Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026, Income Tax Rates Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026
Mr GREGG (Deakin) (12:21): I rise today to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026 and the Income Tax Rates Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026. Like every budget, there will be measures that attract debate. There will be people who would have allocated funding differently, and there will be those who would have preferred the government to avoid difficult decisions altogether.
But governing is about making choices. It's about balancing competing priorities, responding to the economic circumstances before us and making decisions that are in the long-term interests of the Australian people. One of the great strengths of Australia has always been the belief that each generation should have the opportunity to do a little bit better than the last one.
My parents generation generally assumed that, if you worked hard, saved consistently and acted responsibly, homeownership would eventually be within reach. That assumption is no longer shared by many young Australians. Increasingly, young people and Australians more broadly are questioning whether the economic system is still working for them, and they wonder whether the opportunities available to previous generations will still exist for them.
Governments cannot solve every challenge, but governments do have a responsibility to ensure that public policy does not make those challenges harder than they need to be. If we're serious about preserving the Australian dream, then we must be willing to examine whether existing policies are helping or hindering the next generation. When I look at the budget, what I see is a government attempting to deal with some of the biggest structural challenges facing our country: persistently weak productivity growth, housing affordability, cost-of-living pressures, an ageing population in need of services and the need to maintain sustainable public finances while continuing to invest in the services Australians rely on.
These are not challenges that emerged overnight, nor are they challenges that can be solved with slogans, wishful thinking or short-term political fixes. They require serious policy responses and a willingness to confront issues that have too often been deferred. For the people of Deakin, housing affordability remains one of the most significant concerns I hear about.
In Deakin, I regularly meet with young professionals—nurses, teachers, tradies and small-business owners—who are doing everything society has asked of them. They're working hard. They're saving.
They're making sacrifices. Yet many still feel as though the goalposts keep moving further away. They're not seeking special treatment.
They're not asking for a free ride. What they want is a fair opportunity. They want confidence that their efforts will be rewarded, and they want confidence that owning a home is still achievable.
They want confidence that, if they work hard and contribute to their community, then they can build a secure future for themselves and their families. Those are reasonable aspirations. They are aspirations that transcend political allegiances, and they are aspirations that deserve the attention of this parliament.
Families are worried about housing costs. Renters are concerned about the availability and affordability of rental accommodation. Parents worry what their children might face in the future ahead.
We're seeing fewer younger couples having children, contributing to a fertility rate that is now below replacement levels. A growing body of research suggests this is not simply a reflection of changing preferences. Many Australians continue to express a desire to have children, but they face financial and practical barriers to doing so.
Access to homeownership is increasingly recognised as one of those barriers, alongside childcare costs, cost-of-living pressures and broader economic insecurity. The aspiration to get a good job, earn a good living, own a home and retire with financial security has been part of the Australian story for generations. Yet, for so many, that aspiration is becoming harder to achieve.
That's why I find some of the criticism of these reforms unconvincing. We're told that any attempt to revisit longstanding tax concessions is somehow a war on aspiration. I reject that proposition.
Aspiration is not a tax concession. Aspiration is not a legal structure. Aspiration is the belief that hard work, reasonable choices and effort should allow people to build a better life for themselves and their families.
The reason I support these reforms is not that I oppose investment success or wealth creation—quite the opposite. I want young Australians to believe that, if they study hard, work hard, save diligently and make responsible decisions, they can still buy a home, raise a family and build a secure future. That's what aspiration means to me.
And, if we're honest with ourselves, that aspiration is becoming harder for too many Australians. The question before us is not whether Australians should be encouraged to invest, build wealth or start a business. They absolutely should.
The question is whether every aspect of the current system continues to serve that purpose. Over time, some tax settings have increasingly rewarded existing asset ownership, particularly housing, while making it harder for young Australians to enter the housing market for a home, to build wealth and to get ahead. They have also contributed to distortions in the way that capital is allocated across the economy, encouraging investment to flow disproportionately towards existing housing and asset appreciation, rather than towards new productive activity, innovation and business investment.
The result is that investment decisions can become driven as much by tax treatment as by underlying economic value and long-term economic benefit. If we're serious about aspiration, we should be asking whether the next generation has the same opportunities that previous generations enjoyed, not whether every tax concession should be preserved indefinitely. A ladder of opportunity only works if people can still reach the first rung.
