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

I have received a letter from the honourable Leader of the Opposition proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

The Government's refusal to be honest with Australians about their plans for new toxic taxes at the last election.

I call upon those honourable members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor's toxic taxes will destroy aspiration in this country, and if the Prime Minister wants to force these toxic taxes onto Australians, he should have the guts to take it to an election. But he won't. He won't because he can't tell the truth. This is a prime minister who leads a government that misleads and deceives every single day, a government that dupes and distorts, a government that says one thing, does another and has a very, very loose association with the truth every single day.

This Prime Minister's word is never his bond. It is never his bond, and Australians absolutely know it now. He promised that Australians would be better off under his leadership. Well, they're not. He promised that their power bills would go down by $275. It's not even close. They haven't. They're up 40 per cent since this hapless energy minister was in place. He promised Australians that they would have cheaper mortgages—not even close. A typical mortgage holder is $35,000 worse off since Labor has come to power. He promised that there would be no changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, in his own words, for the 50th time. Well, surprise, surprise. He's changing them. He's because he changes his mind. He's changing his mind again, and he is whacking new and higher taxes on hard working Australians. No Australian can trust another word that comes out of this bloke's mouth.

Now, did he take his tax increases to the last election? Well, of course not. As I said, he hasn't got the courage. He leads a government that is tricky and is sneaky, and Australians are seeing him for the prime minister he truly is. He's a man who occupies the highest office in the land, but he lacks the character to lead this great country. He absolutely lacks the character to lead this great country. He stands condemned, and his condescending government, the condescending government he leads, stands condemned as well. He's bungled budget confirms that his government is the highest taxing government in Australian history—the highest taxing government—because they are addicted to spending. We know only too well that when Labor runs out of money it comes after yours.

Let us consider Labor's changes to negative gearing. This is purely and simply a tax on housing, on homes. That's what it is. It's a tax on homes. When you put a tax on something, you get less of it. There was one tiny shard of honesty in this government's budget. I think it was snuck through by the bureaucrats worried that there needed to be a little bit of honesty in it. It was on page 158. It snuck through, and I'm sure the 400 staffers they have missed it. They missed this one. Do you know what it said? It said that when you take negative gearing away on housing, you get fewer houses. It snuck through. This isn't a level up for young Australians wanting to get into a home; it's a lock out on homeownership in this country. That's what it is, and that's what this government stands for.

Now we'll go to the next one. We've just done negative gearing. We'll go to capital gains tax. Scrapping the 50 per cent discount is a tax on savings, pure and simple. It's a tax on savings on every asset class—crypto, ETFs, shares, bonds and you name it. It is a tax on Australians trying to build a nest egg. We know that, in an economy that is not working for young Australians, and it's not, so many of them are building up a nest egg so they can buy a home. That's what they're doing. But this government has decided to whack them with a new tax. They want to go after the savings of Australians, and it's not just those who are saving; it's also small businesses.

I heard the Minister for Social Services interjecting during question time on a question about capital gains tax. Do you know what she said when we asked the question? 'Oh, you should just go and see the accountant.' That's what she said. We want to hear what the situation is from the government that's putting these toxic taxes in place. Tell us how it's actually going to work. The truth is that they didn't want to fess up to the fact that this prime minister has said in this House that we're going back to the pre-1999 settings. But we're not. He deceived the Australian people in this chamber. That's what he did, and it is a shame on the Prime Minister that he should choose to do that. We are not going back to the pre-1999 settings. They are planning to hit small businesses, farmers and hardworking Australians harder than ever before because they have run out of money. Labor has started a war on aspiration, and its toxic taxes will obliterate opportunity in this country.

There is a long list of people who think these taxes are wrong for Australia: the Premier of Western Australia, the Premier of New South Wales, Andrew from Parramatta—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leader of the Opposition, you know about the use of correct titles.

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Parramatta. There's another chap from Bennelong, the member for Bennelong, who has very similar views. We know there are many more—well not that many more who understand small business, but they're hearing it from small-business owners in their electorates. They're hearing it alright, because they are being smashed by a Labor government that simply doesn't understand aspiration and the hard work of small-business people in this country.

When you're running a small business, the daytime runs into the night-time, the weekdays run into the weekends and work time runs into holiday time. In fact, so much of the time, you give up your holidays because you've got to invest a bit more in the business to try and get ahead.

Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mortgage your house.

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You mortgage the house—absolutely right. It is all on you. If the business fails, this government's not going to be helping out, but if it succeeds, they want half of it. That's how they think.

