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

I rise to speak on this motion moved by the member for Cook, and I do so out of extreme frustration and disappointment, because what this government is doing to Australia and to Australians is unconscionable. We have the opportunity to choose the type of country that we want to be, and what the government decided at the last election is that we want to be a country that doesn't provide incentives, a country that doesn't incentivise aspiration and a country where, if you work hard, you don't get rewarded. That's not the country that I choose. It's an idea for this country that I and those on this side of the House totally reject. That's why this motion is so important at this critical time.

Labor has one instinct: tax. When in doubt, you tax it. If Australians work hard, tax them. If they save, tax them. If they invest, tax them. If they build a business, tax them. If they plan for retirement, tax them. Most recently, what we've seen from the government is their attitude to Australians who work hard: if they want to buy a home, rent out a home or pass something on to their kids, Labor also has a tax waiting for them. It's not reform, and it's definitely not fairness. It's not intergenerational equity, despite the rhetoric of the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. It's a tax raid. We need to call it out for what it is.

Instead, though, what Labor should be asking—which they're not—is: 'How do we grow the economy? How do we reward effort? How do we create jobs? How do we help Australians get ahead?' I can tell you that when I speak to young Australians, despite what this government may think, they are aspirational. They do believe in wanting something better, not just for themselves but for their kids and for future generations as well. But instead we've got a government that's asking, 'Who has something we can take? Who can we hit next? Who can we punish for succeeding?' because the government has no idea how to manage the economy or how to succeed itself. That's the Labor model: redistribute first, grow never and tax always. They don't want to grow the pie; they want to carve up a shrinking pie, hand pieces to their favourite groups and lecture everybody else about fairness. And who do they target? In this budget we've seen them target small businesses, families, investors, self-funded retirees, older Australians—Australians who worked, saved, sacrificed and planned. Why? Because they think they can get away with it, because if you're not on Labor's voter spreadsheet you're on Labor's tax hit list.

The Prime Minister said, time and time again, before the election—and every one of those members opposite stood by him and supported him while he said it—on more than 50 occasions that there would be no changes to negative gearing. In other instances he said there would be no changes to the tax system. He said it again and again, 'for the 50th time', but then he did it anyway. That's not leadership. It's a con job with a press conference.

What do these toxic taxes actually mean? We're hearing a lot about it, and Australians are starting to question. It means less investment, less housing, less small business confidence, less reward for effort and less aspiration. On this side of the House we all know that when you tax something you get less of it. The coalition's position is clear. We've said time and time again that we'll repeal Labor's toxic taxes. We're not going to trim them, we're not going to re-carve them, we're not going to carve them up or rename them, we're not going to let the Treasurer pick winners and losers from Canberra. We've said it very clearly: we will axe these taxes. We'll axe Labor's taxes on housing, on savings, on investment, on small businesses and on every Australian who's doing what they're trying to do, which is to get ahead. We will back the people who create jobs, build homes, take risks, invest, save and drive this country forward.

And we actually are going to go forward, and further. Under our tax-back guarantee, Australians will get automatic tax cuts every year, indexed to inflation. That is the generational tax reform that this country needs. It's exactly what young people are crying out for. That is leadership, not what we've seen from this government. Bracket creep is a sneaky tax rise. It means that workers pay more tax even when they're no better off. Labor relies on that silent theft, and we in the coalition will stop it. Labor is treating aspiration like a disease. We see aspiration as the engine of Australia, and that's ultimately the choice. Australia does not need tax and tax and tax; it needs a government that gets out of the way.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

It's clear that those opposite are living under a rock—or expecting first home buyers to live under a rock. In case you haven't noticed, we are in the middle of a housing crisis. The job of a government is to act and listen. We have to listen. And, across the world, people are saying they want more from government, and that is exactly what this Albanese Labor government is doing.

