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

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

The economic harm caused by the G overnment ' s plan for higher taxes.

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—

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

Another day, another question time of the Prime Minister and the Treasurer continuing and perpetuating the myths that they took to the last election—they're somehow honouring the policies that they took to the Australian people. The brutal reality is, around the country right now, the self-starters of Australia, the small businesses, the family businesses, those who are seeking hard to get ahead, the investors, those who are backing themselves through their hard work and sacrifice and now the retirees of Australia are wondering 'what is the government going to do to attack us next?'

On budget night of this year, there were so many Australians who tuned in thinking that they were simply going to be watching another budget handed down about the finances of the nation. Instead, they saw a direct assault on the aspiration and ambition of Australians. What they witnessed was a treasurer and a prime minister whose focus was on how they could raid the piggy banks of the nation, targeting young Australians saving for a home deposit and doubling the tax rate. To those who rent simply to be able to put a roof on top of their head, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer have turned around and said in their own budget papers that there are going to be increases to the costs of rent. The government goes on and deceives and says to the Australian people that, through their higher taxes, they're somehow going to lower the price of housing, yet concurrently they go around and in their own budget papers clearly articulate—while they overshoot their migration target by 90,000 over the next two years—that, under this budget, the Australian government is going to be responsible for building fewer homes.

Since that budget night, Australians have read story after story of how they're directly assaulted by the Treasurer and the Prime Minister's budget measures—higher taxes, higher costs—making it harder for them to get ahead. It's quite clear now, and we see the consequences starkly in the consumer confidence data: record low consumer confidence across Australia and, in the small-business confidence data, record small-business confidence in this nation's history. And we have another metric: record small-business insolvencies. That is the lived reality Australians are having to experience under this government. They are living with the biggest deterioration that we have ever seen in our economic circumstances and our economic confidence, and it's all perpetuated by the Albanese government.

And just when the Australian people thought, 'Time's up; maybe they'll stop coming after us, assaulting us and targeting us with higher taxes,' the government has today struck a dangerous, dishonest and dirty deal with the Australian Greens in the Senate and is now targeting Australia's retirees. Well, Australians are sick of it. They're saying very clearly that the Albanese government does not have the best interests of Australians at heart. And this is what is so shocking and distressing: Australians wake up every morning, working hard to get ahead to make sure they can afford food and they can afford what they're putting in their red basket or their trolley. Australians wake up and they work hard so they can go on and do things like pay their mortgage. They want to educate themselves, they want to be able to get ahead, they want to save for a better future or for a rainy day and, most importantly, they one day want retirement security so that, in the latter stage of life, when they're vulnerable, they don't have to worry about their future or their financial security.

At every single stage of life, the Albanese government has targeted Australians directly on their financial security, so they won't be able to put themselves in the best position to be able to decide how to live their best lives. It's now incredibly clear that this is the worst budget in Australian history, and that takes an incredible mark of achievement. Think about it—think about all the wreckage that was left behind by the Whitlam government in years past. Now, we know that the Treasurer loves to wax lyrical and pretend that he's the modern-age Keating, but what we actually watch, not just in question time but when we go out of the chamber and to anywhere else, is a Treasurer who doesn't even have the courage to stand up and make the case for the reforms or the introduction of the measures that they've put in this budget and refuse to take to the Australian people. Paul Keating would have the courage to take those measures to an election, make the case at the election and make the case afterwards. Instead, what we have is a prime minister and a treasurer who say one thing before an election then do the exact opposite after because they think they can sneak it past the Australian people and get away with it.

The Australian people and their aspiration are just collateral damage in the process, and it hasn't ended. The tax measures—the tax hikes—that were introduced in this budget may have been glaringly obvious to the Australian people on budget night, but, as detail continues to be revealed, there is no-one off this government's hitlist. You see the consultation paper they've now issued is like a footnote because they clearly didn't understand the economic consequences of their budget. It was a footnote.

At the last minute, as people slowly realise that the measures—the tax hikes—being taken in the budget were not just going to be targeted to property, all of a sudden, the people are involved in venture capital, startups and those building new businesses to grow out the economic opportunity said: 'Hang on, I think this applies to us. Hang on, they're directly assaulting our business, our opportunity and our capacity to employ Australians too.' In a rushed scurry at the last minute, the Treasurer inserted a footnote in the budget saying: 'We'll do some sort of consultation. Don't come after us; it's okay.'

What's been revealed, step after step, just like the small businesses of the nation, is that they have been on Labor's hit list too. Now we have a consultation paper out there trying to describe what an innovative business is. Yesterday, we heard from the Treasurer mocking disdain of businesses that innovate in incremental ways, no matter what their history. This is one of the most disgraceful things I think I've ever seen a Treasurer do. Let's face it, there's a fair list of them at the moment. But, to have the Treasurer standing on the other side of the dispatch box, mocking hairdressers, ridiculing brickies and attacking people who earn a decent living and who are trying to get ahead to support themselves and their families, it makes one wonder what sort of government this is. Their only solution is to attack Australians, tax Australians and inflate Australians out of a better future. They ridicule those people who want to get ahead, all because of the arrogance of this government. They think they know how to live people's lives and decide their fortunes better than the people do.

