Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to your previous answer. In 1999, capital gains could be averaged over five years to stop small-business owners being pushed into the top tax bracket. Is this your policy?

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

The member for Spence will leave the chamber under 94(a). It's highly disorderly.

The member for Spence then left the chamber.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He referred to the previous answer, so I'll take up where I was rudely interrupted last time around. Daniel Petre, the co-founder of AirTree Ventures, runs a company that helps founders to launch and grow their companies.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

The Leader of the Nationals in the House and the member for Goldstein are warned.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is what he had to say:

I call complete—

BS—

that founders … are saying they are going to move overseas because of tax.

He said:

I think you need to … take a Bex and have a lie down.

… I think it is just appalling that you have this … hyperbole going on without people firstly thinking through … what might be fair in this country …

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

I just warned the member for Goldstein, and you carry on with that sort of behaviour. You are going to leave the chamber under 94(a). I think everyone heard me say very clearly that you and the member for Gippsland were warned. The member for Gippsland got the message, but you didn't. You've had an extremely good go at this, but you're not going to continue to disrupt question time with that sort of behaviour.

The member for Goldstein then left the chamber.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Jevon Le Roux, who's the co-founder and CEO of Keeyu, said this:

But here's what I don't see anyone posting about.

The government gives founders 43% back on every R&D dollar spent. Today. Not in five years. Not when you exit. Right now.

You fill it in. You submit it. You get it back in 30 days.

Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. How is the Albanese Labor government strengthening Medicare after a decade of cuts and neglect? What additional support does the budget provide to lift bulk-billing rates on the Central Coast and in the Hunter region?

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Robertson for hosting me in his beautiful electorate last week. He still pulls shifts at the emergency department at the Wyong Hospital, which is why he's known affectionately as Dr Gordon in that community. Importantly, he knows more than most the benefit of a well-functioning primary care system.

He also knows that when we came to government in 2022, bulk-billing rates in this country were in freefall. Just in that one year alone, bulk-billing rates plummeted by more than 10 per cent, and it's no mystery why. It's because, for years and years, those opposite froze the Medicare rebate, strangling the income of Australia's general practitioners and forcing them to put in place gap fees. That is why, in our first budget, we tripled the bulk-billing incentive for Australia's pensioners and concession card holders. I'm pleased to report the latest data indicate the bulk-billing rate for those Australians with that concession card is now around 93 per cent.

Unfortunately, the bulk-billing rate continued to fall for those Australians who didn't have a concession card, so last year, for the first time ever, this government extended bulk-billing support to every single Australian, not just those who had the card. We also offered a significant incentive to those general practices who decided to bulk-bill all of their patients all of the time. I'm pleased to report that, after only a few months, that is already making a huge difference. Since 1 November, more than 1,400 general practices have shifted from charging gap fees to becoming 100 per cent bulk-billing. The bulk-billing rate to the end of March—in just a few months—for those Australians without a concession card has already climbed by around nine per cent, delivering millions of additional free visits to the doctor already.

As the member for Robertson and his colleagues in that region know, those benefits are not being enjoyed by Australians everywhere. In Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, parts of the Hunter and the Central Coast, the number of 100 per cent bulk-billing practices is about half the New South Wales average. The bulk-billing rate in some of those communities is around 20 per cent below the New South Wales average and a whopping 30 per cent below the rates you see in Western Sydney and south-western Sydney, with absolutely no rational explanation. That is why this budget is funding six new fully bulk-billing clinics in those regions—to ensure that there is competition within general practice in that region and to spread the benefits of bulk-billing to that terrific community that the member for Robertson and his colleagues represent. Our plan to strengthen Medicare is a plan for all Australians.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. This morning, the opposition leader and I met Paul, a Bungendore farmer who's worried about Labor's broken promises—

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Who else was in the background?

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

Order! The minister for infrastructure is warned. The member for Gippsland will—

Honourable members interjecting—

Order! No. We're going to do this the proper way, and it applies to both sides of the chamber. Out of respect for the member for Gippsland, he'll begin his question again.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. This morning, the opposition leader and I met Paul, a Bungendore farmer who's worried about Labor's broken promises and higher taxes. Will the minister confirm that more than half of Australian farmers are not eligible for the capital gains tax concession, exposing them to massively higher tax bills when transferring family farms to their children?

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member opposite for that question. I'd say to the member opposite that they really should stop running scare campaigns and they should be presenting the farmers with the facts. Let me quote from the National Farmers' Federation release, the day after the budget, where the National Farmers' Federation said:

"In that context, there are several measures in this Budget that are welcome and reflect the Government listening to the concerns the NFF has consistently raised on behalf of farmers."

The NFF welcomed changes ensuring primary production income will be exempt from the new 30% trust tax and confirmation there will be no changes to small business capital gains tax concessions.

It goes on:

"Family farms are generational businesses built over decades and often represent a family's life savings and retirement plan. We are pleased the Government has listened."

That's from the National Farmers' Federation.