Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026, Income Tax Rates Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026

Mr VIOLI (Casey) (16:52): There's a lot to talk about in this bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026, and the related bill. I'll go through why and how this bill is actually not going to help young people get into housing, the failures in the bill and also the plans that the coalition are putting forward. But let's be very clear to start with.

This legislation is built on broken promises. The Prime Minister, the Treasurer and every member opposite promised their communities repeatedly that they would not change capital gains tax and they would not change negative gearing. They've all broken faith with their communities.

It means that, going forward, it doesn't matter what they say. It's irrelevant, because no-one can trust any word that comes out of the mouth of any government minister or any backbencher. And that's the reality that they have to live with.

It's interesting that they've decided, at a time where there is distrust in the political system, that the best way to earn trust is to break trust. But that, again, is a decision that they will all have to live with because the reality is these changes aren't actually about making housing easier. They are not about intergenerational equity or fairness.

As I said, they will actually make the situation worse for young people. The Treasury secretary, Jenny Wilkinson, let the cat out of the bag by accident, I assume, last week when she said, 'Revenue needs to be raised from somewhere.' And that is the reality of this broken promise by this government. It's about raising more revenue for their spending program.

This government is taking $77 billion in increased revenue—that's taxes. That's more taxes on the Australian people—on mums and dads, on single parents, on families, on small-business owners, on community members doing their best, on 19- and 20-year-olds trying to get ahead. More taxes are coming for you under this government.

But, as a coalition, we want you to keep more of your money when you work hard and you get a pay increase or you work overtime. As you get paid more, you have to pay more tax through bracket creep. But the coalition has committed to indexing the tax rate to make sure that bracket creep does not happen.

So every time you get a pay rise you will automatically get a tax cut. There have been lots of questions and lots of talk about tests this week. Well, there's a test coming for those opposite, because an amendment to this legislation will put that tax-back guarantee to the vote this week, and every member opposite will have a choice.

They talk about supporting workers. Well, if you want to support workers, you sustainably and systematically support them by indexing the tax brackets. Will they vote for lower taxes, or will they vote for higher taxes?

We're about to find out from this government. That will make tangible differences, every time you get a pay rise—not waiting 12 months, begging the Treasurer, 'Please, Sir, I want some more; please give me a tax cut.' You'll get it no matter what. And it will force governments to be honest.

It will force governments to either spend responsibly or, if they want to increase taxes, go to the Australian people and explain to them why they are increasing their taxes. No more smoke and mirrors from this government. In addition, we'll have a future generations fund, which will make sure that, again, governments are held accountable and are honest.

The trick this Treasurer likes to play when it comes to revenue is to set a price for commodities—and yes, rightly, it should be conservative—and then, when the price comes in higher and they collect more revenue, this Treasurer spends it all on his vanity projects, not in the best interests of the Australian people. The coalition has said that, with our future generations fund, if there is an increase in the tax take because of commodity prices, 80 per cent, as a minimum, will be locked away to pay off debt to support the future generations of this country and to invest in nation-building infrastructure that will actually drive productivity and economic growth in this country.

And of that investment in infrastructure, 25 per cent will go to the regions, because they represent 25 per cent of our country. They deserve their fair share. They also deliver so many benefits.

They feed our country. They are a huge exporter in this country. So it's right that regional Australians get looked after.

That also will instil discipline in governments. They will not be able to just spend those revenue upgrades that they had nothing to do with. This Treasurer's books have looked better only because of bracket creep and commodity prices that he's had nothing to do with.

And he's wasted it all. This will put fiscal discipline back into the budget. But we will also make sure that we tie migration to housing, because housing is about supply and demand.

The worst part about this legislation—and the member for Blair, who has now left the chamber, talked about the budget papers—is that the budget papers confirm that these tax changes will deliver 35,000 fewer houses for the Australian people. The government's own papers confirm that their changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax will deliver fewer houses for the Australian people.

Yet we have the Prime Minister and the Treasurer, the housing minister and the member for Blair saying—and those following will say the same thing—that it's all about supply. Well, these changes will make it worse. We saw this week the RBA confirm, through a paper found through FOI that the government wanted hidden, that migration is a key part of housing prices.

It also showed that in the first four years of this government they have failed the Australian people when it comes to housing. It's what we already know. It's what every Australian already knows.

The question for the Minister for Housing is, what's next? The minister was shuffled out of Home Affairs because the minister failed, and is now in housing but clearly failed. So let's see where the minister is shuffled to next.

We also know that backing small business is so crucial, because small business is the engine room of the economy. Small business creates jobs. It helps families.

It helps communities. I spend a lot of time at sporting clubs in my community. There are a lot of sponsorship signs on the sides of those grounds.

They're small businesses, family businesses, in my community—not big businesses. That's why we will have the instant asset write-off increased to $50,000 and put in permanently so business has that certainty to invest, driving productivity and economic growth. But when it comes to these capital gains taxes, it will cruel small businesses that want to get ahead, particularly start-ups.

