Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I voted for the stage 3 tax cuts in exchange for getting Tassie's housing debt wiped, I said that if the economy was not travelling well in 2024 we would have to reconsider them; we would have to show some courage. Thanks to the Reserve Bank's 13th rate hike yesterday, it's pretty clear that the economy is tanking. Australians will have to find another hundred bucks a month to cover their mortgages. By the way, rate hikes are great for the people who've got a lot of cash. They make money. Meanwhile, low-income Australians are struggling to pay their mortgages, struggling to pay their rent, struggling to pay off their student fees and struggling to put bread and milk on the table. Even worse, they are going without meals and medications. That is the reality.

The Labor Party voted against the stage 3 tax cuts, and they turned into scaredy-cats. They ran a small-target 2022 election campaign and promised not to touch the stage 3 tax cuts. They love ScoMo's tax cuts—absolutely, or they would have got rid of them. Here's what the Treasurer could do. He and the Labor Party could do something about that now. He could take the stage 3 tax cuts off people who are earning over 200,000 bucks a year—that's right, off people like me and every single one of you in here today. He could take that tax relief and pay it forward to Australians on low and middle incomes, because that won't drive up inflation. That will help them pay their rent, pay their mortgages, pay off their student loans and feed their kids.

If there is money left over, you can put it into our public health system. Have you seen it lately? Have a good look at it! It's shocking. And that's not to mention our public education. You could be fixing up our TAFEs. Do you know what, Treasurer? Let's see what you've really got. Let's see what sort of spine you actually have and what you're going to do about the poor out there, because, quite frankly, these taxes are a stretch.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Dean Smith has the call.

Honourable senators interjecting—

Order! Senator Lambie, order! Senator Dean Smith has the call. Reset the clock, please.