Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Wong. How many times before last year's elections did the Prime Minister promise the Australian people that he would not make changes to negative gearing?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There has been a change in policy. The government is upfront about that, and the Prime Minister has been upfront about that. Why have we changed our position? We have changed our view because we look to what is occurring in this country and the intergenerational inequity that is becoming entrenched, and so—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash, on a point of order

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is on direct relevance. The government have broken a promise. I'm interested in knowing how many times before the election the Prime Minister said he wouldn't make changes.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash, I will entertain your points of order, but they are to be made without statements. The minister is being directly relevant. She has only just started her response, and I will continue to listen carefully. If the minister isn't being directly relevant, I will remind her of your question.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have heard the question, and I have acknowledged upfront that this is a change in policy. We are upfront about that. This is a change of policy, and we are upfront about it. But what the senator doesn't want to discuss is the why—because they have no substance, because they are not able to articulate a clear tax policy—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash, on a point of order?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With all due respect, it's on direct relevance. This is a question I posed in relation to something that happened prior to the election. For example, 97 times you said 275—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash, you are making a statement again. The minister is being relevant, and I will continue to listen.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I again say we are upfront about the fact that we have changed the policy position.

Senator, I know that what you want to do is have a process argument, an argument about that, because you cannot actually engage with the policy. You are incapable of engaging with the policy, and you are incapable as an opposition—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash, on a point of order?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm going to keep trying—direct relevance. The leader of the government is refusing to engage in the question. How many times!

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Cash. The minister is being relevant to your question, and I will continue to listen carefully—and I'd ask for silence so that I can hear the minister.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash, you're entitled to ask me a question; you are not entitled to determine how I answer. I have been very clear that we have changed our policy position, and we are upfront about that.

We have done it because of what the budget papers tell us and what young people tell us, which is that that Australian aspiration—that Australian dream—of homeownership is slipping away from generations of Australians, and we do not wish to stand for it. That is, fundamentally, the issue. You will hear from this opposition, with all the drama that Senator Cash can muster, a lot of discussion about that. What you will not hear is what they are going to do to ensure young Australians can own their own home.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash, first supplementary?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How many times did the Prime Minister, prior to the last election, promise the Australian people that he would not make any changes to capital gains tax?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I give the same answer. We did go to the last election with a policy position that we have changed, and we are upfront about that—and we are accountable to the Australian people for that. What we say to the Australian people is we have done this because what we can see—despite all the work that we are doing on housing supply—is that, absent changes that the Treasurer announced last night, young Australians will continue to be locked out of the housing market. They will not be able to build the sort of security that their parents and their grandparents did, and we want them to be able to. That is the difference between this side of parliament and that side. The status quo is not working for young Australians, and you only need to look at the budget paper to look at the extent to which intergenerational inequity is worsening. Well, that is not the thing that we want for this country, and that is why we have put this budget forward.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash, second supplementary?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How many times did the Prime Minister, prior to the last election, tell the Australian people that he would not increase taxes on family trusts?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Again, what I would say to Senator Cash is, if you look at what the Treasurer spoke about last night, the growth in trusts has been remarkable, and 82 per cent, I think it is—over 80 per cent of trusts—have no underlying business operations. Now, we have been clear about excluding various categories of trusts, including farming trusts and testamentary trusts, but, fundamentally, if you have a tax vehicle where 82 per cent of trusts actually have no underlying business, what that says is, 'Well, perhaps we should actually think about how we provide equitable tax arrangements for those tax arrangements,' and we have done that. Fundamentally, what this budget does is say we will try and make the taxation of assets more equivalent to the tax that nurses and tradies and plumbers and construction workers and— (Time expired)