Leah Blyth (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence Infrastructure) | Hansard source

I foreshadow, on behalf of Senator Liddle, the second reading amendment in her name on behalf of the coalition.

No-one voted for these new taxes. The Prime Minister promised, in his own words, more than 50 times before the last election that he would not introduce them, and, in a complete act of bad faith and disregard for all Australians, he's turned around and broken every single one of those commitments. Think about that. He said this 50 times to the media and to the Australian people. He said his word is his bond, and he has broken that more than 50 times, equally.

These new taxes are designed to manage the decline of the Australian economy. None of these tax hikes will grow the Australian economy, at a time when we desperately need it. Australia has always been a very lucky country. When I look back just 20 years ago, Australia had zero debt. When I was younger and looking to purchase my first home, the country that I lived in did not have any debt. For my daughter, who today is looking to purchase her first home, the country that she lives in has over $1 trillion worth of debt. You would think that any responsible government would look to reduce spending at a time like this. But, no, this Labor government isn't going to cut spending. Instead, what it's going to do is increase the tax on every single hardworking Australian.

I think it's important to note the government has zero dollars of its own. The only money that government has is the money that it collects from hardworking Australians. Every single dollar that the government spends is a dollar that it has taken from an Australian who has had to earn it, and that inequity is so clear in this budget.

Labor can't manage to live within its own means. Instead of cutting spending, like you would have to do in a household budget or you would have to do in your own business, Labor is going to tax the Australian people even more. We have a death tax, a tax on family savings, a tax on renters. We've got a tax on first home buyers when young Australians are just trying to get ahead. For young people, the dream of owning a home in Australia is getting further and further out of reach. We have a tax on small businesses. We've got a tax on startups and entrepreneurs, and let's remember that businesses and startups are the engine room of the Australian economy.

This is a budget of broken promises, a budget that is going to break the back of Australians and break the Australian dream. It is an assault on aspiration. It is pulling up the ladder of opportunity from all young Australians before they have even had a chance to climb that ladder. This is a budget that is going to make sure that no young Australian is ever going to want to go out and start their own business. No young Australian is ever going to aspire to take a risk, to back themselves and start something great. As we've seen on social media, their new not-so-silent partner is Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister, and his Labor government. They are looking to take that hard earned sweat capital from small businesses before they have even made any gains.

This budget is not just a bad faith budget that does nothing to improve intergenerational inequality; it is going to make the problem even worse. All of the rules that existed for people my age and above are now out the window. Everything we were able to use to create wealth and opportunity here in Australia has been pulled out from under the next generation of young Australians looking to forge their way in the world. This budget is unravelling faster than anything I think we've seen before. Every week is symbolising another broken promise from this Labor government. There are secret taxes and tax hikes littered everywhere in this budget.

Let's be honest, we've got inflation running out of control here in Australia. Inflation means that real wages don't grow. We've seen productivity grind to a standstill, and this budget is going to do absolutely nothing to improve the state of our economy here in Australia. That breaks my heart because I love Australia. I love that this has always been a place where you could pursue your dreams and where opportunities abound. If you worked hard and you saved, you could get ahead. But what this government is proving is that none of those rules apply anymore. This government cannot live within its means, and Australia is now hurtling towards $1.25 trillion in debt, so this Labor government needs to tax hardworking Australians even more.

I think about that and I think about some of the global shocks that have come Australia's way over recent decades. We haven't had significant debt here in Australia, so we have weathered the storm of global shocks very, very well. What I fear is that this budget is not setting us up to weather the next global shock. What this means is, when there is another crisis, Australia will have no money, just an incredible national debt, and that will put us at risk. That is going to make it very difficult here in Australia. It is going to make it very difficult for us to attract international investment. It's going to make it very difficult for us to keep Australian businesses here in Australia. Honestly, why would you keep your capital in Australia if the government is just going to take your hard earned money?

