QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Dr MULINO (Fraser—Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services) (14:35): I thank the member for Newcastle for her question. The member for Newcastle understands that Australia is built every day by people who get up early, work hard and contribute to their communities. In her electorate, that means workers keeping one of the busiest ports in the world open and running, nurses finishing night shifts, teachers shaping the next generation, truck drivers keeping our economy moving and families working hard for a better future.
Our government believes that, if you contribute to this country, this country should work for you. Whether you were born here or came from overseas and chose Australia as your home, if you work hard, pay your taxes and do the right thing, you deserve a fair chance to get ahead. Australians know that too many working people are doing everything right but finding it harder than ever to buy a home and build security for their families.
Our tax package is about restoring the balance. The legislation being debated in the house today is pro-worker, pro-aspiration and pro-investment. Our budget puts working Australians first, because a home should not be out of reach for the people who keep this country running.
We are fixing a system that has made it harder for younger Australians to buy a home and harder for working Australian families to get ahead. Our reforms will deliver a permanent $250 a year tax cut for 13.3 million workers through the new working Australian tax offset. This means that, when combined with our other tax cuts, an average Australian worker is expected to be up to $2,800 better off a year by 2028.
That's more money in the pockets of families facing rising costs. Our changes to negative gearing and capital gains will also help. These are expected to support around 75,000 Australians into homeownership over the next decade.
That's 75,000 individuals and families owning and not renting. That means more families with the security and dignity that comes with living in a home of your own. Our tax reforms are about building a stronger economy, rewarding contribution and ensuring the next generation is not locked out of opportunity.
Those on the other side of the chamber are the only people who fail to recognise there is a problem. They are obsessed with taking our country back to the Liberals' failed economic agenda of the 1990s and the disastrous Howard-Costello changes of 1999 that created deep structural flaws in our housing system which have shut too many Australian families out of the market, and they've not yet seen a tax cut or, indeed, a minimum wage rise, for that matter, that they're not opposed to.
We are fixing the mistakes of the past, but those opposite can't seem to let them go. Our vision is for a tax system that rewards work and supports aspiration. We want more Australians to own their own home, and we want to put more money in their pockets, and that's exactly what this budget delivers.