do you know what it is in New Zealand? Zero per cent. Do you know what it is in Singapore? Zero per cent. But here's something for my comrades across the aisle to get excited about: in China, it's only 20 per cent. You beat communist China by 27 per cent; well done. In Soviet Russia, it was 11 to 23 per cent. You've beat Soviet Russia. We can't even find a communist nation with higher capital gains tax than us, and you guys think it's funny. I'll tell you what, Australia's businessowners don't think it's funny.

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