This government knows or at least enough of them know that this is an aspiration killer, so they're talking about carve-outs. The truth is that Labor's carve-out is a cop-out, because so many of these people have never worked in a small business. They can't even understand how you would carve it out. They're trying to carve something out for the tech bros. The truth is we have a problem in this country with these taxes, all the way from tech bros through to hairdressers, plumbers, fitness instructors—you name it. Every small business in this country is being smashed by a government that simply doesn't believe in what they do.

We do support the $250 income tax cut, but let me tell you this: if it was put in place today, it would be gone by Christmas, because Labor's raging inflation would take it away. Every month, every year, inflation is raging away. It raises Australians' income tax rates. That's what it does. It's called bracket creep. More and more of your money goes up into higher tax brackets. Labor takes that money and then says: 'Hey, I'll give you a little bit back. It'll get you through to Christmas.'

There is a better way through, which is our 'tax back guarantee'. That will ensure that governments live within their means, just like every Australian has to do, in their businesses and in their households. We need these toxic taxes axed.

Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I must say—and I think I speak on behalf of many in this place—I preferred his short suspension speech to his long MPI speech. What I think I admire most about the Leader of the Opposition is how much he goes out of his way to prove Malcolm Turnbull right. It wasn't that long ago that former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was out there saying: 'I mean, the curious thing—what a lot of people say about the Leader of the Opposition is he is the best qualified idiot they've ever met.'

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Member for Barker, just take a seat. I know that is a quote, but it is still very—you need to withdraw it.

Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll be keeping a close ear on all sides of this debate for imputations. You have the call.

Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I agree it was particularly harsh of former prime minister Turnbull to say that, but I'm not the one who's out there proving former prime minister Turnbull right now.

I would say to all those opposite—we just heard from the Leader of the Opposition that he thinks the tax cuts that Labor introduced into parliament are a good idea. Well, there's only one way to show that you think Labor's tax cuts are a good idea, and that is to vote for Labor's tax cuts. That is a choice that those opposite will have. If they choose to vote for them, I'll commend them for that. But if they choose to follow the path that they followed just a year ago, then I think everyone on the benches opposite will have questions to answer.

Unlike those in the Liberal and National parties, I have indeed read the review of the 2025 federal election, written by two well-respected former parliamentarians, Pru Goward and Nick Minchin. That review—and this goes to the economic capability and credibility of the Leader of the Opposition—said very clearly:

The Opposition announced that it would oppose that tax cut on Budget Night and voted against it when the legislation was introduced.

I think that's in our recent memory, but it seems that those opposite have forgotten that very quickly. Then it singles out the then shadow treasurer, now Leader of the Opposition, who was a member of the leadership group. It says:

The leadership group's decision to oppose an income tax cut, which many MPs told us they had not been consulted about and would have opposed, immediately impacted on the Coalition's economic credentials, historically, a strong part of the Coalition's brand.

That's something they chose to give up.

It wasn't just at a clandestine meeting of the leadership group that the Leader of the Opposition went out and opposed a tax cut and made that decision unilaterally with just a small group. He then went and led the campaign publicly. It was the Leader of the Opposition who was out there in the media calling Labor's tax cuts 'a betrayal'. It was the Leader of the Opposition who campaigned against Labor giving a tax cut to working people, which he described as 'class warfare'. It was the Leader of the Opposition who said that Labor's determination to give a tax cut to working people was somehow 'a war on aspiration', and as if he hadn't gone far enough and embarrassed himself too much already he then described the idea to lower taxes for those on low and middle incomes as 'Marxist economics'. Well, I've got news for the Leader of the Opposition: if you didn't notice, on 3 May last year, the people of Australia endorsed Labor's tax cuts and they endorsed the tax plan that we outlined when it came to lowering taxes for working people, as well as the package that we brought into the parliament today that, again, lowers taxes for working people.

But it's not just me who thinks that sometimes, just sometimes, the Leader of the Opposition gets it a little bit wrong. There are those who once were in his own party that have now left the Leader of the Opposition's party. We had the then Liberal senator Hollie Hughes say this about the Leader of the Opposition:

I have concerns about his capability. I feel we have zero economic policy to sell.

She went on to say:

I don't know what he's been doing for three years. There was no tax policy, there was no economic narrative.

That is from a member of the then opposition two days after the election. So what is the Leader of the Opposition's solution? He goes: 'I've been told I've got no economic narrative. I've been told by my own people I've got no policies.' What does he do? Does he sit and do the hard work of writing some policies out? Does he go into a consultation with his colleagues? No. Do you know who told us that they hadn't done the hard work? It wasn't anyone with any guts on that side. It was One Nation.

