Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026, Income Tax Rates Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026
Mr LLEW O'BRIEN (Wide Bay) (21:04): I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026 and the Income Tax Rates Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026. These bills break faith and break promises that the Albanese Labor government made to the Australian people. The 2026 budget increases taxes, increases debt, and makes life harder for Australian households and certainly harder for Australian businesses.
Everywhere I go, people tell me that the biggest problem in their lives is the cost-of-living crisis. It's at the top of their list of concerns. This budget spends more, taxes more and borrows more, adding to inflationary pressure and making it even harder for households to make ends meet and for businesses to balance their books.
This budget is a direct attack on aspiration for older Australians who are being punished for working hard and saving for their retirement, for business owners who take on the risk of investing in themselves and creating jobs only to now have the Albanese government claim a bigger slice of their capital, and for younger Australians who are being denied the same incentives to save and invest that their parents enjoyed.
The hypocrisy and dishonesty of this Albanese Labor government—which promised more than 50 times there would be no changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing—is absolutely staggering. If the government had the guts and the courage of its convictions, it would have taken these broken promises to an election. But it certainly lacks both guts and conviction.
These broken promises, disguised as intergenerational equality, mean that those who are investing in the share market to save for their first home will pay higher taxes and be worse off. Treasury modelling indicates that Labor's changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax could result in 35,000 fewer homes being built over the next decade. What a shocker!
Restricting negative gearing to new builds only while grandfathering negative gearing on existing properties denies many Australians the opportunity to build their own wealth and blocks them from the opportunities that our very own prime minister has enjoyed to build his substantial portfolio of assets. If this government were serious about helping generations to come, it would restrain its spending and not leave them to inherit Labor's $1.25 trillion debt bomb, costing $80,000 in interest every minute.
With two million migrants coming into the country over Labor's term, if the government were serious about addressing intergenerational equity and improving housing and rental affordability for Australians, it would cut immigration and implement an immigration policy that worked for Australian citizens, not the Labor Party's political interests. The income tax cuts announced in last year's budget will take effect this year, but with inflation running at 2.4 per cent, energy bills soaring by 39 per cent and bracket creep costing households $2,000 a year since Labor came to office, their value has been completely eroded.
It's the same with the working Australians tax offset in this bill. By the time it comes into effect, in the 2027-28 financial year, any benefit will be completely gone. If the government were serious about tackling cost-of-living relief and bracket creep, it would adopt the coalition's plan of indexing tax rates instead of increasing taxes by a whopping $273 billion over nine years.
The new minimum 30 per cent tax on discretionary trusts punishes the families, farmers and small businesses that use these structures for succession and estate planning, and the future tax on testamentary trusts amounts to a death tax, plain and simple. I'm hearing from small-business owners across Wide Bay who are also outraged by the capital gains tax—an attack on enterprise and aspiration—contained in this so-called budget.
One business owner told me that he's worked hard and taken risks to get ahead in life, and now that effort is going to be taxed into oblivion by this Albanese Labor government. He pays company tax, tax on wage earnings and payroll tax, and a further tax on dividends if he's fortunate enough to make a profit. The final death knell for his aspiration is the tax on his trust when he distributes his earnings.
He said, 'If the government was so concerned for the state of the budget and the country, why hasn't it reined in its own spending and handouts?' It's a legitimate question: why hasn't this government been prudent in the way that it spends and manages our taxpayer dollars? There have been 15 interest rate rises since Labor was elected in 2022, and the cost of living has skyrocketed.
Hardworking Australians are being expected to cut their personal spending, but this Labor government keeps on spending. The number of staffers in the Prime Minister's office has increased by 16 per cent. The number of public servants has increased by 26 per cent.
Under Labor, even the basics have become unaffordable for many Australians. Households are paying more for electricity. A loaf of bread costs 22 per cent more than it did before this government was elected.
Milk costs 23 per cent more, tea and coffee are up by 19 per cent, fruit is up by 18 per cent and home insurance is up by a whopping 40 per cent. The $1,000 instant tax deduction for taxpayers contained in this bill won't even begin to cover the rising costs of groceries, fuel and mortgage repayments. The 2026 budget removes incentives for saving.
It's an attack on aspiration. It sets Australians up for intergenerational warfare. It holds everyone back and leaves everyone behind, and it breaks faith with the Australian people.