Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor's budget sends a very clear message to Australians who work hard, save hard and take risks: if you dare to get ahead, this government is coming after you. This budget is an assault on aspiration.

Small business owners have sacrificed weekends, missed family dinners and poured years of hard work into building businesses, creating jobs and backing Australia—something those opposite have no clue about. They believed effort and risk would be rewarded, but instead they're now lining up to tell me that they're preparing to shut down, move investment offshore and leave the country that they once believed in.

Young savers are hearing the same message. One young worker from Currumbin Waters saved diligently and invested modestly in shares to build a future without government handouts. Now he fears that Labor's CGT changes will punish the very discipline that we should be encouraging.

Australia should reward aspiration, not tax it into exile. The coalition's position is clear: you do not fix Labor's toxic taxes with carve-outs; you axe them. Labor's budget means more debt, higher taxes, fewer homes and a government coming after the savings, investments and businesses of Australians who are trying to get ahead. And that is the difference between those on this side of the House and those opposite. Australians are sick and tired of this government treating ambition like a crime and productivity like an ATM.