One Nation came out on the budget reply night, outraged, and the headline in the Financial Review was 'One Nation says Liberals are copying its housing and migration policies'. So, in this coalition of chaos that has been formed between the Liberal Party, the National Party and One Nation, they're already an unhappy family. They're stealing homework from one another. If we've seen that the migration policy and the housing policy have been stolen from One Nation, it'll be interesting to see what the Leader of the Opposition steals from One Nation next. Will he be having a fundraiser in a private jet over Sydney in the middle of a fuel crisis? Will he come into the chamber in dress up? I don't know; it'll be interesting to watch.

What we do know and what is very clear is that when it comes to the Leader of the Opposition he lacks credibility on tax just as he lacks credibility on fuel. We've heard too many times the fact, which has never been denied by the Leader of the Opposition, that he had Australia's fuel reserves in Texas. People on my side of the country know that when it came to fuel security it was not helped when the Leader of the Opposition oversaw the closure of the BP refinery in Kwinana, Western Australia. Then of course there was that really interesting way that the Leader of the Opposition, when he was in government, decided that he would hide energy price rises. He made the decision before the 2022 election and thought that it was better not to tell anyone until after the election. In fact, we have a report from the Guardian that it wasn't an accident; it was a deliberate ploy from the now leader of the opposition. The report says:

The former energy minister—

the Leader of the Opposition; I'll refer to him by his title—

… asked his department to consider delaying telling voters about electricity price rises before the May election, then made the decision to do so.

I'll take the interjection about mentioning the measures in our budget. We've talked a lot about the $250 permanent tax cut for Australian workers through the working Australians tax offset, and I challenge all of those opposite to vote for it, but I also want to talk about some of the measures that maybe haven't had as much attention in the budget. In question time just a few moments ago we heard from the Minister for Social Services about the $182 million investment in the child support system to make sure we address the issues of weaponisation, financial abuse and noncompliance. Many of us know, and have heard a lot, about the $25 billion investment in public hospitals, which is a record investment in our public hospitals. But I also want to highlight one of the measures that haven't got as much attention, and that is the $44 million to extend Birthing on Country—again, a program that supports Indigenous mothers and their children with culturally-safe maternal care.

Now, we've heard a lot about the $14.9 billion investment our government has made in Australia's fuel resilience. But I want to point out that we've also invested in protecting the Great Barrier Reef, with another $91 million for restoration and protection efforts. Again, we've talked a lot about our investments when it comes to housing and helping Australians into a home of their own. But I also really want to commend the work that's in the budget when it comes to AusAlert, a new national messaging system to help and support Australians to get the information that they need when they are in the middle of a crisis.

I want to finish with some really good news that you won't hear elsewhere. You won't hear it from those opposite, but you can find it in a good, reputable publication like the West Australian newspaper. We hear, so often, 'Catastrophe!' from those opposite, about what's happening in so many parts of our economy. Well, we had some good news today, and this is the headline: 'Investment in WA resources sector hits decade-high and $226b in sales generated for 2025'. Now, that's not happening under two conservative governments; it's not happening under two Liberal-National-One Nation governments. That's happening under two Labor governments that are supporting the jobs of Australians—supporting Australians to earn more and keep more of what they earn. And I can guarantee that all on this side of the chamber will be voting for a tax cut for working Australians.

Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Toto, I've got a feeling we aren't in Australia anymore! Just like Dorothy standing in a strange land, Australians are looking around and asking, 'How did we get here?' because this does not feel like the Australia we were promised. Somewhere along the yellow brick road, the Wizard of Oz has lost his plot.

For generations, Australia was a place where aspiration was not something to apologise for. But the Albanese government wizard stands grinning behind the curtain right now, hands yanking rusted levers labelled 'higher taxes', 'bracket creep', 'CGT', 'negative gearing' and 'red tape'. Smoke pours through the room, while ordinary Australians—the tradies, the nurses, the small-business owners and the families—stand watching the Australian dream crumble, brick by brick.

There was a time when a tradie could follow his own yellow brick road. It started in a battered ute, with 300,000 kilometres on the clock, a toolbox rattling in the trailer and a thermos of bad coffee riding shotgun, before the sun rose. They built futures for their families and helped build the economic backbone of this country—because tradies do not just build homes, roads and skylines; they build Australia itself. In 2023-24 alone, the construction industry accounted for seven per cent of Australia's GDP and employed around 1.3 million people. These are the men and women who physically built modern Australia: a plumbing company; a roofing crew; one apprentice became two, and two became 10; the ute became a fleet; the rented workshop became a warehouse with a family name on the front. That was the Australian dream—the emerald city.

But, right now, too many Australians feel like characters trapped in The Wizard of Oz. There are the scarecrow Australians, treated like they're too foolish to notice what's happening to their pay packets, to their businesses and to their futures. They're told anyone with an investment property is some kind of wealthy property baron gaming the system, when, for many Australians, property is their single-biggest financial asset. Most investors are on modest incomes. Seventy-one per cent own just one investment property and 19 per cent own just two.

