Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

After legislation passing this Senate unanimously—and after a protracted period of whingeing and confusion—1 July is now the date on which every Australian will receive a tax cut. Every Australian receiving a tax cut on 1 July is going to make a very big difference. Labor's tax cuts, in fact, will mean that all 13.6 million taxpayers will get to earn more and keep more of what they earn because of the leadership of this Albanese Labor government. That matters, because what the Albanese government has advanced and managed to wrangle through this very contentious Senate is an improvement in life—every time their pay comes home—for 2.9 million Australians who are not getting anything like what they were going to get under the previous plan designed by the Liberal and National parties.

This support for every working Australian, who gets to earn more and keep more of what they earn, is vital for many Australians who are really doing it tough right now. The Albanese government knows this. We understand that change of itself won't be sufficient, but the combination of this change plus other significant changes we've brought in—a host of other policies and initiatives—will make a real difference. I note the contribution of Senator Marielle Smith from South Australia, who was just talking about the paid parental leave support that's going to change lives for Australians, and for women in particular, of whom there are so many on the Labor side. Our policies and plans have women at the heart and centre of them, and women are going to benefit significantly from the change in 13.6 million Australians' pay packets that will become real on 1 July this year.

In the great electorate of the Riverina, 87 per cent of taxpayers will be getting back more of what they earn than they would have under the previous plan—an average cut of $1,425 a year. I know that 16 per cent of the workers in the electorate of Riverina are in the healthcare sector and the social assistance sector. That means that, for example, a nurse in Cowra earning $76,000 a year will receive a tax cut of $1,579.

Like that nurse in Cowra, right across Australia there are 13.6 million Australians who are working very hard and paying their tax. They are Australians who don't do income splitting, who haven't got fancy tax schemes so as to skirt around their obligations. They get their salary and, every time they get it, money is taken out to contribute to the wellbeing and benefit of the nation. They pay their tax. They show up, they do their job with effort and integrity, they make small businesses successful, and they expect everybody else to shoulder their fair share of the burden as well. These are the salt of the earth Australians who deserve, who need right now, the extra cost-of-living relief that an Albanese Labor government is delivering, which will be real and present in people's lives as of 1 July this year.

A bit further down the road from Canberra, as you head towards the west and the south, is the lush seat of Farrer. There, 76,000 taxpayers are receiving a tax cut, for an average tax cut of $1,359. Ten per cent of workers in Farrer work in the retail trade sector. That means that part-time retail workers in Albury earning $32,000 will receive a tax cut of $414 a year, and I know that is going to make a real difference in their lives and the lives of their families. Might I add that their local member, Sussan Ley, the member for Farrer, has been against these tax cuts that you're going to get on 1 July. She's been against them from the very beginning. She's promised to roll back the tax cuts that you're going to get. She's promised to roll them back to take your earnings and your return and reduce that, which will impact very negatively on working Australians. She's promised to make laws allowing employers to contact their workers up to 11 o'clock at night, perhaps even past that.

Now, I'm not usually in the business of giving the Liberal Party and the National Party free advice—critique, yes, but advice, no. But going to an election threatening to tax people higher and allowing people's bosses to call them at midnight is not really an election-winning strategy, in my view. Frankly, it's absurd; it's certainly antiworker, and it's anti Middle Australia. Labor will always be the party of the working class and those who aspire to a great life in this country, and we're always going to help people when they need it. We have all Australians' best interests at heart.

In sunny Hume, 86 per cent of taxpayers will receive a bigger cut than before. A truckie living in Goulburn who drives from Sydney to Canberra, hopefully a union member, earning $77,000 a year will get a tax cut of $1,679. That truckie was an essential worker during the pandemic, making sure all the grocery stores were stocked and farmers were able to get their produce out. Truckies ensured that we had access to medicine, food and clothing when we needed it most, and the least we could do is to make sure the tax cuts that the Albanese Labor government will deliver will work for such hardworking frontline workers.

In beautifully green and blue Lyne, which hugs the coast—great beaches, lots of koalas—nine per cent of the workforce are in the education sector. A primary school teacher in Forster, who might take their students to the new library that I opened last year, will get a tax cut of $1,679. Now, that is a big deal, and it will go a long way to helping those individuals and will help the community in which they will spend those dollars. More money will hopefully mean more money spent to improve things in the local shops, such as the shops in Dungog or the florist in Taree, or the beautiful new pub in Kew—a shout-out to the pub; I know how important that new renovated pub is to that local community, and thank you for your hospitality. Tax cuts mean a lot more than just a benefit to the individuals who receive them. The economic reality is that these dollars will move into local economies and support small businesses that provide goods and services there.

In the vast seat of Parkes, where 62,000 people are going to receive a tax cut, 86 per cent of those people are going to receive a bigger tax cut than before, with an average cut of $1,465. That's going to make a big difference. A plumber in Broken Hill who's earning $70,000 will receive a tax cut of $1,429. That's more money in that plumber's pocket to spend on their family, at the local RSL or at one of the beautiful pubs down that main street of Broken Hill. Or it could be a new pair of shoes for the new year. It could be a membership in one of the local brilliant sporting organisations. It's a good thing for the people of Broken Hill that, in response to their reality, Labor has brought forward a package where, if you work and pay taxes, you will earn more and keep more of what you earn.

In Calare, 60,000 taxpayers are going to be getting a bigger tax cut than they would have under the Liberal and National parties—an average cut of $1,532. In Bathurst, a New South Wales police officer on $110,000 will get a return of an additional $2,429. These tax cuts are a response to Australia and a great response so you earn more and keep more of what you earn.