The coalition opposes schedules 1 and 2, but we do support schedules 3 and 4. We are going to fight these taxes tooth and nail, and, if they become law under this Labor government—and we've seen today that Labor are going to do dodgy deals with the Greens—then a coalition government will repeal them. We have a vision for Australians. We want to unlock the potential of all Australians. We want to see Australians flourish and thrive here. We want to see investment. We want to see young Australians going out there and starting their own business. We want to see them keep the earnings from that business and that sweat capital that they pour into it. We want to see young Australians owning their own homes. We want to see them able to build their wealth here. I'm not sure when it happened, but when did working hard and creating wealth for yourself become such a bad thing? When did we become a country that wanted to look at wealth redistribution rather than allowing people to work hard and keep more of what they are earning?

Our plan is the complete opposite to Labor's. We want to see lower taxes, lower inflation and an economy that is designed to back self-starters of the nation. We don't want to kneecap them. We want to see them pulling Australia forward. If businesses are willing to do the work and individuals work and they take all of the capital risk, then they should be able to get ahead, but that's not how Labor sees this budget, and that is certainly not the economic environment that Labor is creating. I look at housing and I look at the broken promises from this Labor government—higher taxes, lower living standards and fewer homes. The government's own budget papers say there will be 35,000 fewer homes built as a consequence of the new taxes that they are introducing. We've got a housing crisis here in Australia, and, rather than putting in things that will allow the economy to build more homes and allow private enterprise to thrive, what we're going to actually see is the direct opposite. These proposed tax changes by Labor will actually mean that 35,000 fewer homes will be built. Those are 35,000 young Australian families that are going to miss the opportunity to get into their first home.

If you tax something—and this is a pretty fundamental principle—you will end up with less of it. That is basic economics. The more that we are going to tax housing and the more that we are going to tax housing investment, the less housing investment we will get and the fewer houses we will get. This Labor government is quite happy that young Australians here are going to pay the price for that decision. Their budget is built on a narrative around intergenerational fairness, but it's going to strip away any kind of fairness for young Australians here. It is going to pit young against old. Any settings for our economy should allow all Australians to be able to thrive. We shouldn't be punishing older Australians for saving and investing in their super, we shouldn't be moving the goalposts, and we shouldn't be changing the rules after they've done everything they were told to do. They're being punished instead of rewarded for doing the right thing. That is not how a government should operate.

Now Labor's taxes will act like a wrecking ball. We have seen auction clearance rates and volumes down substantially in the housing market. We are going to see fewer and fewer Australians achieving their dream of owning a home. Let's not forget those who are still struggling to save a deposit to even get into that housing market. As inflation has been running out of control, inflation has been outstripping what young Australians and families have been able to save. We see the age of first home buyers continually going up, because you need to work longer and you need to work harder to be able to save for that house deposit.

We've got to also think about what these reforms will mean for renters in Australia, and they will mean higher rents. This is a government who is going to capitalise and cash in on all of this. Let's remember, as they're pulling all of this tax out of the economy from hardworking Australians, ultimately, it's the government that will benefit from this. What are they going to spend your money on? I certainly know that any individual is going to spend a dollar far more responsibly than any government ever will. We've got layers of bureaucracy. We've got layers of red tape, and this government is going to make it harder and harder for first home buyers and for renters. That's not even to go into small businesses, which are the engine room of our economy.

There is going to now be a 47 per cent stake claim in any small business. That's a pretty awful silent partner to have when government is going to come in and take nearly 50 per cent of everything. You as a small business have put in the sweat capital. You've taken the risk. You've done the hard work, and government is going to come in and take nearly 50 per cent of it. That's not fair, and that certainly doesn't allow for any kind of aspirational achievement for these businesses. We know that, if businesses can keep more of what they're earning, they're going to reinvest, they're going to employ people and they are going to help keep Australia moving. But, under this government, we will see exactly the opposite. This is an absolute assault on small businesses right across the country, and it is devastating to see businesses that are struggling already with the cost of living, with their electricity prices and with everything else that they are facing. Now, they have a budget that is out to take 50 per cent of everything that they have. That's not fair. It's certainly not going to encourage self-starters to come along, and, certainly, we're hearing that there are a lot of businesses who are looking to move their operations offshore, where they can keep more of what they earn and reinvest in their own aspirations and invest their capital back into their business.

What we see here is an absolutely disastrous budget. It's not good for young people. It's not good for old people. It's not good for businesses. It's not good for anyone except for the unions and except for Labor. That is not in the national interest, and Labor should be ashamed of their budget.