There's a reason Australians are so angry. They fundamentally believe that they should be in control of their own lives. Australians fundamentally believe that hard work should pay off. Australians fundamentally believe that we should have honest government. Australians fundamentally believe that we should have open government, and Australians fundamentally believe that we should have a system where they're in control of their own lives and where they feel a basic sense of respect from the government that's supposed to be there to serve them. This is where this Labor government has got it the wrong way round. They think that people are there to conform to them. Actually, the Australian government's job is to serve the Australian people.

What we have seen from this government is punching down every step of the way every time somebody stands up or speaks out about the ruinous consequences of that budget. But there is hope. There is a way forward. While we've got Labor trying to divide the Australian people on the left and we've got other parties trying to divide Australians on the far right, we believe, in the coalition, in a way forward that unites our country, where we make sure hard work pays off, where people are in control of their own lives and where they feel a basic sense of honesty and respect from their government, as well as a culture built on respect where people are able to get ahead.

We believe that because we do not believe the government continues to stoke inflation, tax inflation and spend inflation that continues to take away the incomes of real Australians and increase the costs that are applied to households as they try to just keep their heads above financial water. We believe that people should keep the money that they earn, and that's why we put forward our Tax Back Guarantee, which explicitly says, when the government to continues to inflate the costs of wages and as people's incomes rise but are overcome by inflation, that they're able to get that money back and keep it in their hip pocket to be able to decide their own futures. That's why we backed small business, unapologetically. If you are in a small business in this country, the Australian government should be cheering you on. And it's why we support an instant asset write-off of up to $50,000, and making it permanent.

But, more than anything, we have faith in the Australian people. We believe in the Australian people—their power and their potential. The tragedy is that they're witnessing attacks on them by the Albanese government. (Time expired)

Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Defence) | Link to this | Hansard source

'Hyperbole'—I looked up the definition in the dictionary: 'a figure of speech or a statement that uses extreme, deliberate exaggeration to make a point, emphasise emotion or create humour'. Now, far be it from me to accuse the shadow Treasurer of hyperbole or of being a hyperbolic person, so I won't do that, because it could be unparliamentary. But let's look at his MPI and how it stacks up against the facts. There are claims around harm; I'm going to talk about the economic support. There are claims around higher taxes; I'm going to talk about facts: there are lower taxes and cuts in taxes. In fact, we're reforming the tax system for workers, for small businesses and for future generations through a very significant set of reforms—probably the most significant in a quarter of a century.

We've delivered this because we're focusing on relief, resilience and reform. Those things make it easier for Australians. Let's talk about the support side of things. There are tax cuts and tax relief for 13.3 million Australians. That's just a fact. It butts up against some of the rhetorical flourishes we've just been subjected to over 10 minutes, but the fact is that there are cuts in taxes for 13 million Australian workers. In fact, the reforms also go to making it easier—that's relief, not harm; it's support, not harm—for 75,000 Australians to buy their first home. That's a fact. All of this has been something we've been debating, and I haven't really heard many facts being put forward by the shadow Treasurer. There's been a lot of hyperbole, a lot of rhetorical flourish, but no facts.

This means something to those 13 million Australian workers we've talked about. It's relieving the tax burden for so many Australians. It's giving support to 75,000 more homeowners to get into the housing market. That's support; it's not harm. And, to be fair, the shadow Treasurer talked a lot about small business—very passionately, very aggressively—and how much he loves small business. Well, let's have a look at the tax reforms around small business. We're delivering $3.8 billion in new business tax relief measures. That's a fact as well. And they are designed to support resilience and investment growth, particularly among small businesses.

So let's go to the facts and the numbers: 20,000 permanent instant asset write-offs to give businesses more certainty to invest. That's going to deliver around $890 million in cashflow support over the next five years. It's going to slash compliance costs for small businesses by around $32 million a year and save them 366,600 hours on record keeping. Anyone who runs a small business knows how important cash flow is. Cash flow is king—or queen, depending on who you are. But the point is that cash flow is critical. Having run two small businesses myself before politics, I understand that, and how difficult it is. So, that is real relief for those small businesses. There's also a permanent two-year loss carry back for companies that have a turnover of up to $1 billion, from 1 July 2026, so that small businesses can return to profitability faster and can have the confidence to invest earlier and withstand volatility.

