QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Dr CHALMERS (Rankin—Treasurer) (14:10): I thank the member for Moreton for her question and also for the opportunity to share with her the responsibility of representing the great people of the southern suburbs of Brisbane, on her side of Compton Road and my side of Compton Road. I appreciate the question. The legislation we introduced today was part of the most ambitious tax reforms that we've seen in this place for a quarter of a century.
That legislation is about three things. It's about cutting taxes for workers, it's about making it easier to buy a first home and it's about better aligning the tax treatment of labour and assets. Anybody who votes against this legislation is voting for higher taxes on workers and for a broken status quo in the housing market.
Those opposite have done this before, and they look like making the same mistake again. They don't understand that aspiration and opportunity are not things that you learn about from focus groups, and they can't be things that our kids read about in history books either. If we accept that generations of Australians are at risk of being disregarded and disconnected from our economy and our society, then we have a responsibility to act on that.
When the country wants things to change, they are clinging to a busted status quo which locks too many Australians out of housing and out of our economy more broadly. It would be easier but it would be wrong to leave things exactly as they are. Governing is about seeing problems in our economy and our society and taking decisive and difficult steps to address those challenges, as we are doing on this side of the House, not leaving them for somebody else to fix.
Generation after generation would pay a heftier price for that cowardice. Economic reform is always accompanied by dishonest scare campaigns, but those dishonest scare campaigns will not deter us. This legislation is all about cutting taxes for workers, and those opposite don't want us to do that.
It's about making it easier to buy a first home, and those opposite do not want to see that happen. It's about better aligning the tax treatment of labour and assets. Opposition members interjecting— Dr CHALMERS: I hear them chirping away about going to an early election.
I don't think they want an election right now. We've heard a bit of chat in recent days about the formation of a new minor party in our politics in this country. The most efficient way to create a minor party in Australia is to put the member for Hume in charge of a major one, and that's why they are so stroppy this week.
The fair go must be a defining characteristic of our future, not just the defining characteristic of our past, and that's what our legislation is all about. The SPEAKER: Before I call the Leader of the Opposition, I understand that the members for Bowman, McPherson, Grey and Groom have signs that they have prepared to hold up—l-i-e-s. They're not permitted to do that, under the standing orders, so I'm going to ask them not to do that.
There are props; they're not allowed in this House. For the dignity of this House, I will not have signs held up like that. I'm giving you fair warning that we are not having the Parliament of Australia degenerate into that.
Mr Katter interjecting— The SPEAKER: You're on thin ice, too, Member for Kennedy, for wearing that Blues scarf! Trust me.