Then there are our tin man Australians, exhausted by a system that no longer seems to have a heart. They're small-business owners lying awake at night wondering how they will cover wages, insurances, power bills and rising costs.

Then there are our lions. They are Australians not lacking courage, but fearful in Albanese's Australia, where every shift worked, every risk taken and every sacrifice made is just slugged with more taxes—on housing, on savings, on investment and on small businesses—because the wizard can't manage money. He's coming after yours, while one in three households wonder not what they'll eat tonight but whether they can eat at all.

Every new tax, every change to investment rules, every attack on small business and family assets sends the same message to working Australians, including to our working poor: how dare you try to build something of your own! The people being hit are not billionaires in penthouses; they are sparkies with busted knees, concrete workers with shoulders held together by painkillers, and families who missed holidays and weekends because they believed sacrifice today would mean security tomorrow.

The Albanese government's changes to capital gains tax put at risk a longstanding Australian tradition of working hard to build something of your own and pass it on to the next generation—a tradition that has long defined families, tradies and small businesses across this great land, especially in mortgage belt communities like Lindsay, where we have nearly 21,000 GST-registered businesses, and they power our Penrith economy. We have 5,000 construction businesses and over 860 manufacturers. Together, they support nearly one in four City of Penrith jobs. Lindsay is the canary in the coalmine of the Australian economy. It is the pulse of aspiration in this country. The canary knows before anyone else, and right now Lindsay is twitching.

The Real Estate Institute of Australia doesn't agree with these taxes, nor does the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The list goes on, and the Australian people are really clicking their heels together right now, dreaming of a better land. They're dreaming of home, because there's no place like home, and this is not the country Australians have worked so hard to build.

Ash Ambihaipahar (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I might just change the tone that's going on in this chamber, because there are some people that are really impacted by this issue. Housing is the biggest issue that I learned of through my time at St Vincent de Paul. I just want to reflect on some of the remarks from the member for Hume today. He talked a lot of smack about other people in this chamber and outside the chamber. But he didn't talk about young people. He didn't talk about the future of Australia. He didn't even provide an alternative to the Australian people, other than taking this down.

What we also need to highlight is that we have to be honest about the housing system. It's broken; we know that. Since 1999, house prices have risen by more than 400 per cent. Wages have not kept up. In 1999, I was 12 years old. I am now 39. That means the rise in house prices has happened entirely across my young adult and full adult life. So it took a long time for me, as a 39-year-old, and my husband to, between us, to save to buy our first home. I feel very grateful that we were able to buy in the St George area, in my electorate, and be close to family and friends and the places where we work. But since being elected to this place, we've also been able to purchase a small apartment in Canberra so we can juggle the lifestyle between being here and being back in the electorate.

I've also had the opportunity to be a scientist and a lawyer. Some people have been making comments today about whether people are small-business owners. I myself was not a small-business owner, but I know there are a lot of people on this side of the chamber who have been. But I have the privilege of being a member of parliament. The roles that I've been in at those different points of my life have given me access to secure work and decent pay. That was not only because of working hard—the people I grew up with also worked hard. The reality is that we live in one of the luckiest countries in the world. We have so much opportunity.

My experience is that I was in the right industries at the right time with the right opportunities. Growing up, I had friends who also worked very hard. They worked hard at school. They completed their training. They built their careers. They're raising their beautiful kids. They're caring for their parents. They've done all the right things, and still they're struggling to buy a home. We talk a lot about houses and investment, but it's a home. I cannot look my friends and other people in my community in the eye and tell them that the current system is fair. And I can't defend a system that tells people my age to suck it up and keep supporting rules that favour investments over homes, because that's what we've heard today from the member for Hume and the member for Lindsay.

I had the privilege of helping people in the member for Lindsay's electorate when I worked at St Vincent de Paul. It's not all roses in the member for Lindsay's electorate. There are people really struggling. One in three people that came to the St Vincent de Paul Society were first timers. They had two secure jobs in the household, two incomes coming in, but struggled to pay the rent. That is a reality for many people, even the people in the member for Lindsay's seat.

If it hadn't been hard for people my age, I cannot begin to imagine how hard it is for Australians 10 years younger than me, who are approaching 30, about to take the next step in life, who want to settle down, have their first kid, maybe have another kid, build stability and stay near to people they love. But then, they look at their bank accounts and they think, 'Where on earth is that money supposed to come from?'