The truth is that preserving exactly the same rules does not necessarily preserve the same opportunities. Our obligation is not simply to defend arrangements that worked for some in the past; it is to ensure that opportunity remains available into the future. That's why these housing reforms matter.
They're expected to support an additional 75,000 Australians into homeownership over the coming decade. They complement the government's broader housing agenda, including an additional $2 billion investment in enabling infrastructure, to unlock up to 65,000 more homes, and the broader Homes for Australia plan, which now exceeds $47 billion. This is not about punishing investors.
It is about restoring balance. It is about ensuring that aspiration is not reserved for those who already own assets but that it remains available to those trying to buy their first home. Housing isn't simply a social issue.
It is an economic issue, it is a productivity issue and it is increasingly becoming a national competitiveness issue. When workers cannot afford to live close to employment opportunities, businesses struggle to attract staff. When families are forced to spend an ever larger share of their income on housing, they have less capacity to invest in education, skills and entrepreneurship.
When capital is disproportionately directed towards bidding up the price of existing assets rather than creating new productive assets, the entire economy becomes less dynamic. That is why housing reform and tax reform cannot be viewed in isolation. They form part of a broader effort to ensure that investment flows to where it generates the greatest economic value.
One of the most important challenges Australia faces today is productivity. For too long, productivity growth has been weaker than we need. That matters, of course.
Over the long term, productivity is what drives wages growth and improvements in living standards. We cannot sustainably increase living standards simply by borrowing more, spending more and hoping conditions will improve. We need an economy that produces more value from the skills, effort and capital we already possess.
That is why this bill matters. It is not simply about immediate tax relief. It is also a bill about strengthening the foundations for future prosperity.
Our tax reforms, the housing reforms, the investments in infrastructure and the measures to reduce compliance costs all contribute to that objective. They're designed to make our economy more efficient, more productive and more competitive, because ultimately the best form of cost-of-living relief is sustained growth in wages and living standards—and it was great to see another announcement yesterday, handed down by the Fair Work Commission, that there will be another real wage increase, which was of course supported by the government.
It's also important to recognise that these reforms are being delivered in the context of responsible fiscal management. Another important feature of these bills is the support they provide to working Australians. Millions of Australians earn their income through work.
They get up early, they contribute to their communities, they pay their taxes and they deserve a tax system that recognises and rewards that contribution. That is why I welcome the introduction of the $250 Working Australians Tax Offset. This is a permanent measure that will provide additional tax relief to more than 13 million Australians who earn income from work.
It recognises a simple principle: that Australians who work hard should be able to keep more of what they earn. Importantly, it is not just a one-off payment; it is a permanent structural improvement to the tax system. For younger Australians in particular, it sends an important message that work remains the primary pathway to opportunity and economic security.
We're also introducing a $1,000 instant tax deduction for work related expenses. That's a practical reform. It reduces paperwork.
It will simplify tax time. It will save millions of Australians the burden of keeping receipts and navigating complex deduction rules—and I know it will keep the gloveboxes of many of my friends and family cleaner! The bill complements the investments we're making through the budget as well, such as through health care.
It makes Medicare stronger. It makes medicines more affordable. It supports public hospitals.
It locks in Medicare urgent care clinics as a permanent part of Australia's health system. For families in Deakin and communities across Australia, access to affordable health care is not a luxury; it's a necessity. The budget also makes important investments in aged care.
But it also requires reform and a long-term commitment to building the broader support infrastructure that older Australians and their families increasingly rely on. While important progress has been made, I will of course continue to harass the Minister for Aged Care, who sits in front of me in this chamber. The budget also recognises the increasingly uncertain world in which we live.
Australia faces a more complex strategic environment, and this requires continued investment in defence capability, national resilience and the security of our nation. Again, these are not optional expenditures; they are essential responsibilities of government. A strong economy requires a secure nation, and a secure nation requires a government that is willing to make long-term investments in Australia's defence and national capability.
This budget is about aspiration. It is about setting Australia up for future prosperity. It is about fairness.
And it is about getting the balance right. I commend this bill to the House.