We're introducing loss refundability to help startups grow in their first two years. And we're expanding tax incentives for venture capital to help unlock more investment in young and expanding businesses. That one is critical. The culture here—and it has been exacerbated by changes made by previous governments, and I speak specifically of the coalition government, around what they did to some of these tax treatments—has been that it was more difficult for startups in this country to get that venture capital and that investment in those new ideas. If you're a new business, if you're a startup, if you've got an idea and you want to transform that idea into something productive for the economy, we're making sure that we help unlock investors through those tax incentives to change that culture so people are willing and incentivised to invest in those new small businesses. We're ensuring about 1.5 million sole traders benefit from our $250 tax offset as well as part of our plan to reduce the tax burden on all working Australians. We've very clearly included those 1.5 million sole traders, who often are small-business owners and run small businesses.

I've given a couple of facts and numbers. They're not very exciting. I haven't shouted. I haven't ranted. I haven't raved. I haven't jumped up and down. I haven't even used hyperbole. I could do a dance. I could get myself up on social media with a bit of a jig or whatever. I'm not going to do that. I'm sticking to the facts about what these tax reforms mean for the Australian people. When we talk about hyperbole, one of the points of it is to create humour. It's quite funny that the MPI says 'the government's plan for higher taxes'. Actually, it's the opposite. It's lower taxes. It's tax cuts for 13 million Australians.

Let me set out the facts for you. There's a $250 tax offset for every working Australian taxpayer. That's a fact. That goes into their pockets. That's a fact. That's a reality. It's going to automatically reduce workers' tax liability on the income earned from working from the year 2027-28. There's an instant tax deduction that we're introducing. It's a $1,000 instant tax deduction to allow workers to deduct up to $1,000 of their taxable income without providing receipts. That's a fact. That's going to go into their pockets as well. These are real, tangible budget reforms that are being made that are reducing tax, that are lowering taxes, which belies the hyperbole that we've heard from those opposite.

The reason it's so important to support small businesses is that we do care about their views. As I said, there are so many opportunities for young people and people of all ages, frankly, to create small businesses, to take ideas and transform them into something special that is productive in the economy. That's why we've made these changes and have his support.

Overall, the government amendments to our tax legislation will mean—and this is another fact; it might be a bit boring again—2.7 million active small businesses—

Thank you to the member from Wagga Wagga—I haven't got the same hyperbolic excitement as some of your colleagues, but I'll take that interjection. I appreciate that it's not boring to the small-business owners. So 2.7 million small businesses and 98 per cent of all active businesses will be eligible for generous capital gains tax concessions. You wouldn't think so with all the jumping up and down that we've seen from those opposite, all of the misinformation and all of the ranting and raving, hyperbole and misinformation that's been put out there. We're not allowed to use the other word. But the fact is that 2.7 million businesses and 98 per cent of all businesses will be eligible for generous capital gains tax concessions. Why? Because these reforms are all about helping businesses invest, innovate and grow. That is because they are the backbone of our economy. We know that. We need to support the incredible work and services they provide our country.

In conclusion, where is the real harm? I reckon there's a fair bit of harm coming from the ranting and raving from the opposite side, because they're not dealing in facts. That's where the real harm is coming from. They're not talking about what the actual budget measures are. There's a lot of carry-on that's going on. But, over here, we're about making sure that we deliver these tax cuts for the vast majority of Australian workers—13.3 million. All of them are going to get a tax cut. We're about delivering tax cuts for small businesses. We're about supporting those small businesses as well.

But here's the real harm on the other side. All of those opposite voted against the tax cuts. They voted against the tax cuts in this House, and they're likely to vote against them in the Senate. So all of the detail and facts that I've just given, they're voting against that. That's where the real harm is. They can jump up and down all they want and create all sorts of smoke and mirrors to hide that fact, but the real harm comes from the fact that they are voting against tax cuts for the Australian people. They are voting against tax relief for small businesses. They are voting against all of the support and economic relief that we are providing in this budget, and they're likely to do so again in the other place. That's where the real harm is. Those opposite voting against it are voting against the Australian people. They haven't really learnt anything from the last election. This is why it's so important to lay out the facts today.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Back in 1976, AC/DC, one of my favourite bands, released a song called 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap'. Today, in the Senate, we saw a sequel to 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap' when Labor sided with the Greens, their old friends. As much as Labor try to deny that they are best mates with the Greens, we see it writ large all of the time, and again today in the Senate with Labor trying to get through their bad budget and getting help from their old friends the Greens.

I've been in this place long enough to remember Julia Gillard, the former Prime Minister—I don't think she really wanted to, but she had to do a deal with Bob Brown and the Greens. What did we see after that? The carbon tax. 'There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead,' she said as Prime Minister. Unfortunately, she had to go down that path to get the numbers to form government.

