Jessica Collins (NSW, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I refuse to give up on Australia. And I refuse to abandon the Australian people to the Labor Party and their obsession with taxes and desire for control. Your family deserves better than what this socialist Labor government is selling. Let me be clear, and this is a really important point, never before in Australian history has a government presided over such a significant decline in living standards—never before. And Australians are becoming poorer. You feel it; you're becoming poorer. Australians have been in a per capita recession for 10 of the last 15 quarters—10 out of 15. Never before have we seen such a sustained decline. That is the legacy of this Albanese government.

In contrast, the coalition oversaw the highest increases in living standards across the last half a century. Records show that when Liberals and Nationals are in government, families and households thrive, the economy grows and living standards rise. That was not a fluke. That was not by chance. That's because a Liberal government gets it right when it needs to and then gets out of the way. When that happens, the greatest nation does what Australians do best and the greatest things happen. That's what happens when the Australian people put their trust in the Liberal Party.

Economic management goes to the core of our being. That is the standard that Menzies set, which continues to this day—lower taxes, smaller government, more freedom. I refuse to go quietly against the poorly managed decline we have seen from Labor for four long years now. I refuse to let them say that this is as good as it gets. Australia's best days are ahead and no other party has a better history of delivering the best for Australians than the coalition.

Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Happy 1 July, a very important day, and never has the choice been clearer for the Australian people than it is today. Labor is cutting taxes for every Australian taxpayer from today. We're helping workers earn more and keep more of what they earn—backing higher wages, making medicines cheaper, building a stronger Medicare and giving more help to first home buyers.

But what's the offering from the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation? Well, it's pretty clear. The Liberal Party went to the last election with a plan for higher taxes. They said to working Australians, 'If we win government, you will pay more.' The Australian people gave them their answer; they rejected it. They continue to reject it. But today every single taxpayer receives a tax cut thanks to Labor—and it's another tax cut because we've delivered a number of tax cuts in previous years as well. It means more money in Australians pockets, more help for people trying to save for the future and to get by. This is, of course, happening alongside a pay rise for three million workers on minimum and award wages. Together, lower taxes and higher wages mean real cost-of-living relief for Australians. That is what Labor is delivering.

What does the Liberal Party think of that? Well, Senator Hume told us earlier in the week when she called our tax cuts 'egregious'—not once, but twice.

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations) | Link to this | Hansard source

Tax hikes!

Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

She said our tax cuts—I've seen the transcript—were egregious not once but twice.

Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) | Link to this | Hansard source

What a lie!

Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

It's not a lie; go and read the transcript! But Labor says it is not egregious; it is practical cost-of-living relief that we are delivering for Australian taxpayers. What's really clear is the Australian people are not buying what the Liberal Party are selling them.