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

The minister opposite is questioning the integrity of Treasury by saying, 'Be honest.' The claim I have made, Minister, is in your own budget papers. It says 35,000 less houses under this change. If you don't like the Treasury budget papers, you can always listen to the Treasurer. The Treasurer himself, in 2024, said in media: 'We do not need to change this system because I haven't been convinced it will increase supply and deliver more housing.' Those are the Treasurer's own words in 2024. His budget papers confirm that these tax changes will not deliver more housing.

In fact, it will make it even worse for the Australian people, confirmed in the budget paper. In the Treasurer's budget paper: 'These tax changes will deliver higher rents for the Australian people.' Again, those are not my words, they're from the Treasurer's own budget paper. That is why we find many criticising these changes, including the Labor premier in WA, Roger Cook, the Labor premier in New South Wales, Chris Minns, the member for Parramatta, in this House, the member for Bennelong, in this House. They are both members of the government. The member for Chifley, also in this House, said, 'This budget needs to change.' Senator Ananda-Rajah in the other house is also criticising this change. They were the ones on the Labor side that were prepared to put their objections on the record. But we also know, through reporting in the media, that there were heated discussions and disagreements in one of the caucus committees, where many were asking the Treasurer many questions about these changes.

Member for Grey, I have found one Labor premier that does support these changes. The Victorian Premier, Jacinta Allan, supports the changes, so I look forward to those opposite from Victoria getting out on the hustings with Jacinta Allan and getting her to spruik them as their local member. I don't think the member for Menzies will be doing that, and I don't think the member for Maribyrnong will be hanging out with Jacinta Allan, given the support that Jacinta Allan has in Victoria.

There is clear talk here. There are clear challenges that the Australian people face, and that's why we, as a coalition, want to help the Australian people. It's why we've got a tax-back guarantee that will deliver lower taxes for everyone. It will mean that every time you get a pay increase, every time you work overtime—to put more money in your bank, to put food on the table—you will get an automatic tax cut under the coalition plan.

The question for those opposite is are they going to back indexation of tax brackets, or are they going to play the smoke-and-mirrors game of giving money back to people after they've already paid the tax through bracket creep? That's the reality for the money they're promising—two years time after you're already paid for it.

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