That's going to cause hardship. That's going to cause higher taxes. The budget is going to be responsible for $77 billion of increased taxes for everyday ordinary, hardworking Australians. This matter of public importance, 'The economic harm caused by the government's plan for higher taxes,' moved by the shadow treasurer, the member for Goldstein, is correct because at the nub of it is higher taxes.

If you had said 10, 15 or 20 years ago that in Australia we'd be talking about the sorts of issues that we are in this House now, they would look at you and think that you were stark raving mad. But in Australia today we have a government facing $1 trillion worth of debt and what are they doing? They're spending $430 million buying productive water from farmers and flushing it down the mouth of the Murray—the equivalent of 34,400 Olympic sized swimming pools. Eighty-six gigalitres of water—to do what? Well, it's not to grow food! Growing food and feeding a hungry world is the moral challenge of our times. Don't worry about anything else, forget everything else that you have been told, that is the greatest moral challenge of our times because many people in Australia, and other nations besides, who rely on our farmers go to bed hungry every night. That's wrong. It's morally wrong. It's morally bankrupt.

This budget does nothing to address the issues besetting our farmers, our regional Australians. Yes, the government has extended the fuel tax relief, and so they should. We called for it. The government were finally dragged to the table, kicking and screaming, and agreed to it. And then you look at the capital gains and the trust changes that the government has finally relented on, finally reneged on, and yet the veterans are being slugged. It's not higher taxes as such, but it is a cruel cut to the benefits that they once—I won't use the word 'enjoyed'—deserved. The $5,000 cap per year on their allied health is just wrong, and I would implore the government to revisit that. It is a cruel cut to our veterans who had this nation's back when we called upon them, and now, when they need us to have their backs, we're turning our backs on them. That's what the government are doing.

No, Member for McEwen; you be quiet. That's what the government is doing. I had a forum last week where I listened to service providers and families in the National Disability Insurance Scheme space. They are some of Australia's most vulnerable. They have also had cutbacks to their services. Yes, a full audit of the NDIS needs to be done—no question. There are spivs and shonks and shady operators in that space. But the cuts that Labor has brought about in its budget are going to affect Australia's most vulnerable. There were heart-rending and heart-wrenching stories from these people, who are now going to be forced to go without and won't have quality of life. It's just plain wrong, and so are many of the measures in the budget.

Labor will crow about making the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent. It should've been permanent. It was unlimited under us. There are so many areas of endeavour that this Labor government has failed the nation on. People are hurting, and it's up to the government to fix these problems.

Ali France (Dickson, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I have to say that this MPI is quite the own goal for the member for Goldstein, the shadow treasurer. I'll just start with this quote:

Today it's time to be honest: the tax system is screwing over young Australians. Instead, it favours well-off, established interests against those trying to get ahead.

I wholeheartedly agree. As we've heard in this place time and time again, that is the view of the shadow treasurer, the member for Goldstein.

On 12 February 2018, in this very chamber, the member for Goldstein stood and admitted that the tax system, as it was, was unfair. He said that the tax burden fell 'mostly on young and working Australians'. He said:

… people who can predominantly live off of income from their assets can pay very little tax and get discounts on capital gains from increases in asset values.

I wholeheartedly agree, and so does this side of the House. That is a quote taken directly from Hansard, yet the shadow treasurer stands here today and cries the opposite.

Let's get something straight: we are cutting taxes for working Australians—cutting them—and we are evening the playing field for working Australians. Why should working Aussies be paying a higher percentage of tax than investors? The member for Goldstein talks about hairdressers and brickies. Why should they pay a higher tax rate than investors? Why should investors pay an effective rate of 23.5 per cent on their earnings while nurses, cleaners and teachers pay 32 per cent? I've yet to hear a coherent answer on that from those opposite.

Our working Australians tax offset, announced in the budget, will put $250 back into the pockets of millions of working Australians every single year. We've also introduced a $1,000 instant tax deduction, which will kick in on 1 July. On top of that, the tax cuts we've already legislated will land on 1 July this year and again next year. Add it up and the average worker will have about $2,800 back in their pocket by 2028. Those opposite voted against all of that.

You lecture us as though you actually support tax cuts, but we all know that those opposite went to the last election promising higher taxes. The designer of that genius plan was the former shadow treasurer, now the Leader of the Opposition. When it comes to backing a tax cut for working Australians, for weeks those opposite have pushed misinformation about our tax changes.

Let's talk about real economic harm. During COVID, those opposite funnelled billions of taxpayer dollars into big corporations that actually saw turnover increases and went on to post record profits. It left us with nearly $1 trillion in debt—debt Labor is now paying down. As a share of the economy, debt is now lower than what we inherited from those opposite. Those opposite allowed manufacturing to collapse in this country, to the point that manufacturing self-sufficiency was at the lowest level in the OECD. That is real and lasting economic vandalism.

