Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

Two weeks ago, something changed in Australia. Something has changed in the psychology of Australians, and over time that will take effect in what Australians do and what Australians don't do—especially entrepreneurial Australia, Australians who want to take a risk, Australians who want to start a small business and any Australian who really wants to have a go. What happened two weeks ago was a very big change in the risk-reward of what you do with your money in Australia. Historically, if you took a risk in Australia, you got the reward. But the change is that now, when you take a risk with your money in the Australian economy, the people who will take the reward are the Albanese Labor government.

When I think about this, we all—almost without exception, I would say—have worked in our own private enterprise or have worked in private enterprise, so we understand. When you hang up your shingle, when you roll up the door, when you open the door to your business and you are waiting for customers to come in or ring, you know the risk of that, you know the anxiety of that, and you know how hard you have to work to make money not only for your own salary but also for other people's salaries.

As a matter of interest, I thought I'd Google two people and look up their work histories, because I thought, 'They should get this.' I thought: 'Let's have a look at the current prime minister of Australia's work history. Surely, he has worked in a private enterprise. Surely, he has worked for a business and knows the pressure of having to pay someone's salary from your efforts or the efforts of your staff.' So I had a quick look. The first job was research officer for Tom Uren, a Labor minister. I thought: 'Okay, that's only his first job. It might get better.' The second job was assistant general secretary of the New South Wales branch of the Labor Party. I thought, 'Okay, he might have branched out after that.' The third job was senior adviser to Morris Iemma. Well, at least he swapped from federal to state Labor. Anyway, let's keep going. The fourth job was principal adviser for Wayne Swan. So we've gone back to Swan. The fifth job: Labor MP. Deflated by then.

This is an important point. What we have are two senior people who are running the Australian economy on behalf of the government right now, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. I have respect for both those positions. The problem—we can't overstate this—is that neither of them have actually worked in the real world. Neither of them has actually worked in a business. They've all worked in this bubble of federal politics. They've all worked as staffers or walked into this chamber at a young age—I congratulate them on getting into this chamber at a young age; I'm not criticising that—with no real-world experience. That is the problem with everything we're talking about, because for them this is just theoretical. This is just some idea or some understanding they wouldn't have of the real world. There's something cellular that you get when you know that when you go to work, you've got to make money that day. You've got to sell whatever you're selling, or you can't pay your own salary or other people's. That's something cellular that everyone here gets. We get it. We know the importance of it, and that what is sadly lacking on the other side of politics.

Now I want to go to some people who do know. I want to just quote four or five people who do know. Actually, I will give a shout-out that the member for Parramatta has had some real-world experience. I think he's been a Labor staffer as well. He's made some interesting comments about this budget.

Firstly, 40 Australian business owners under 40 have penned an open letter to the Prime Minister, saying that his tax reform is an 'aspiration ambush'. It's not me saying that; 40 young leaders in Australia who have done very well are calling this an aspiration ambush. Young business builders in Australia from technology, artificial intelligence, retail and manufacturing sectors told Anthony Albanese that his budget has hit them the hardest. They said:

We work the hours. We carry the risk.

But now the reward is going to the Albanese Labor government.

Janine Allis, Boost Juice founder, said the changes could 'destroy the core of what Australians are'. We're built on having a go. If you have a go, you should get rewarded. She went on to say that you need to inspire people to actually take the risks needed to get ahead. With this policy of the Labor government, she says:

We won't want to open businesses or start businesses, because the risk of failure and the risk for reward doesn't add up.

It's not me saying that; it's a very successful Australian businesswoman saying that. She also said the government should say what they do and do what they say, after telling people before the election they would not touch negative gearing and capital gains taxes.

Chris Richardson, an economist, says you don't want to discourage people from taking a risk.

Dave Hughes—this is an interesting one—starts by saying:

I voted for Albo and Chalmers, they didn't have a mandate for changing capital gains tax.

It's now the highest in the world. No one is going to want to invest in Australia.

…   …   …

You didn't have a mandate for it. You—

Can I quote 'lie'? I'd better not say it.

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