If the member for Cook is concerned about Australians getting ahead, he will be pleased to hear what this government is doing. From 1 July, every worker in this country gets a tax cut. Around three million workers across the country will get a pay rise. We are also banning supermarket price gouging so that Australians will get a fair go at the checkout. And we're extending paid parental leave to a full six months, giving families more time with their delightful new baby, and making sure we give real support to make that work. We're also making urgent care clinics a permanent part of Medicare. And we have passed new laws to give first home buyers a fair go.

That is what governing for every Australian looks like—not just for some but for everyone. Meanwhile, the coalition chose not to give workers a tax cut. Those opposite deliberately kept wages lower during their time in government. And let's face it, when it comes to Medicare they would like to use surgeon's scissors and cut it. The member for Cook says the government picks winners and losers in business, choosing which businesses get to grow while others carry the burden. But 2.7 million active small businesses—98 per cent of every active business in this country—are eligible for tax concessions under this government. This is not about picking winners and losers. This is about governing for everyone.

When a small-business owner sells a business that they have spent years building, they should keep more of what they earned. We have lifted the eligibility threshold for the small-business CGT discount from $2 million to $10 million to make sure that they can. We understand that running a small business is not just a financial challenge; it's a deeply personal one. Problems at the shop, the cafe or the office often follow small-business owners home.

The NewAccess for Small Business Owners program is fully funded by this government and is delivered by Beyond Blue. This provides free mental health support to small-business owners. Ninety-two per cent of participants say that their business benefited and 86 per cent of participants felt more productive at work. Programs like these and the Small Business Debt Helpline are funded by the Albanese government to help small-business owners beyond tax concessions. This is what wraparound support looks like. This government does not just support businesses; it supports the people who build them. That goes well beyond the rhetoric of winners and losers.

There are young people in my community who have done everything right. They've studied hard, worked hard and saved. For years they have watched the front door of their own home swinging further out of reach. Perth has joined Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Adelaide in what has been a once-in-a-lifetime property boom.

The median house price in Perth has now crossed over $1 million. In my own electorate, prices have almost doubled in five years. In Belmont, the average house price in 2020 was around $500,000. This was the suburb that was once genuinely affordable for first home buyers. Now that same home costs $950,000. That's nearly doubled the deposit and nearly doubled the time to save. We've also changed the housing deposit schemes so people only need a five per cent deposit. For young people already struggling with rent and cost of living, that finish line was not getting closer. It kept on moving further away.

That is why the Albanese government reformed capital gains tax and reformed negative gearing. A home should be a place where you live, not just an asset that you profit from. The member for Cook disagrees. He claims that the government is making it harder to buy a home—a claim I find to be completely hollow. The Minister for Housing has been clear: these reforms will bring 75,000 rental households into homeownership. Once again, the coalition stands up and says that our tax reforms— (Time expired)

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the motion moved by the member for Cook. Everyday families in my community are sick and tired of being tricked by a government that cannot explain its own laws. Instead of trying to pass a fair budget for all Australians, the Albanese Labor government did a dirty deal with the Greens behind closed doors to scramble votes in the Senate. They thought that they could rush the package through without anyone noticing.

It all unravelled the moment the coalition started digging into the fine print. While checking the wording of the grandfathering clauses, a hidden trap was uncovered. The legislation completely failed to account for what happens when a property changes hands due to death or divorce, creating a brutal tax on grief. Labor got caught out trying to slip through what has rightfully been labelled a 'widow's tax'. It's just another Labor untruth.

Mums and dads were told that their existing assets were safe. They were misled. Buried in the details, it has been revealed that, if someone in a relationship dies or a marriage breaks down, the grandfathering protections are stripped away. The simple act of changing the name on a title deed unleashes a massive tax bill. Think about what that means in reality. If a woman loses her partner, this government's law could unleash a financial penalty during her grief. The moment the property changes to her name alone, her capital gains tax discount vanishes, her negative gearing benefits disappear, and she is hit with a massive tax bill she never planned for.

When the Treasurer was asked multiple times on national television over the weekend how this cruel situation works, he could not explain it. He could not give any single detail on how he would fix it. He simply shrugged and promised he would try to clean up the mess with more legislation later in the year. If the Treasurer cannot explain how his tax law works before it passes, he has no business forcing it onto the Australian public.