And who could forget the early superannuation access scheme, which drained $38 billion from the retirement system? An economist described this as an absolute disaster. The third-largest spending category of that scheme was gambling. A lot of super went into poker machines and online gambling.

The real harm is pretending that homes are affordable when they're not. The real harm is having our nurses and teachers—hardworking Aussies—paying a higher tax rate than investors. We could choose to ignore them. We could do that. We could take the easy way out. We could pretend that the tax system is just fine as it is. But then we would be the coalition. No thanks. We are here to even the playing field for working Australians. We are delivering exactly what the member for Goldstein asked for all the way back in 2018—a fairer tax system. You should be celebrating that.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) | Link to this | Hansard source

The MPI today is the economic harm caused by the government's plan for higher taxes. While we hear members opposite saying, 'No, we're lowering taxes,' how can you increase the tax pool by $77 billion and actually lower taxes? That does not compute. I'm not really a mathematician, but that honestly does not work.

I want to give you a tale of two Peters in my electorate, one from Swan Hill and one from Horsham. I note the Minister for Education is sitting here, and I know he likes stories about people. Peter from Swan Hill is a self-funded retiree. He wrote to me. He said: 'Thank you for the opportunity to express the extreme frustration self-funded retirees face with this overwhelming and abject failure of a budget. We have paid taxes all our lives, and now there is no reward or incentive to fund our own retirement. Why are self-funded retirees being slugged, slapped around the face, when they are not any sort of burden on the taxpayer? We self-funded retirees do not get any assistance from the Commonwealth government or any other agencies in return for actually assisting the government of the day through our sacrifice of saving money for the country. The Labor government has more than doubled down on self-funded retirees by attacking us on trusts and CGT. Self-funded retirees, mind you, are not getting any younger and would greatly appreciate, for example, assistance on PBS scripts, lessening the CGT, trust funds being untouched and doctor's consultations.' And so Peter from Swan Hill goes on.

Then I have Peter from Horsham. These are both towns in my electorate. He is also a self-funded retiree. He asks: if he earns a modest income through work and accesses the tax-free threshold up to $18,200, but Labor says that if he earns less than the threshold through modest share investments he will pay a minimum 30 per cent on what he earns, even if it's just $100, how is that fair? That is what Peter asks. These are two self-funded retirees who are wondering what is going on.

In my mind, as I've heard the Labor government, the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and other ministers rave about how fabulous the budget is and how much better off people are, particularly young people, the reality is that the Labor government itself has become an aspiration drainpipe. It is incredibly damaging to people. I just briefly want to mention Vince. I spoke about Vince yesterday. Vince is 19 years old. He lives in Stawell in my electorate. I met up with Vince last week. He wrote me an email, and the reason I wanted to meet him face to face was because I couldn't believe how much sense he had. He has come from a foster home. He got his first job at 14 years old. He is now putting himself through university, which again the Minister for Education would be very pleased to know, doing law and commerce. He's working in a timber yard to get himself through. This is a young man with incredible aspiration. He's a young man who is determined to make his way. He has been putting some money away in shares, hoping that in 10 to 15 years time he might be able to have a deposit for his own home, which is something that I believe would be incredibly important to Vince.

What has this government done? Well, they've ripped the heart out of every one of Vince's friends who is in the same boat. They have been squirrelling away. Some share funding to buy into shares so they could get a deposit, be independent and actually look after themselves, not rely on the government. I would have thought that this government would have been very proud of these young men, but instead they're being slapped around the head just like self-funded retirees Peter from Horsham and Peter from Swan Hill. This is an absolutely shameful budget, and it is dragging another $77 billion out of taxpayers' pockets.

Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish I could make this MPI today make sense, because, on the very same day that the government has announced that the parliament will pass legislation which will deliver tax cuts for every worker, a fairer tax system for first home buyers and $3½ billion in new tax arrangements for small businesses and announced that we will extend the capital gains tax exemptions for each and every small business in the country—despite all that and despite that we announced all of this just this morning, we are sitting here listening to this absolute rubbish from those opposite, opposing each and every one of those changes. But should we really be surprised? This has been their modus operandi for four years now since the Liberals and Nationals were voted out of office. Now they've got a new friend under their blue, green and orange umbrella, joining them to vote against tax cuts, to vote against support for small business, to vote against tax reform which will help 75,000 Australians buy their first home. They are teaming up, the three right wing parties, to ensure that Aussie workers don't get the tax cuts that they deserve, and they're teaming up to say: 'Look, everything's fine in the way our system works. Everything's fine when young people are locked out of the housing market for a generation.' They do not want to change a thing. Well, we're not like them, so let's set the record straight.

