Ben Small (Forrest, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Electoral Matters) Share this | Hansard source

He says:

they are going too far and continue to—

I'll amend it slightly to 'break promises'—

to the Australian people (this is not the first time) …

It is taxing us more, holding people back, limiting desire to grow, creating more debt for future generations, won't solve the housing issue …

This constituent is far from lonely in my inbox. Another constituent says that the Treasurer said two years ago 'when multinationals pay less, individuals and domestic businesses pay more'. So this constituent Glenn asks why it is in 2026 that the Treasurer has got his large stick out for small businesses and is whacking them with a tax rate four times higher than the amount that multinationals are paying. Another constituent Ross says:

This Labor mob have announced in the budget that the 30% tax on taxable income only applies to Discretionary trusts. Not true if your fund grows in value, you pay 30% anyway in all … fund types. All—

I've got to stay away from that word, so I'll say 'porkies'.

That's not to say that this is the only assault on aspiration that we see. At the end of the day, the government is contemplating carving out the tech bros of Surry Hills, but our standard of living and our prosperity in this nation today depend on the dollars that flow from Western Australia's mining industry. Every dollar the Commonwealth spends on hospitals, submarines, pensions and pork-barrel train lines for the Victorian state government is underwritten by mining in WA. But the big holes that we see today spitting out cash began as little holes funded by mum-and-dad investors taking a punt 20, 30 or even 40 years ago. I'll put the productivity of those mines up against those in the member for Hunter's seat any day, like I will put our wine, our world-class wine from Margaret River, up against anywhere else in Australia.

At the end of the day, it is those mum-and-dad investors who were able to take a risk, who chose to save up and invest in a junior miner, that result in WA's net contribution to the Commonwealth today being more than $13,000 per person. It's 19 times higher than the next best contributor, New South Wales, which is chipping in 700 bucks a person. Every other state and territory in this nation has its hand out for a share of Western Australia's prosperity. But none of these mines or indeed the gas wells existed before Australians took a punt, put their hard earned capital on the line and backed a fledgling exploration company hoping to make it big. That is what we should be incentivising in Australia.

Junior explorers are, by definition, loss making for years. Investors accept that. They accept that 19 out of 20 exploration plays will return nothing but dirt. They tolerate that risk because of the upside. When the 20th one hits, this government is going after their capital gains in a way that they did not disclose before the election. They're taking a hammer to the CGT discount for investors and, indeed, those brave souls who start exploration companies. Why should these founders who hitch up a caravan, drive into the desert and risk everything to find the next great ore body be treated differently from the tech bros of Surry Hills whose factory floors are just the co-working spaces of Sydney? It is egregious, it is unfair and it is an assault on what makes this country great.

See this speech in context