Last week, I had the opportunity to go to a youth radio station in Kogarah and meet some of the volunteers there. One young woman said to me—she's about 17 years old—'Ash, I've accepted the fact that I will never own my home.' This is the reality for young people. They have resigned themselves to the fact that they will never own a home. We can't write them off; we can't keep talking about avocado and toast. Those days have to end. The reality is that she is 17. These are young people. This is not the Australia we should accept, and this is not the future we should ask our young people to settle for.

I'm not giving up on the Australian dream—the dream that you can own your home, that you can live near your family and people you like, that you can build a stable, secure life through hard work. This government is not giving up on that dream either. That is why we have introduced this budget, and the Australian dream should not be something a 17-year-old already has to give up on.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I tell you what, it was quite amazing this week and last week that there was a big conversion from those opposite. They're talking about housing like, suddenly, in the last 12 months, housing became an issue for young people. If you believe the logic of those opposite, it wasn't an issue at the last election because they didn't want to change the tax settings when it comes to housing in the last election. That is a circle that they cannot square. None of them could explain how they went to their communities 12 months ago and said, 'Nope, we're not going to change the tax system. It's all working fine,' and then suddenly, today, everything is tough.

Of course everything is tough, but have the courage to talk about it and change it 12 months ago, if you were going to do that. But there's a reason that these changes were not proposed last year by the Prime Minister and by the Treasurer. The first reason that they didn't want to change it was that it will not actually help young people. It will deliver less housing for the Australian people. The tax changes in this budget will deliver less housing for the Australian people. Don't take my word for it, look at the budget papers that say it will deliver 35,000 less houses. These tax changes in the budget paper will deliver 35,000 less houses. It's in the budget paper.

Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's not what the budget says; it's 75,000 more. Be honest.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister opposite is questioning the integrity of Treasury by saying, 'Be honest.' The claim I have made, Minister, is in your own budget papers. It says 35,000 less houses under this change. If you don't like the Treasury budget papers, you can always listen to the Treasurer. The Treasurer himself, in 2024, said in media: 'We do not need to change this system because I haven't been convinced it will increase supply and deliver more housing.' Those are the Treasurer's own words in 2024. His budget papers confirm that these tax changes will not deliver more housing.

In fact, it will make it even worse for the Australian people, confirmed in the budget paper. In the Treasurer's budget paper: 'These tax changes will deliver higher rents for the Australian people.' Again, those are not my words, they're from the Treasurer's own budget paper. That is why we find many criticising these changes, including the Labor premier in WA, Roger Cook, the Labor premier in New South Wales, Chris Minns, the member for Parramatta, in this House, the member for Bennelong, in this House. They are both members of the government. The member for Chifley, also in this House, said, 'This budget needs to change.' Senator Ananda-Rajah in the other house is also criticising this change. They were the ones on the Labor side that were prepared to put their objections on the record. But we also know, through reporting in the media, that there were heated discussions and disagreements in one of the caucus committees, where many were asking the Treasurer many questions about these changes.

Member for Grey, I have found one Labor premier that does support these changes. The Victorian Premier, Jacinta Allan, supports the changes, so I look forward to those opposite from Victoria getting out on the hustings with Jacinta Allan and getting her to spruik them as their local member. I don't think the member for Menzies will be doing that, and I don't think the member for Maribyrnong will be hanging out with Jacinta Allan, given the support that Jacinta Allan has in Victoria.

There is clear talk here. There are clear challenges that the Australian people face, and that's why we, as a coalition, want to help the Australian people. It's why we've got a tax-back guarantee that will deliver lower taxes for everyone. It will mean that every time you get a pay increase, every time you work overtime—to put more money in your bank, to put food on the table—you will get an automatic tax cut under the coalition plan.

The question for those opposite is are they going to back indexation of tax brackets, or are they going to play the smoke-and-mirrors game of giving money back to people after they've already paid the tax through bracket creep? That's the reality for the money they're promising—two years time after you're already paid for it.

David Moncrieff (Hughes, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm absolutely delighted that those opposite have chosen a very interesting topic for the MPI today: plans for toxic taxes taken to the last election. And I'm glad, because such a topic would usually seem to indicate that those opposite have had time to reflect on the deeply damaging decision that they made last year to not only vote against a tax cut for every taxpayer in the country but also to go to an election promising Australians that they'd raise taxes if they formed a government. I hope that they have taken that time to reflect, and I hope that they won't make the same mistake again. Unfortunately, at the moment, it doesn't seem like it.

While we've been out listening to Australians about the cost-of-living challenges facing them, those opposite have been cowering in fear at the rise of One Nation and the prospect that their 1950s-style politics just might not be relevant to 2026 Australia.

