Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

You mortgage the house—absolutely right. It is all on you. If the business fails, this government's not going to be helping out, but if it succeeds, they want half of it. That's how they think.

This government knows or at least enough of them know that this is an aspiration killer, so they're talking about carve-outs. The truth is that Labor's carve-out is a cop-out, because so many of these people have never worked in a small business. They can't even understand how you would carve it out. They're trying to carve something out for the tech bros. The truth is we have a problem in this country with these taxes, all the way from tech bros through to hairdressers, plumbers, fitness instructors—you name it. Every small business in this country is being smashed by a government that simply doesn't believe in what they do.

We do support the $250 income tax cut, but let me tell you this: if it was put in place today, it would be gone by Christmas, because Labor's raging inflation would take it away. Every month, every year, inflation is raging away. It raises Australians' income tax rates. That's what it does. It's called bracket creep. More and more of your money goes up into higher tax brackets. Labor takes that money and then says: 'Hey, I'll give you a little bit back. It'll get you through to Christmas.'

There is a better way through, which is our 'tax back guarantee'. That will ensure that governments live within their means, just like every Australian has to do, in their businesses and in their households. We need these toxic taxes axed.

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