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

Mr KENNEDY (Cook) (17:22): This bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026, goes to the heart of what kind of country Australia wants to be. It also goes to the heart of who these two political parties are. From the Labor Party, what we have heard is that this is a bill to allow workers to keep more of what they earn.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The next generation will be taxed far more than my generation ever has been. Every year, there is a tax increase under this Labor government through bracket creep tax.

Every single year, inflation takes an increasing amount of taxes from Australian workers. They get poorer every single year, by design—through a built-in tax hike. Under the coalition, by abolishing Labor's bracket creep tax, we will give every taxpayer a tax cut every year for the rest of their lives.

In the Labor Party they believe in taxing and taking more of what you earn and redistributing it. Fundamentally, their party believe that that money is better in the government's pocket and not yours, and they know where to put it better than you do. And they're looking for increasing amounts.

How much? There has been $77 billion of extra taxpayer revenue taken from households across Australia—ripped out of your bank accounts, ripped off your kitchen tables, ripped out of your small businesses and thrown here in Canberra, for the people in this parliament to decide where that money goes, not where you think it should go. At the heart of the Liberal Party, we believe not only is that $77 billion more; we believe in putting another $22½ billion more in your pocket through giving you a tax cut every year for the rest of your life, because fundamentally we believe that that money is better decided and used by families, by working individuals and by businesses because you have earnt it.

The government is not doing a good enough job with what it's already taking to warrant being given more. Now, what's almost even worse is that no-one voted for these new taxes. Not only did they not vote for them; the Prime Minister himself promised on more than 50 separate occasions, actually looking at reporters with disdain and distaste when asked if he would touch CGT or negative gearing—condescendingly looking at reporters through the election campaign—saying, 'I could not be any clearer.' This is not just a white untruth; this is a bald-faced untruth.

Australians made their decisions in good faith. Families planned retirements in good faith. Young families planned saving for a deposit, buying a house and investing in ETFs in good faith.

Small-business owners built their businesses in good faith. Property owners provided rentals in good faith. Then, after the election, the Prime Minister has pulled the rug out from under the feet of Australians and their businesses while breaking a promise he made no fewer than 50 times.

If this was such a good idea, why was the Prime Minister not honest about it twelve months ago, on one of those 50 occasions? Why not even give us a hint that there may have been doubt there? I suppose he may have been worried about an election.

Well, that's weak, and it's not truthful. The Prime Minister might try and dress this up as fairness, but Australians are starting to understand and see it for what it really is: more tax on incomes, more tax on the next generation than there was on the last, more tax on housing, more tax on savings and more tax on investments. It's more tax on people who worked, saved and sacrificed and more tax on the very people who did exactly what governments told them to do: take responsibility, work hard, provide for themselves and their families and then not be a burden on others.

At the very heart of this is an untruth said 50 times. I'm not sure how the Prime Minister can have the gall now to look the Australian public in the eyes knowing the heart of that untruth. It's almost artistry by which he does it.

And I admire great artists. Picasso was a great painter. Henry Moore was a great sculptor.

But Anthony Albanese is a different kind of artist, if you know what I mean. He's an artist of untruths. Picasso had his blue period, his rose period and his Cubist period; Henry returned again and again to his reclining figures through his periods.

Anthony Albanese had some interesting periods of his own. There was the early Sydney Uni period—the young artist flirting with Marxist ideas at Sydney Uni, trying to paint Gough Whitlam as anything other than an economic vandal. Then came his opposition period: broad brushstrokes, soft colours, very little detail and a fair amount of finger painting.

He promised that mortgages would come down, power bills would be lower by $275 and life would be easier. Australians were invited to admire the picture long before they were asked to look at the fine print in the paint. Then came his government period.

Across this period the colours became a lot darker, the lines harsher and the artistry a little less truthful. Australians started paying more and getting less. It's more at the supermarket, more on your power bills, $32,000 more in mortgages and now up to $80 billion more in tax.

This was when the Prime Minister created what he thought would be his great masterpiece and what he would be celebrated for: the CGT backflip and the broken promise on bracket creep. He thought Australia would stand back, clap and admire his pieces. He thought they'd applaud his CGT hike.

But art, of course, is in the eye of the beholder, and the Australian public can spot a fake. They can spot a fake in this Prime Minister and his 50 broken promises. They can spot a fake masterpiece.

The Prime Minister is out there selling it, carpet bagging from electorate to electorate to electorate. Where the Prime Minister sees a masterpiece with this CGT backflip, Australians see it for what it really is: vomit on a page. It's not art.

It's not reform. It's dishonest economic vandalism. I want to read a letter from a constituent in my electorate.

They asked to remain anonymous when we reached out to them, and I will respect that. But their words deserve to be heard in this parliament because behind this bill are real Australians who have real anxiety and are in real distress. They wrote: We are writing to you in a state of hopelessness and extreme distress.

It's a feeling where you feel so trapped and overwhelmed because your future has been turned upside down. My husband and I are "baby boomers". We are part of the group that is now hated, vilified and considered the cause of all of Australia's problems.

We didn't have superannuation until it became law on 1st July 1992. We were encouraged by our parents to work hard, be frugal with our lifestyle, save wages and buy property in order to secure your retirement. We followed that advice and worked six days a week.