Now, we on this side of the chamber—without our heads buried in the sand—do take note of the economic circumstances facing the world and the economic circumstances facing this country. And we have seen the dramatic impact that the conflict in Iran is having on Australians here at home. We know that these impacts are not short term. Even if the war ends tomorrow, there will be serious long-term impacts on our economy from this conflict. We on this side have been hearing about the cost-of-living pressures facing Australians—including fuel, groceries and health. But Australians have told us that the biggest impact on their cost of living has been housing. International economic pressures have only made the cost-of-living pressures associated with housing more acute and more urgent.

This is a government that listens, and this is a government capable of adaptation. This is a government that puts housing at the forefront, with the most ambitious housing agenda in generations: $47 billion to build more homes, back first home buyers and help renters get a better deal. This is a government reducing tax for 13 million workers, providing tax relief and tax reform to make our economy work in the interests of more Australians, of businesses and of future generations. This is a government that's strengthening Medicare with free urgent care clinics as a permanent part of Medicare and a record funding boost to public hospitals. It's making more life-changing medicines cheaper. This is a government responding to an uncertain world, making sure Australia is prepared for what comes next by investing to buy more fuel and fertiliser now and growing our national reserves of fuel and diesel to 50 days.

Those opposite now have the opportunity to support these measures and get behind a government that is listening to the Australian people and delivering ambitious reform, or they can take the opportunity to vote against Australians in the name of a desperate attempt to cling on to fleeting power. What will they do? It is hard to know. But one of the best predictors of future behaviour is past behaviour. Our government have spent the last four years putting forward measures to ease cost-of-living pressures on Australians and, each time, we have reached out to those opposite in support of the national interest to offer them the chance to support Australians and, each time, what have they done? They have turned their backs. They have voted against tax cuts. They have voted against cheaper medicines. They have blocked housing investment.

We on this side of the chamber have undertaken this incredible once-in-a-generation tax reform. We've introduced the working Australian tax offset. We've introduced a $1,000 instant tax deduction, which the ATO estimates will amount to $380 million in compliance cost savings. We're limiting negative gearing to new builds, where it will boost supply, from 1 July 2027. This is an important moment for the coalition. Australians are watching. They will remember who stood on their side and who stood against them. They will remember who backed a tax reform that is backing new supply into the Australian market and is standing against the status quo that is not working for young people. Those opposite now have an opportunity to decide where their priorities are and what the future of the coalition looks like.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to tell a little story about Dale and Tanya, who are local businesspeople in my electorate. They come from Wurtulla. They received in the last few years an export award for their business. I'm not going to name them because we all know what happens. Some trolls on the other side will—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Oh, you're going to try and say it doesn't happen? It happens. So I'm not going to name them. These people won an export business award and—do you know what?—they rang me on Monday night, as a result of these changes, and said, 'We think we're going to have to relocate to Singapore.' Here's a successful business that was built from a garage, employing Australians and exporting to the world, and, because this government didn't have the courage to take these tax changes on capital gains tax to an election, like so many other small businesses around this country, they are fearful. They are worried that this government is going to have its hands in their pockets when they go to sell. That is the reality. Australian businesses are very, very worried, because they don't trust this lot. If this government had any modicum of courage, it would have done what Bill Shorten did and taken its policies to a general election. But they didn't do that because they knew that in the 2019 election they were resoundingly defeated. So what did they do? They kept it under wraps. They kept it quiet.

You can't tell me that it's not a series of policies that this government has held since the 1980s. We know Paul Keating got rid of negative gearing in the 1980s. It lasted less than two years—because what did it do? It forced the price of rents up in capital cities. That is exactly what's going to happen here. Don't take my word for it. The government's own budget papers accept that residential rents will rise. If you talk to any young person, they will tell you the No. 1 challenge they have in buying a home is saving a deposit. If rents go up by as much as, per what some economists are saying, 20 per cent, the more money kids are paying in rent, the less money they're stashing away for a deposit. That is the reality. That is the reality. You are making it harder. The government is making it harder for younger people to save for a house. That is the reality, on your own budget figures—on the government's own budget figures.

Honourable members interjecting—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members, order!

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Even if you talk about the five per cent deposit, you still need five per cent. You still need five per cent. Five per cent of $1 million is $50,000 on the Sunshine Coast—a $50,000 deposit. The member for Hughes is saying, 'What's $50,000? It's nothing.' But $50,000 is a lot of money. That $50,000 is a lot of money, and—

David Moncrieff (Hughes, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order—I've been misrepresented. That's not what I said.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You'll have an opportunity at a later date to actually raise that matter. Member for Fisher, resume. Having a little less interjections so that I can hear clearly what the member for Fisher is saying would be helpful.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That would be great, thank you. It is taking up my time as well. This government has no courage. If it had the courage, it would have taken these policies to the election. But they didn't. The coalition is offering sensible alternatives. We are offering to index people's incomes, their thresholds, their payment thresholds. This will overcome bracket creep. That is one of the single largest problems in this country that just promotes lazy governments, and we will fix that. It's one of the best things that came out of the budget-in-reply—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The call goes to the member for Menzies.

