Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Deputy President, I also congratulate you on your election to the role. I always appreciate the opportunity to stand and talk about the economy and the changes that we've already delivered for every single Australian that mean that Australians today are keeping more of what they earn. We cut the taxes of every single Australian taxpayer. What did those on the other side do? The coalition opposed cutting the taxes of every single Australian. They opposed Labor's bigger tax cuts for 11½ million Australians, including for those people earning less than $45,000, who would have got absolutely nothing if Peter Dutton had got his way. It's an absolute shame on them.

I thought it might be useful to reflect on the contribution of coalition MPs when it comes to Labor's tax cuts for all Australians. Here is just a bit of a serving of the words that we heard about the tax cuts. Coalition MPs said that tax cuts for all Australians were 'an egregious error', 'a betrayal', 'treachery', 'trickery', 'absolutely shameful', 'class warfare', 'a war on aspiration', 'a war on hardworking Australians', 'a lifetime tax on aspiration', 'divisive', 'regressive', 'morally bankrupt', 'bad policy', 'a handful of dollars', 'small fry', 'a big tax grab', 'inflationary', and 'Marxist economics which will crush confidence, obliterate opportunity and undermine the strength of your economy'. I'm keen to hear from everyday Australians about the extra money they've now got in their pay packet and whether they associate those words with keeping more of what they earn. I don't think that they will.

We know that the coalition want to jack up income taxes for every single taxpayer—why else would they oppose our tax cuts? That is their plan for you. They want you to pay more tax. On our side, we are cutting taxes for every single Australian taxpayer. Our tax policies haven't changed on this side. Our focus when it comes to tax is delivering tax cuts for every taxpayer, improving tax compliance, ensuring multinationals pay a fairer share of tax, changes to high-balance super, changes to the PRRT, and incentives to support small business and encourage investment in areas like housing and clean energy. We are absolutely putting more money back in the pockets of everyday Australians like you. We know that people are feeling it. They are feeling it in the grocery aisle, at the petrol station and when their bills come in. And we know that it's real help that makes a difference.

I want to take a moment, with the brief time that I've got left, to talk about our new cost-of-living measures that were introduced on 1 July and what they actually mean for people. These changes aren't abstract. They're not numbers on a spreadsheet; they are real. They benefit all Australians. From 1 July, more than three million workers got a pay rise—finally above inflation. For so many families, that extra bit in their pay packet makes a real difference. It's about $1,670 a year for full-time workers on the minimum wage. That's groceries, uniforms and one less thing to worry about. It means parents working night shifts or young people starting out are seeing more in their bank accounts, and that is a good thing. They're not just getting by; they're starting to get ahead. These Australians are now getting more in their pay and are paying a bit less on their bills. It's funny what happens when you have a government that actually cares about what is happening for Australians. On top of that, as the icing on the cake, we've knocked $150 off your energy bills.