Labor knows that Australians are facing real cost-of-living pressures. We know that this has been a challenge not only here in Australia but for people right across the world. Instead of fanning the flames of division, on this side we are working with Australian workers and with industry to change things for the better, particularly for young people. We're doing this by delivering yet another round of permanent tax relief with the $250 working Australians tax offset. On top of this, we're introducing a brand new $1,000 instant tax deduction, which will help people save around $200 to $300 on their tax bill each and every year. If you add that up, over the four years since we've come to office, we have cut income taxes in many different ways. On average, that's nearly $2,800 back in the pockets of someone on average income by the time they're all done in 2028, and each and every tax cut we've brought to this place and into the Senate the Liberals and Nationals have voted against. Let's not forget that they went to the last election saying that they were going to increase taxes. We're here today saying that we're going to reduce taxes for Australian workers. Contrast their position on increasing taxes with what we've announced, which will pass the parliament this week.

Our budget will make it easier for people to own their first home. It will help level the playing field and better align the tax treatment on income from work to income earned from other very legitimate ways. And we will improve productivity by encouraging innovation and investment, particularly for small business. Now, I want to say here that I came out early and said publicly that we needed to get our consultation with small businesses right. Despite from the crows of those opposite, we've landed that consultation, and I'm proud to stand here and back them in, because, on top of the four existing concessions that were kept for small business and conveniently ignored by those opposite, we'll also extend the eligibility of the 50 per cent active asset reduction to more businesses by vastly increasing that threshold. It's sat at $2 million since about 2007. It hasn't been changed by successive government, including those opposite.

It has taken a Labor government to listen to small business, to listen to COSBOA and to listen to members of our Labor caucus and come up with a concession of increasing that $2 million threshold to $10 million. That means that every active small business in the country will have that CGT exemption, and they should. This is a budget that is pro worker, pro aspiration and pro investment and that reduces tax cuts for every Australian.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the member for Goldstein's MPI because, in the last four years under Anthony Albanese, Australians have endured immense financial pressure.

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

Use correct titles, please.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes. The bad news is that it is only going to get worse because of this government's higher taxes. The reality is that Australians are facing the highest tax burden in Commonwealth history under this government. Today, Labor and the Greens made a dirty deal in the Senate, and we all know how this ends: more tax, more complexity and more attacks on aspiration with higher taxes on self-managed super funds. It was aspiration that our country was built on, making it one of the most prosperous nations in the world, and I am proud of that. Yet, to Labor and the Greens, aspiration is a dirty word and is simply something to be taxed.

Young Australians are doing as we told them to do: work hard, invest wisely, buy a home and build a better future. But today they are being told to expect less. They're being told, 'You don't deserve to get ahead.' They're being told, 'The government wants you to stay right where you are.' They're being told to forget their potential, to forget their ambitions and to just tread water because they don't deserve to get ahead. Labor's toxic taxes mean fewer homes will be available and rents will be higher, pushing the dream of home ownership even further away. If a young Australian wants to build their deposit through investing, they're being punished for that as well.

Nearly half of all investors on CommSec are under 40 years of age. If you are a young Australian taking a risk, building a portfolio and trying to set yourself up for a better future, Labor wants to tax you more on these investments. The Financial Services Council data confirms that aggressive investors, typically Australians around 35 years of age, will be the hardest hit by the capital gains tax changes—not the ultra wealthy, as the Prime Minister wants us to believe. They're just ambitious, hardworking young Australians with huge potential. Gen Z and millennials are investing more than three times the share of their income than baby boomers. The government's response to this ambition? Just tax it.

Small businesses have been smashed by Labor in the last four years, and they are not exempt from the budget of broken promises. Labor's spin machine claims that their new carve-outs will make small businesses better off, but here is the truth: this so-called carve-out is a con. Nine out of 10 small businesses will still get nothing while Labor feasts on their hard work. That's the local sparky, the local hairdresser, the butcher or the mechanic—all still worse off. Labor's idea of backing innovation is a committee in Canberra deciding whether they are innovative or not. Is it just me, or does anyone else see the irony in that? The whole point of innovation is that it cannot be written up neatly in a rulebook. It is born out of courage, hard work and good ideas that no-one has had before. It can't be written down in a rulebook.

Every day, our trust in this Prime Minister decreases. He misled the Australian people at the last election, telling us over 50 times that he would not touch capital gains tax or negative gearing, just to do the complete opposite as soon as he got a chance. We have consistently asked the Prime Minister to rule out the tax on the family home. He has yet to rule that out. In fact, it was only in question time today that he again refused to rule out the taxing of the family home. Why is that? Why isn't our Prime Minister being straight with the Australian public? Why can't he answer that question? Well, I don't know. But he has got form. Today showed the government is prepared to be held hostage by the Greens party. If the Greens call for a tax on the family home, will Labor follow?