Gabriel Ng (Menzies, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just this morning, the Treasurer introduced the bills for the most ambitious, reforming and courageous budget that we've seen this century. This is a budget that addresses a status quo in housing so that hardworking Australians who have the aspiration to own their own homes will be able to realise that aspiration. In the first speech that I was privileged to be able to deliver in this place, I talked about rising wealth inequality. The issue with rising wealth inequality is that it doesn't just deprive people of opportunity when we're talking about a limited resource like housing; it is also damaging to social cohesion. It means that, when people see that they can't get ahead, they lose hope, and they lose faith in the system being able to deliver for them.

The 50 per cent capital gains tax discount was introduced in 1999. Since it was introduced in combination with negative gearing, it has turbocharged housing prices. The cost of a home, when the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount was introduced, was four times the average annual wage, and it's now eight times the average annual wage. So there has been a 400 per cent increase in housing unaffordability. That's a broken system. It's a broken status quo. And we can't continue on that trajectory. Not surprisingly, homeownership rates have declined as the cost of housing has increased, and it has particularly declined amongst younger people. We're locking a generation out of housing if we continue on this trajectory, and this is a generation of young people who are working hard and who are saving and still can't get a foothold in the housing market.

Last week, I went out doorknocking in my community in Menzies, in Mont Albert. Mont Albert, for those that are familiar with Victoria, is not a particularly low-socioeconomic area. The houses there are pretty big. I was curious to see how our budget measures had gone down there. I do a lot of doorknocking because I think it's really important to get feedback from locals on the measures that we're taking, and I think it's the best way to get honest feedback—having a conversation with people at their door. I knocked on the doors of younger people who were living in the electorate, and, not surprisingly, they really welcomed these changes. Many of them recognised that the system had been stacked against them for a long time because of tax breaks for housing investors. Those housing investors hadn't been doing the wrong thing. They were investing in housing. But it did mean that younger people were getting locked out of the market. They would go to auctions and they would bid, but they would just be outpriced by housing investors who were able to draw on the equity of their existing properties in order to make higher bids. That is part of the reason that we've seen this decline in homeownership.

We also have had many people contact my office, not just after this budget but prior to this budget, who were talking about the housing system being broken. Those aren't just younger people, but those are older people as well, who recognise that changes to the capital gains tax discount and changes to negative gearing might not advantage them, but they recognise how important it is that everybody and future generations have the opportunity for homeownership. When I was doorknocking, I met some of those people—people in their 50s and 60s who were living at home with kids in their 20s, and they recognised that their children didn't have the opportunity to get into the housing market, and they were concerned as well that their children wouldn't be able to buy houses close to them and that they wouldn't be able to play a role in their grandchildren's future, should their children choose to have children themselves, because they would have to live so far away and so far out that they wouldn't be able to provide that care, and being able to live closer together in well-located homes in suburbs is such an important thing for families. That's a trajectory that we can't continue on.

We also have a youth advisory council in my electorate. These are young people aged 16 to 24. A really common thing that they'll say is that they think that they'll never be able to own their own home. That's why we need to make sure that we're making these changes and addressing this growing wealth inequality and a generation that's locked out of housing. That's exactly what we're doing. Importantly, we're still allowing negative gearing to be made available for new homes, and that's because we know that we want to increase supply to increase affordability.

Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on a matter of national disappointment. It is a matter concerning the current government and their refusal to be honest with the Australian people about their plans for new taxes prior to the last election. Despite having slipped this week on more than one occasion, I'm actually a student of the standing orders, and I will respect them. I know full well that I am from forbidden from using a certain three letter word to describe the statements made by those opposite. I'm simply not allowed to call those pre-election guarantees Labor—I can't do it. Therefore, out of respect for you and the rules of this House, I will not do that today. I will refrain from calling this government and their promises what every single Australian sitting at home already knows.

Let us look at the facts. Before the election, the Australian public was looked squarely in the eye and offered a very solemn pledge: no changes to CGT. It was an unambiguous commitment—52 times. Yet what have we seen? We've seen a relentless and calculating rollout of toxic taxes that will suffocate regional economies, punish families, cripple our small businesses and do nothing to positively impact housing. When the government went to the polls, they were, let us just say, remarkably creative with their foresight. They presented a complete fiscal fantasy. They suffered a sudden and highly convenient bout of pre-election amnesia regarding their true socialist taxation agenda. They painted a beautiful picture of the future, completely omitting the dark and taxing clouds they'd already prepared in the background or should I say that Bill Shorten had prepared in the background.