For start-ups, one of their ideas is that they want to sell. They want to get bought out. They are looking to increase significantly, and these tax changes will decimate founders and tech startups and small businesses.

But it's not just the owners that will pay the price. Those young people that are working at a large corporate organisation or who straight out of university that don't want to start a business but want to work in a small business or a startup or take stock options—it's something I did when I left Mars and a corporate career to go to a tech startup. Stock options mean you're taking generally less salary, but you're taking a part of that business, hoping that that business will continue to grow and be successful.

But, under these changes, young people will be punished for joining startups and taking stock options. It's going to make it harder for founders to recruit talent. It already has made it harder, because founders are talking about young people rescinding offers and saying, 'No, I can't come and join you, because of the uncertainty of these capital gains tax changes.' That is impacting small businesses and the tech sector today.

But there are also young people that took the risk five or six years ago. They started at a tech startup. They've been there for four or five years.

They've built options. They are literally on the verge of listing and going public, and their hard work is about to pay off so they can get a deposit for their house. These changes have undermined all that hard work, because suddenly the tax has been changed for them.

We also know that we need to continue to support people. The process of how we do these complicated tax changes is important. This government are rushing this through, and they are going to try and play a political game here this week.

The backbench are going to wave it through, because they're not allowed to have their own opinion. Otherwise, they get kicked out, like Senator Payman. But it's the Australian people and it's the community that really pay the price.

I want to quote from John Kehoe, the economics editor at the AFR and a former Treasury official, about this process and about this prime minister. He said: Costello and Keating were interested in the principles of good tax policy. Chalmers and Anthony Albanese don't seem to care.

It appears to be all about politics. They don't have the political skills, technical understanding or policy interest to explain complicated tax policies to voters like Costello and Keating did. They are approaching the task like the student politicians they once were.

That sums up very well from former Treasury official John Kehoe, the economics editor—we also saw, last week in the Australian, that government backbenchers were confirming that they didn't understand the changes that were happening. They themselves do not understand the tax changes that are happening. They're taking the word of the Prime Minister and the Treasurer.

Good luck with that. What chance do business owners have? What chance do small businesses have to understand these changes, if government backbenchers are going to vote for them sight unseen, unknown?

In their own words, they don't understand it. That's probably why they don't understand that it's going to make it worse—35,000 fewer houses will be built because of the changes to negative gearing and capital gains. As I said, these are the Treasury's own words.

They're actually going to make this situation worse. As a coalition, we know that supply is a key part of the housing challenge, and that's why we're investing and committing $5 billion to build that critical infrastructure that will get more houses into the system. It will get more houses built.

It will actually make it easier for young people to get into a house. We have a lot of spin from this government. One of the lines they like to use is that they're consulting.

We've had Premier Minns and Premier Cook, both Labor premiers, say that this budget needs to change and is wrong. The member for Parramatta, the member for Bennelong and the member for Chifley have all spoken out against these changes. They've forced the Prime Minister to admit that he's going to consult.

However, we know that this is going to be a sham consultation, because the Treasurer himself confirmed it in his own speech where he literally contradicted himself when he gave his speech introducing the bill. Let me explain to those business owners and small business owners that are hoping this government might listen—they're not listening. I'm going to quote the Treasurer: Returning to indexation across all asset classes ensures investments are treated in a neutral way and that we don't create a new distortion.

There it is. The Treasurer confirmed that he does not want to make any changes. He does not want to create a new distortion.

But look at the hide of this person! In the same speech, he contradicted himself. He said: As outlined in the budget papers, the government is consulting with stakeholders on the treatment of capital gains of small and startup businesses … Treasurer, you can't have it both ways.

Either you're either having no distortions or you're consulting. Again, this treasurer either does not understand his own policy, his own economic plans, or is misleading the Australian people and small businesses and startups in this country. But we see it again in the fine print.

In the same speech by this treasurer, he said: Where appropriate, these details will be finalised in subsequent legislation following consultation. 'Where appropriate'—there's a fair chance that, after they rush this through, the Treasurer is not going to think any changes are appropriate and he's been misleading the business community, startups and his own backbench.

But, even then, can we really trust this treasurer? Can we trust this prime minister, a prime minister that said, 'My word is my bond'? He said that he wouldn't break faith with the Australian people.

He has continued again and again, time after time, to break faith with the Australian people. The hubris, the arrogance and the disrespect to the Australian people are staggering. It will stain his legacy as a prime minister.

It will stain the legacy of all those opposite that blatantly misled their communities at the last election and have blatantly walked into their caucus and sat quietly and followed orders from the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. They've betrayed themselves. They've betrayed their communities.

They've betrayed the Australian people. And, just like Icarus, when hubris catches you, you pay the price.