Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. What does the passage of the Albanese Labor government's cost-of-living tax cuts mean for working Australians and our economy? What obstacles were overcome?

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Corangamite not just for her question, but for voting this morning to ensure that every Australian taxpayer gets a tax cut on 1 July. And more than that, for ensuring that 85 per cent of taxpayers in her own community get a bigger tax cut to help with the cost of living.

I'm very pleased and proud to say that today Labor's cost-of-living tax cuts passed this House. This means that Australian workers are now one step closer to a bigger tax cut for more people to help with the cost of living. It means all 13.6 million Australian taxpayers can now look forward to a tax cut on 1 July. It means 11½ million of them can look forward to a bigger tax cut on 1 July.

We did this for the truckies and for the teachers. We did it for the steelworkers and the health workers. We did it for the nurses and the plumbers. We did it to support every Australian who works hard to provide for their loved ones and to get ahead. And we did it because we know people are under pressure from higher interest rates, persistent inflation and global economic uncertainty.

We saw the consequences of those three things in the job numbers that came out this morning. We saw unemployment tick up to 4.1 per cent. Nobody likes to see that, but we need some perspective here. As the member for Parramatta said in his contribution a moment ago, average unemployment under this government is 3.6 per cent. Average unemployment under those opposite was 5.6 per cent. Two percentage points different. We've had 650,000 jobs created under this Prime Minister—the fastest job growth compared to any major advanced economy in that period. What we're seeing in the economy is unemployment, which has ticked up today but which is still extraordinarily low by historical standards. What we saw today in the unemployment data makes our strategy even more important. We will ease the pressure on people, repair the budget and invest in the future of the economy. The tax cuts are central to this strategy. They are relief, they are reform, and they are responsible. They're better for Middle Australia and better for the economy. They lay bare the main difference between this side of the House and that side of the House. We want more people to earn more and to keep more of what they earn. Those opposite want people working longer for less. After all of their whimpering and whingeing, that's what this boils down to. First, they rolled over, and now they want to roll back. The difference is that we genuinely care about the cost-of-living pressures that people confront. We're doing something about it, even if they couldn't give a stuff.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before we move any further and the member for Warringah gets the call—I know it's Thursday, but there's far too much noise. In that answer, the member for Casey interjected eight times continuously. He will leave the chamber under 94(a). He's been continually interjecting for the last two weeks. It is simply not acceptable for people not to show some restraint and to just continually interject during a question and an answer. If this continues, more people will leave the chamber.