The assault on older Australians does not stop there. This budget directly targets self-funded retirees and pensioners by slashing the private health insurance rebate for everyone over the age of 65. For decades, seniors on fixed incomes have sacrificed to pay for private cover so they could choose their own doctor and stay out of the struggling public health system. By reducing the rebate, this government has slapped older Australians with another premium spike. It is another blow for pensioners who don't have the ability to earn additional income in this Labor-created cost-of-living crisis. In typical Labor style, when Labor runs out of their money they come after yours.

Top economists have already warned us about the severe damage this budget package will cause to the economy. Former Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has warned that this aggressive tax agenda is actively destroying the confidence of the business sector. Economist Robert Carling blew the whistle on the budget, stating that changing the GST discount on its own is not tax reform and will only penalise everyday people trying to build independent savings.

Let's look at who this government is choosing to punish. It's not the ISIS brides; it's Jane, who owns a bakery. She wakes up at three every morning, works weekends and has spent 20 years pouring her life into a small business. She's always planned to sell that asset one day to fund her retirement. Under the old rules, she was protected. Under this budget, the government will treat her lifetime of early mornings like a windfall and take a massive bite out of her hard-earned nest egg.

I believe that tax reform works best when people who work hard get a hand up. It does not work when the people who don't want to work get a handout. The coalition believes in lower, simpler and fairer taxes that reward hard work instead of penalising it. Labor needs to throw out these harmful half-baked taxes, abandon its high-tax agenda and return common sense to our laws.

Matt Gregg (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

This motion really asks us to close our eyes, divorce ourselves from reality and just believe whatever tropes they continually repeat as if they're facts. This isn't a Dr Seuss story; this is serious public policy. When we talk about the impact on small business, it's worth reflecting on what the changes actually are. A $20,000 instant asset write-off has been made permanent, which means that when you're buying important goods to run your business you get that write-off right away and not over a period of time. We have a permanent two-year loss carry back for companies with a turnover of up to $1 billion, helping businesses get back to profit during the tough times. We're introducing loss refundability—particularly important for start-ups in their first two years—which essentially means that the taxman isn't winning while new businesses are struggling to have the capital they need to continue and thrive. This is very much focused on encouraging productive investment, supporting those small businesses that are doing the grunt work, trying something new and building it from scratch. We're also progressing a new innovative business CGT discount, providing that 50 per cent CGT discount to early-stage investors, founders, employee shareholders and the like who are involved in innovative startup businesses.

When you're listening to the coalition's rhetoric, you'd almost believe that people have never had it so good. 'The tax system is perfect just the way it is'—that is more divorced from reality than even they would normally be in this chamber. The housing system is broken. The CGT arrangements are a perverse distortion of markets and have operated to the detriment of young people for two generations. It was time to make a change. We were not going to go out and look at the young people and say, 'You've never had it so good.' That was a lie; the system was not working for them. It wasn't working for the vast majority of Australians. So who was the system working for? Almost no-one.

Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Member for Forrest.

Ben Small (Forrest, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Electoral Matters) | Link to this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker, we've had a lot of discussion about using that word in the parliament, and I'd ask the member to withdraw.

Matt Gregg (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm unaware of which term he's referring to, but, to assist the House, I will withdraw.

Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Member for Deakin.

Matt Gregg (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

These changes are very much focused on supporting the small businesses that are supporting growth and productivity in our economy. There is a raft of reforms there to support small business, rather than using alliteration or simply saying, 'Oh, it's too hard to discuss the details, so we'll just come up with a rhyming phrase.' No, this is serious policy work and it requires serious conversations and—heaven forbid!—good faith engagement on the details of policy. Of course, my expectations have been tempered as I've continued to watch the coalition over the past year and a bit, but I think this is far too important to diminish into simple, childish slogans when there is actually a lot of really good stuff in this budget, and small businesses have made that very, very clear. Even those who don't agree with every aspect of the budget—and I accept that reasonable minds can differ—agree there is a lot of good stuff worthy of supporting in this budget, particularly for small business and particularly those startups that are creating jobs, trying new things and innovating. That's where we know that our productive capacity is really going to get that value.