The attacks don't end there. Labor have vowed to continue to go after senior Australians by cutting the private health tax rebate for over 65s, effectively putting a 21 per cent increase on private health for over 65s. These are proud, hardworking Australians who have saved diligently and sought to reduce pressure on the public health system by maintaining private cover. While the government neglects aspiration in Australia and the needs of our proud senior Australians, the coalition will back aspiration and hard work every day until we get rid of this terrible government.

Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm really pleased to have the opportunity to speak on our government's economic record and the work we're doing to build a strong future for all Australians and to foster aspiration and give young people a fair go. We're reforming the tax system for workers, for businesses and for future generations, delivering a new round of tax cuts, including more tax cuts for every taxpayer from next week. We're helping more Australians realise the dream of homeownership and supporting investment and innovation. We've got another round of permanent tax cuts with the $250 working Australians tax offset and a $1,000 instant tax deduction. That means every Australian worker, including every taxpayer in my electorate of Chisholm, will benefit from Labor's tax cuts.

Frankly, I'm a bit sick and tired of hearing those opposite talk our country down. I really can't believe some of the ridiculous statements we've heard in this debate so far. But those opposite quite simply seem absolutely incapable of participating in a sensible conversation about anything at this moment in history, which is pretty disgraceful.

Our reforms in this tax and economic space have three goals: to level the playing field and better align the tax treatment of income from work with income earned in other ways; to help more Australians recognise the dream of homeownership and get a toehold in the property market; and to improve productivity by encouraging innovation and investment. Our tax package is firmly pro aspiration, pro worker and pro investment. Our reforms will build a better, fairer, simpler tax system by reducing the tax burden for over 13 million workers, supporting 75,000 more homeowners into the housing market, delivering over $3.8 billion in new measures that will lower taxes for businesses and startups, and reducing compliance costs by $540 million a year.

Our budget has been all about tax relief and tax reform to make our economy work in the interests of all Australians, businesses and future generations. This is also building on our reforms to date. Our focus on this area is not anything new. We've had three rounds of tax cuts. We've made super fairer and more sustainable. We're making sure multinationals pay their fair share of tax, which I know is really important to people in my community in Chisholm. Those opposite tried to increase income taxes and now they're defending a status quo which punishes workers and locks far too many people out of housing. Our reforms are about helping people—helping workers, helping first home buyers and helping businesses—so more Australians can earn more and keep more of what they earn, so that they can get into the housing market and get ahead, so they can put down roots in our community and so they can do the things that I think we as members of parliament all enjoy seeing people in our community do, like participating in the local footy club, sending their kids to local schools and supporting those local schools. It is impossible for young people and young families to do that if we as a government don't support them here to put down roots in communities. This is really important for the future of this country.

We know, of course, that Australians are facing real cost-of-living pressures because of the crisis in the Middle East. This budget delivers more tax cuts despite that, delivering for workers, taking the sting out of petrol prices and helping people into a home. We're also funding public hospitals and cheaper medicines while backing higher wages. We're helping Australians. We're helping people right across communities in this country, including in my community of Chisholm. As I said, we've cut income taxes already a number of times in different ways, which means about $3,000 more into the pockets of an average worker by 2028. We're also giving the ACCC more powers to crack down on price gouging, which I know, again, really matters to people in my community of Chisholm. We're also cracking down on scammers and unfair trading. The package of reforms that our government has made is having an impact on people's lives in a positive way. It is disappointing that those opposite come here and use the MPI to inflame discord in community rather than support the people across Australia to have a better life.

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

After this week's antics, it is now pretty obvious what Labor's favourite party trick is. It has to be the old-fashioned backflip. In fact, I could see the Prime Minister and the Treasurer in the 10-metre synchro in LA 2028. They've flipped so many times on taxes, the Australian public are getting dizzy. The least they can do is bring home some gold for the nation.

Just a month after the Treasurer handed down his budget, it is already in tatters. The Prime Minister told us these tax hikes were so important that he had to break his promise. Now he's poking so many holes in their own failed policies that the budget is starting to look like a piece of Swiss cheese. Australians were clearly told Labor would not touch capital gains, negative gearing, trusts, super or stage 3 tax cuts. Labor broke those promises. If you could not trust Labor on tax a month ago, you certainly can't trust them now.

The fake small business carve-out is a sham. Nine out of 10 small businesses will get nothing, with Labor now wanting Canberra bureaucrats to decide which businesses are innovative and which ones are not. Does that include a sparkie, or a hairdresser? I don't think so. It is impressively vague and gives the government dangerous powers to pick winners and punish everyone else. The truth is that small businesses innovate every day just to survive.

More complexity does not fix bad policy; an axe does. Make no mistake, Labor is putting handcuffs on those who aspire to get ahead. They are putting a ceiling on ambition when what Australia really needs is more investment, more productivity and reward for effort. By increasing capital gains tax, Labor will chill investment in startups, with cash likely to funnel into large companies that do not need it. Investors, savers, tradies, farmers and families trying to build a nest egg or buy a home will all suffer. By taking away earnings, we reduce the amount of liquid capital these people will have available to spend in our economy. It is that simple.