The people in my electorate of Grey, the builders, the butchers, the farmers, the fishers and the small business owners—they are certainly not fools. They know when a politician is selling them a pup. They know when a promise is written in disappearing ink. They were promised relief, but instead they are being handed a massive bill by this government for their ideological crusade. If a mechanic in Port Augusta or a farmer in Bute conducted their business the exact way this government conducts itself, they would be run out of town quick smart. In the real world, a handshake means something, a commitment is binding, but here in Canberra, under this government, a pre-election guarantee is merely a rough draft subject to immediate reversal the very moment the polls close and the ballot boxes are safely sealed away.

I will adhere to these strict rules in the chamber today. I will not say that banned three-letter word—heavens no! I instead say that Labor engaged in a breathtaking display of storytelling where fact and fiction blend to create a river of falsehood.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At least he didn't fall off the stage!

Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He didn't fall off the stage. I'll say they were economical with this truth. I'll say they dealt in severe factual deficit—not to be confused with economic deficit, something they also know very well. They manufactured a furphy. If only the people at home could hear the nonsense coming from that side of the chamber. They served up a platter of bulldust. They took a detour from reality. They promised a feast but delivered a toastie. Call it what you will—call it a terrible breach of faith, call it a broken promise, call it a betrayal of the highest order—we all know what it is, and the Australian people know it too. They know exactly what this government did when they made their pre-election promises and then broke them like a pane of glass. They will all clearly remember this absolute masterclass in political deceit when the time comes to vote them out at the next election.

Sarah Witty (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak against this motion because this motion is not really about honesty; it's about an opposition looking for a scare campaign because it has run out of an economic plan, but this government has not. Australians know what this government stands for. We stand for lower taxes for working people. We stand for responsible cost-of-living relief. We stand for stronger Medicare. We stand for cheaper medicines. We stand for more homes. We stand for an economy that rewards work, not just wealth.

Labor cut income taxes for every taxpayer in our first term. We are cutting them again, and we are cutting them again after that. That is tax relief for working Australians. This Albanese Labor government is putting more money in the pockets of 13.3 million workers through the working Australians tax offset. It is delivering a new $1,000 instant tax deduction. It is cutting fuel taxes to help people fill up the car. It is making Medicare urgent care clinics permanent, and it is investing in public hospitals and cheaper medicines. That is the evidence. Not slogans, not fear—evidence.

Here is the part the opposition does not want to talk about: when Labor delivered tax cuts, they opposed them. When Labor delivered cost-of-living relief, they opposed it. When Labor backed higher wages, they fought against it. When Labor acted to strengthen Medicare, they stood in the way. The Prime Minister was right when he said the opposition went to the last election arguing for higher taxes and higher deficits. Now they want to lecture Australians about tax. The opposition cannot spend years opposing tax relief and then pretend to be the party of lower taxes. They cannot oppose help for households and then pretend to care about the cost of living. They cannot block, delay and complain, and then ask Australians to forget the record. This is not strength. This is not leadership. This is not honesty. It is politics at its smallest.

The opposition attacks these reforms because they do not want the real debate. Should the tax system reward people who work hard for a wage? Should young Australians get a fairer chance to buy a home? Should government make careful choices so we can fund Medicare, hospitals, housing and cost-of-living relief? On this side of the House, the answer is yes. That is why we are delivering tax cuts for every taxpayer. That is why we are delivering more tax relief for workers. That is why we are putting fairness back into the system. That is why we are making reforms that help bring the dream of homeownership within reach.

This government is making difficult decisions, but difficult does not mean dishonest. Leadership means being straight with people about the challenges in front of us. The housing challenge is real. The cost-of-living challenge is real. The pressure on public services is real. The need to repair the budget is real. As a serious government faces those challenges, a serious government acts. This budget does not just acknowledge the people who feel the system is not working for them; it acts on it. That is what this government is doing—taking pressure off households, cutting taxes for workers, strengthening Medicare, building more homes, repairing the budget, making the tax system fairer for the future.

The opposition can say what they like, but Australians can see what really is going on—an opposition that opposes relief and then complains people are under pressure, an opposition that defends unfairness and then talks about aspiration, an opposition that offers slogans when families need solutions. This motion should be rejected, because it is about fear. Australians deserve better than fear. They deserve a government that acts. That is what Labor is doing. We promised to help with the cost of living; we are delivering. We promised to strengthen Medicare; we are delivering. We promised to build a fairer economy; we are delivering—and we are just getting started.

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

I thank the member for Melbourne.