We have not seen the tax system up to this point driving the kinds of productivity we as an economy need. We need to be rethinking the systems that have led to outcomes that we don't think are acceptable. So trying to do things a different way makes eminent sense because, if you're not married to the outcome, why would you marry the formula? It makes no sense. The tax system is changing to incentivise productivity and to also reward hard work. That's how the income tax changes are going to make a huge difference not only to employees but to the 1.5-plus million small businesses who make their income from the work that they do as well. The vast majority of small businesses are effectively workers; they're simply their own bosses. Most of their income comes from the income earned by the business and the wages they pay themselves. It's that day-to-day grunt work and profit that gets them going. It's not the massive windfall they get at the end of the business cycle. In fact, a very large share of businesses don't really make a lot of capital at all at the end of their business life because the person is the business; it is the work, productive engagement and economic activity which really drives the value. That's where the focus is. It's on productive gains and making sure that our economy is set up for future success by boosting productivity rather than focusing on rewarding passive ownership of existing housing, being a non-productive asset, and watching generations of Australians be excluded from the housing market.

I believe in aspiration. I believe that workers should be able to aspire to earn more and keep more of what they earn. I believe that families should be able to aspire to own a home to live in. Those are the things that this budget is focusing on. And so, when we see motions like this that are really just rank partisanship and quite divorced from reality, let's start with a basis of fact. What is in the budget and what is being said? They were referring before to certain taxes they'd made up. (Time expired)

Ben Small (Forrest, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Electoral Matters) | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, as coalition members in this place have reflected on, Labor made it official. By doing their dirty and dishonest deal with the Greens, they passed a budget of broken promises, higher taxes, more migrants and fewer homes. It confirms in the government's own budget papers that they are the highest-taxing government, outside of a pandemic or war, in Australian history. That doesn't come as a galloping shock to those Australians who are, once again, in the Prime Minister's crosshairs, because, as the member for Dawson said, when Labor run out of money, they come after yours. With government spending at a 40-year high, including the pandemic, Labor have run out of money.

But they didn't do it completely alone, of course, because the Labor-Green coalition in this place is still alive and well, notwithstanding the fact that the Prime Minister stated on many occasions in recent times, 'I don't negotiate with the Greens.' In fact, in his own words, it's some 385 times he's had to say that, and yet it was waved through. Even with the open admission that there was a widow tax in the budget, it was rammed through the Senate last week with the help of the Greens. It just seems like another porky on the pile. So perhaps, as the member for Cook in moving this motion has suggested, the Prime Minister and his 60-odd personal staff could engage in some truth-telling training or some memory exercises. It would certainly be a better use of taxpayer money than the $20-odd million they spent on telling people to remove their roof racks, pump up their tyres and empty the back of their utes.

In stark contrast, since the Albanese government came to power, taxpayers have on average lost about $2,000 annually due to bracket creep. The Liberal and National parties have promised an alternative plan. We have promised that, every year, every taxpayer will automatically get a tax cut to reflect the erosion of their pay due to inflation. Of course, inflation is high and getting higher under this government. When the Treasurer said that he'd beaten inflation, it had a three in front of it. Today, inflation has a four in front of it, as does the cash rate. 'Not to worry,' says the Treasurer, 'In a few weeks you'll get over it.' I hate to be the bearer of bad news to the Treasurer of Australia, but the people in my community won't simply 'get over it', because they are poorer today than the day this government came to power.