Even the budget papers show that these taxes will suppress housing supply, meaning fewer homes built and higher rents. If that is not enough, the Prime Minister is now bargaining with the Greens to make these toxic taxes even worse. And we all know how deals with the Greens are done—with more tax, more complexity and much more pain during a brutal cost-of-living crisis.

The Greens are now demanding new changes to stop people buying investment properties through self-managed super funds. This is absolutely absurd. This is not fixing a mess; it is adding another tax to everyday Australians who simply want to save, invest and plan for their own future. These taxes were bad enough, but if Labor does this deal it will be completely disastrous. Labor should stop negotiating with the Greens. These taxes need an axe, not a deal. If these taxes are bad enough for Labor to run away from, they are bad enough to scrap right now.

But there is an alternative. The coalition has a credible plan for real change with no backflips, no flip-flops, no changed positions and no broken promises. We would never deliver lower taxes for smaller businesses, and we will give Australians automatic tax cuts every year.

Our plan is for a freer, fairer and better Australia. We will restore standards of living, protect the Australian way of life and firmly fix migration to the number of homes built, because that is common sense. The answer is lower interest rates, lower inflation, rising real wages and more opportunity for all, not more tax. We believe in Australia where hard work is rewarded. Australians deserve affordable homes, a stronger economy and a true tax relief, but Labor has failed on every single front. To borrow a now infamous line from the Prime Minister, 'For the 50th time, stop playing politics and axe these toxic taxes.'

Alice Jordan-Baird (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

There are 13 million workers in Australia, 13 million Australians who get up early, work hard, support their families and help keep our country moving. They are nurses, teachers, truck drivers, warehouse workers, tradies, small-business owners, and every one of them deserves a fair go. They deserve the chance to get ahead, to keep more of what they earn and a tax system that rewards hard work. This is what our budget is fighting for and this is what our tax changes are about. I don't expect those opposite to understand that, because they don't fight for the 13 million workers in Australia—a Labor government does. It's why we're giving all 13 million Aussie workers a tax cut with the working Australians tax offset and the $1,000 instant tax deduction, as well as better pay for workers and a fair go for first home buyers. Combined, we've cut income taxes five times in three different ways, putting nearly $3,000 a year into the pockets of the average worker by 2028.

I've seen the need for this in my electorate of Gorton. We're from Melbourne's western suburbs, and we're one of the fastest-growing electorates in the country. My community has new families moving in every week, buying homes and building their futures. These are hardworking Aussies we're speaking about. I had the honour of meeting a young first home buyer from my electorate. I met Ishaan at his brand new home in Deanside in Melbourne's west, and he was able to buy that home as a direct result of our five per cent deposit scheme. He was over the moon to get his keys and own a home of his own, a home where he can put paint on the walls, paint them a different colour if he wants to—a home he can build his life in. He is one of the more than 3,000 people in my electorate of Gorton who have secured their first home with the Albanese Labor government's five per cent deposit scheme. This is absolutely life-changing. This program cuts years off the time it takes to save for a deposit. It'll help people get into their first homes sooner, meaning they'll be able to pay off their own mortgages, not their landlords'. This is about fairness, because young Aussies should be going to auctions to buy their own homes, not to get outbid by property investors standing right next to them. We're also backing small businesses, making the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent, giving small businesses certainty and helping them invest with confidence. We're also delivering tax reforms that improve cashflow and support businesses during difficult times, because when small businesses succeed, our communities succeed and our economy succeeds as well.

It's no surprise that the three right-wing parties all voted against our tax cuts. They talk about helping workers, but when push comes to shove, they vote against it on the floor of the parliament. Every time they have the opportunity to vote for higher wages and lower taxes, the right-wing parties opposite, instead of voting the way the workers of this country need them to, vote the way that Gina Rinehart tells them to. The member for Goldstein says that Australians wake up so they can work hard, afford food, pay their mortgage and get ahead. Well, then, I ask the member for Goldstein why he, along with the three right-wing parties of Australia, have time and time again voted against tax cuts for Aussie workers.

Tax cuts put more money in the pockets of everyday Australians. When we came to government we inherited $1 trillion of debt, bigger deficits and stagnant wage growth from the coalition, and in every budget since, we have found savings. This budget is our most responsible yet. The member for Goldstein has asked in this House today what kind of a government we are. I'll tell you: we are a government who is delivering real change to ease the cost of living. We're a government who helps Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn—whether it's slashing the fuel tax, better pay, tax cuts or a fair go for first home buyers. The three right-wing parties over there are doing nothing but standing in the way of our tax cuts, better pay and a fair go for first home buyers in this country.

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

This discussion has now concluded.