Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Industry and Sovereign Capability) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to address the House for five minutes.

Leave granted.

I thank the Leader of the House for the opportunity for some late afternoon truth-telling. The truth is that Labor's toxic taxes are a war on Aussie aspiration. Small businesses, farmers, families and millions of Australians looking to get ahead will be hit by the tax hikes that Labor has introduced today. The Prime Minister went to the election promising no new taxes. He said his word was his bond. Fifty times, he ruled out changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. But, as Australians have found out, he's been planning this sneaky attack on Aussie aspiration for the last 12 months, and today we've seen exactly his battle plan. He is going to hit Australians with toxic new taxes. They say one thing before an election and do another thing afterwards.

Australians are being hit with more taxes. They're being hit with a housing tax, a small- and family-business tax, a tax on savings and investment and a tax on aspiration. The Albanese government has breached the trust of the Australian people. Australians can see through the sneaky way that this government operates. The Prime Minister is short on policy, but he is long on tactics. He has shown a very great ability, in fact, with his sneaky, stealthy hit on Australian aspiration.

Australians work hard. They make sacrifices. They put in extra hours, take risks and start businesses. They produce our food on farms, they invest in the future and they try to build something better for their children. That should be encouraged. That's what we're about on this side of the House. But this government sees aspiration as a source of revenue. Australians see right through the Prime Minister and this Labor government's sneaky war on Aussie aspiration. They see this as an attack on our prosperity, our security and our competitiveness as a nation. What kind of country do we want our nation to become? Do we want to be a country that rewards hard work, risk taking and enterprise or a country where government keeps taking more, spending more and making it harder for the average Australian to get ahead?

Under Labor, Australians are going backwards. This is exactly what's happening to them. Power bills are up, housing is less affordable, small businesses are under enormous pressure, families are cutting back on their budgets, there's less discretionary spending and now Labor wants more of Australians' money to pay for its failed policies and reckless spending. The truth is—and you know what I'm going to say here—when Labor run out of money, they come after yours. That is the story of this government—more tax, more spending, more bureaucracy and less opportunity for ordinary Australians.

The coalition believes in something different. We believe in protecting families and small business. We believe in rewarding hard work, and we believe in aspiration. That means restoring a culture where people who work hard and take risks are supported and rewarded by government—not punished by government, which is what's happening under the Albanese government. It means restoring the dream of home ownership for young Australians who feel locked out of our housing market. They are losing hope of ever having a stake in our great country. It also means rebuilding an economy that produces things again, things of value, because a strong country needs those things in times of crisis.

For that, we need affordable energy, and affordable energy means productive businesses. It means strong industries. That's why the coalition will always stand up for Australians trying to build something better for themselves and their families. We want to restore the Australian standard of living, we want to reward hard work, we want to restore home ownership and we want to secure Australia's future. That's why we want to give Australians more of their own money back with our tax-back guarantee, indexing income tax thresholds to inflation. We're going to stop the bracket creep. That's why we want to cap migration based on how many homes are being built. Housing supply matters, and young Australians deserve a fair shot at owning a home. To be very clear, we're going to peg net overseas migration figures to housing completions every single year.

That's why we're scrapping net zero. We believe this country could be an energy superpower. We have an abundance of coal, gas and uranium. We also have plenty of sun and wind, but you need reliable, affordable baseload power, and that only comes through fossil fuels. Australia is one of the biggest exporters of coal and gas around the world, and we export to some of the world's biggest and fastest growing emitters, countries like China, India, Japan and Korea. The reality is, under Labor, we deny those very fuels to the Australian people, and they're paying with their family budgets. They're paying with their businesses. We're seeing industry across this country collapse under this Labor government.

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