Even the RBA governor has admitted that public spending is too high—beyond what anyone would consider to be appropriate—when they've considered the economic success of Australia over the last 30 or 40 years, which has been experienced because fiscal and monetary policy have worked together to manage our economic conditions. Instead, we see toxic taxes being used as a tax grab for a government addicted to spending. My office receives correspondence endlessly from individuals and small businesses, both directly impacted by these toxic taxes. That's why we've promised our tax-back guarantee: because we want to see an Australia where Australians strive, they have reward for effort and they keep more of what they're earning. That is when Australia is at its best. That is when the aspiration and ambition that's driven this country for decades is at its best.

Today, though, we find ourselves with the highest number of public servants per capita in the developed world. We've seen even more bureaucrats imposing more red tape on more industries, and that's causing record small-business insolvencies and certainly doing nothing to tackle the continued cost-of-living crisis. It doesn't sound like an Australia that's at its best to me. It's certainly not in my community. That's why we want to see tax cuts for every Australian, every year, automatically—a handbrake on the growth of government over time, which allows Australians to keep more of what they earn and forces a government that's addicted to spending, like this one, to look Australians in the eye when they take more money off them. That's our tax-back guarantee, and it stands in stark contrast to what we're seeing from this government.

Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I note that the member for Cook calls on the government to deliver genuine tax relief that supports aspiration, enterprise and economic growth. and I congratulate him for summarising Labor's tax reform so very well. When we look at these tax reforms, the key word is 'reform'; it's to make an improvement to a system. The tax system wasn't working for too many Australians. If, like the opposition, you reckon that our housing and tax system is fine, if you reckon that everything is hunky dory, if you want to back in the status quo, quite frankly, it means that you haven't spoken to a young person.

Young people, we know, are struggling when it comes to getting into their very first home. If you think everything's fine, it means you haven't spoken to a parent worried that their children simply won't get the same opportunities they had when it comes to housing. If you think everything is fine, quite frankly, I think it means that you haven't spoken to anyone in your electorate, because this is what comes up, again and again and again. The member for Forrest has tried to use alliteration as a veil today, but alliteration will not save you from the fact that the coalition had the highest-taxing government in this nation's history, and alliteration won't save you from the fact that, on a tax-to-GDP ratio, it's got two of the very highest taxing governments in this country.

On Wednesday, over 14 million Australians will get another tax cut. Labor's combined tax cuts mean that a worker on average wages will pay up to $2,800 less than what we inherited.

These are real changes. We know that thousands and thousands of people will be able to get into their very first home because of this legislation. We know that every tax Australian will get a tax cut because of these changes, and we know that, when a coalition imposed 50 per cent CGT discount, ripped the market apart, distorted it, saw an insatiable investment in property and a major fall in investment in shares, something needed to be done about that, and this is what this legislation does. Not only that, it also goes to investing in our small businesses and to supporting them.

The 2.7 million small businesses in Australia are central to our economy. They're the biggest employer across the breadth and depth of this nation, and we're backing them with $3.5 billion of tax relief. We're expanding CGT concessions, increasing the turnover threshold for the existing small-business 50 per cent active asset CGT reduction. We're introducing and making permanent that 20 per cent instant asset write-off so businesses can invest with more confidence. There is $890 million in cash-flow support for over five years to cut compliance costs by around $32 million a year and a permanent two-year loss carry-back for companies with a turnover of up to $1 billion, all from Wednesday 1 July. There is loss refundability to help those start-ups who are trying to get off their feet in the first two years, tax incentives for venture capital to attract more investment and $1.5 million for sole traders to benefit from our $250 tax offset and innovative business CGT concessions. The list goes on.

Again, this is a budget and this is legislation that the coalition voted against. When they voted against it, they voted against those benefits for small business. When they voted against it, they voted against first home buyers trying to get into their first home to open the door to their life. When they voted against it, they voted against that tax cut for everyday Australians. Labor inherited $1 trillion of debt, bigger deficits and stagnant wage growth from the coalition, and, in every budget since, we've found those savings. This budget is our most responsible yet, because we know that Australians are doing it tough, and the savings that we've found mean that we can deliver real cost-of-living relief. It delivers lower deficits and less debt in every year, and I'm very proud of it.

Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.