STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator WALKER (South Australia) (13:43): I wanted to speak today to congratulate the coalition on their anniversary. Today marks one year since the Leader of the Opposition, Angus Taylor, decided that everyday Australians should pay higher taxes. One year ago, Angus Taylor went on national TV and called tax cuts for working Australians a 'cruel hoax' and said that Labor increasing your take-home pay was fake news.

Well, it didn't age well. Labor delivered those tax cuts for working Australians and increased workers' take-home pay. Angus Taylor wasn't misquoted or taken out of context.

He didn't slip up; he said it with his full chest. Then, just to really commit to the bit, he doubled down on radio shortly afterwards and said the opposition would repeal the tax cuts if elected—not tweak them, not improve them, just scrap them fully. So, when Australians were getting cost-of-living relief, his big idea was to reverse it.

Genius insight—some real smooth-brain economics happening at Liberal HQ, I see. Now, we're meant to believe that he's fighting for households doing it tough—sure! You can reshuffle the frontbench every fortnight, give it a new coat of paint and rebrand it—not that they're having much success at that—but you can't rebrand a voting record, and this one is flashing like a neon sign, saying, 'Higher taxes for everyday Australians.' Listen, we love a bold strategy.

In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis when people were trying to afford groceries, rent and literally just existing, the opposition's pitch was, 'What if we made that harder?' Very chill. Unfortunately for Angus, people tend to remember this stuff because it isn't abstract. It's your payslip, whether you've got that extra bit of cash at end of the week or not.

So yeah, one year on, this is your reminder that when it came to putting money back in your pockets, Angus didn't just hesitate. He actively tried to wipe it out. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Walker, I would just remind you that we do need to refer to members of the place by their correct names.