Sunday was for church, grocery shopping, housework and gardening. We didn't travel overseas, we rarely went out for dinner or had takeaway except on special occasions, we don't do social media or streaming, we don't have gym memberships. Our two cars today are still 1990 models.

When we got married we couldn't afford to buy a house in Sydney so we lived with my parents and saved our money. We ended up buying a block of land in Queensland and thought we would build a home there when we could afford it. As I said previously we worked hard and saved our money and ended up being able to afford a deposit on a house in Sydney and we eventually paid off our block of land.

Around 15 years ago we bought a one bedroom unit in Sydney and eventually and paid that off. We recently retired and were so proud of ourselves and happy that our parents would also be proud of us as we felt confident that we would be secure in our "senior" phase of life. Our plan was to sell our land so we could travel, buy a newer car (still second hand of course), help our families and ensure that we could afford to be self-sufficient and look after ourselves in our old age.

This dream and feeling of security came to a bitter end when the budget was released. We have been trying to sell our land for sometime now but due to escalating building costs, labour shortages etc, it's not selling anytime soon. We have never received any income on this land.

We are now in a situation where we must sell by the end of June 2027 June otherwise we may as well give it away. Why does this government keep lying and changing the goal posts and not be held accountable for its despicable decisions? They are ruining people's lives.

This government is causing a cataclysmic divide between races, younger and older Australians, rich and poor, workers and retirees, overseas investors and Australian investors, "mum & dad" investors with large portfolios. We used to be a unified country. … Who Is Championing Retirees? There is very much an ageist agenda occurring.

Retirees are being targeted as well as the young….There seems to be so much emphasis on negative gearing but what about capital gains tax changes and the 30% minimum tax on the net capital gain? These are affecting cash-poor retirees, retirees in general and people still working who may be close to retirement. Does anyone in politics or the media champion us?

In addition to capital gains tax changes, the government's ageist agenda has also included: 1.A reduction in the higher rebate for seniors which has been justified on intergenerational equity grounds. How ridiculous! My husband and I paid more for private health insurance all our adult life, knowing that we were funding our parents, grandparents and older Australians and one day it would be our turn.

Will "baby boomers" be blamed when the public hospital system implodes because we can no longer afford to pay for private health insurance? Does anyone in politics or the media champion us? 2.Optional Hotel and Enhanced Living Fees (HELF), charged by Australian aged care providers became subject to 10% GST on November 1, 2025. This was done very quietly by the government.

Shame on you. I don't know how Labour ministers sleep at night. Does anyone in politics or the media champion us?

I do not want our names or emails identified, we want to remain anonymous. We do not want to be further vilified or considered selfish or the cause of all of Australia's problems. We just want to live out the rest of our life as we envisioned, not a burden on anyone else and self-sufficient.

More importantly, we made many sacrifices in our life to now be forced to give our hard earned money away to the government to supposedly help young people. Why can't we choose which young people we would like to help i.e. family and friends. Why is it being taken from us?

I am just writing to you to ask does anyone in politics or in the media champion us? Thank you for reading this email. Hope you can do something to help us in this situation.

This letter wasn't from a wealthy caricature. It's not from some political stereotype or a political hack; it's from Australians who worked hard, lived modestly, saved carefully and tried to provide for themselves. They didn't want to live off the government.

They didn't want handouts. They're not asking for someone else to pay their way. They did what generation after generation of Australians were told to do: work—work harder than your peers—save, be careful, don't go on holidays, and leave yourself secure.

Now Labor looks at that lifetime of sacrifice and sees a money pot to be raided. It's a moral failure at the centre of this bill. Labor is turning Australians against one another.

They hurt retirees who planned under one set of rules and are now being punished under another. You don't fix a housing crisis by building fewer homes—35,000 fewer, from Labor's own budget papers. You don't help renters by driving investors out of the rental market.

Your own budget papers' analysis shows rents will go up. You don't help first home buyers by increasing rents on one side and taxing their invested deposits with new CGT on the other. This bill is being sold as fairness, but it's about betrayal.

Before a young Australian buys their first home, they usually rent. If rents rise, it becomes harder to save. If their savings and investments are taxed harder—with, in some cases, CGT doubling—it becomes harder again to get that deposit.

Labor's kneecapping younger Australians twice—once as renters and then as they save for their deposit. And then Labor has the audacity to tell this country and these young people it's about intergenerational fairness. It's not intergenerational fairness; it's intergenerational fraud.

This doesn't help young people. Income tax is higher for them than it ever was for me, thanks to Labor's sneaky bracket creep. CGT is up, housing taxes are up and car taxes are up.

Small-business owners know this better than anyone. For many of them, their business isn't a job; it's a retirement plan and their family legacy—the result of years of risk, stress and sacrifice. Now these small-business owners are facing taxes of up to 47 per cent.

Labor says: 'Don't worry. Don't stress. You don't understand it.

Trust our modelling. Ninety per cent of you will be better off.' Well, where have we heard that before? I remember Chris Bowen and Prime Minister Albanese holding up the RepuTex modelling as the most comprehensive modelling of all time.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Georganas ): The member for McEwen on a point of order? Mr Rob Mitchell: The member's been here long enough to know to refer to members by their correct titles. That's the third time he's done that.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for McEwen will resume his seat. I heard the member say 'Prime Minister Albanese'. Mr KENNEDY: The Prime Minister and the energy minister.

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