Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Hansard source

We've said we will work with all members of this House to have these toxic taxes fully examined and to absolutely ensure that we're doing everything we can to make sure that the Australian people know what the broken promises will mean for them, and the best way in which we can do that, and the first step in doing that, is to make sure that they're fully examined.

I would say to the government: What have you got to hide? Why don't you want these toxic taxes fully examined? Why don't you want the entrails sorted through so that we know and understand who you're hitting? Not only do we need to know all the detail; we need to make sure the government understands the detail, because, as we've seen in question time time and time again, the Prime Minister doesn't have a clue about his own budget.

What we would like to know is this. The Prime Minister has said publicly, and I hope the Prime Minister was being honest with the Australian people, to use his own words, because he's said it is time to be honest, that these are just simple changes taking us back to the pre-Howard changes. Does that mean you can average over five years or not? Does that mean you can offset a loss on one asset against the gain on another asset? We've put that to the Prime Minister and, guess what, the Prime Minister hasn't got a clue about his own budget.

Not only that, now we're starting to see more and more people speaking out against these budgets. We read in the Sydney Morning Herald today—and I think the chair of the Labor economics caucus committee might be in the House with us today—that even they don't like it. They've got questions of it. The Prime Minister's innovation award winner for 2024 has come out and said he doesn't like this budget. Not only that, we've also heard from the Premier of Western Australia—Labor royalty. The Labor royalty has come out and said that they don't like this budget. Not only that, Chris Minns from New South Wales has come out and said that he doesn't like it.

So you've got the Labor economics caucus committee, you've got Chris Minns and you've got the Premier of Western Australia, Roger Cook, all saying this is a dog's breakfast. Basically, every Tom, Dick, Harry—oh, and Andrew, the member for Parramatta, of course; I'd nearly forgotten him. He's come out and said that he's got concerns about it. I forgot that there's the member for Bennelong as well. He's popped up and said, 'I've got questions and queries about this.'

The list goes on and on. The Housing Industry Association have come out and said they don't like it. The Business Council of Australia are out saying they don't like it. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry are out saying they don't like it. COSBOA are out saying they don't like it. As a matter of fact, I think there are only two people in this country who do like this budget: the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. I don't think there are too many other people lining up behind it.

Of course, there was all this spin at the start, and some people got sucked in with that spin. I would say to a lot of people: always look at the detail, because this government's very good at the spin. Once you get to the detail, you start to see, in particular, the unintended consequences which come from broken promises and from complete and utter spin. This is why this budget needs to be examined, and it's why these bills need to be examined. We've said we will do anything we can to get this parliament to examine these bills and then to throw them out.

I say to the Prime Minister you have a chance. The Prime Minister has a chance. He can show some courage. He can say, 'Yes, I told the Australian people one thing before an election and I did completely the opposite after the election.' The Prime Minister could have the courage to front up and say that is what he did. In doing that, he has not only embarrassed himself; he has embarrassed every single member of the Labor Party caucus. All of them have been embarrassed—

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