MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Ms KEARNEY (Cooper—Assistant Minister for Social Services and Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence) (15:29): Australians deserve a fair and responsible tax system. They don't want slogans dressed up as guarantees. The shadow treasurer talked about history.
Well, let's go back in history to other slogans that this sounds very similar to. Remember 'back in black'? Remember that?
I wonder if they've got their mugs already on order. If those opposite want to talk about tax, then Australians deserve to hear the full story. They talked about history.
Let's go back in history. It was the opposition that wanted to roll back our tax cuts for every single Australian, particularly those on lower and middle incomes. They voted against tax cuts for all of those Australians.
Not only did they want Australians to pay more tax, but they wanted to take away the tax breaks that we had already given them. Those opposite want Australians to forget that when they were in government wages were deliberately kept low. Suddenly they're pretending they're the friends of workers, when they deliberately kept wages low.
Productivity stagnated and living standards went backwards under them, and working people fell further and further behind. Today the shadow treasurer tried to blame the government for the massive productivity fail in 2022, when they were in government. That was hilarious.
Thank goodness the Treasurer is on the money. Do not mess with Dr Jim Chalmers! They want all Australians to forget that they left office with a trillion dollars of debt, ingrained deficits, inflation with a six in front of it and real wages going backwards.
And now, after all that, they want Australians to trust them again on tax. Let me tell you the coalition likes to talk about taxpayers. But we on this side—Labor—talk about workers and people getting up early, finishing late, juggling bills, raising children, caring for family members and just doing their best to get ahead.
As a former nurse and a trade unionist, I have spent my life standing alongside those workers—aged-care workers finishing a night shift, childcare educators helping parents get to work, disability support workers or retail workers, cleaners, truck drivers, tradies. These are the people who keep our communities running and who ask for nothing more than a fair go.
The difference between this side of the House and those opposite is simple. When we see cost-of-living pressures, we act. When we see wages falling behind, we fight for workers' wage rises—unlike those opposite.
When we see families under pressure, we provide responsible relief that helps people right now while supporting our economy for the future. They voted against every single cost-of-living measure that we introduced, and they have the gall to stand here now and say, 'Aww, we care about workers.' Well, Australians see right through it. Here they go again.
Our budget, the recent budget, supports everyday Australians, and they're going to vote against it. We will deliver targeted cost-of-living relief, invest in essential services and continue the economic progress that Australians have worked so hard to achieve. And nowhere is that clearer than in our record for Australian workers.
Yesterday the Fair Work Commission handed down the 2026 annual wage review decision, which increased modern award wages by 4.75 per cent and the national minimum wage by six per cent from 1 July this year. That means the national minimum wage will increase to above $1,000 per week for the very first time. That represents a real wage increase, supporting workers with the cost of living.
With this decision, the national minimum wage will have increased by more than $12,000 per year since Labor came to government. The Albanese Labor government is proud to have backed these pay rises. We'll always advocate for economically substantial wage increases.
This is a win for working Australians. In Cooper, my electorate, I hear from workers who are feeling the pressure of rising costs. For many of them, I have no doubt that yesterday's decision means a little more breathing room at the kitchen table and a little less anxiety when bills arrive.
We are delivering permanent, sustainable tax relief. We are providing a new round of tax cuts through the $250 working Australians tax offset and a $1,000 instant tax deduction. With our previous tax reforms, we're cutting income taxes five times in five different ways, putting nearly $3,000 a year back into the pockets of a worker on average earnings by 2028.
On top of tax relief, we're helping workers and families manage everyday costs by cutting tax on fuel by more than half, reducing the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero and giving the ACCC stronger powers to crack down on price gouging, scams and unfair trading practices. We are doubling maximum penalties to $100 million and providing almost $68 million to strengthen enforcement.
Unlike those opposite, we match our words with action. The coalition spent the last parliament opposing sensible and responsible cost-of-living relief while taking higher taxes to the last election. Workers know this.
They won't forget this. If you want to talk about history, talk about that. If those opposite want to talk about tax, then let's talk about who the tax system is working for because, for too long, Australians who work for a living have watched the system reward wealth more generously than work.
The vast majority of Australians get up every day, go to work, earn a wage and pay tax. They work hard, they pay their taxes and they expect a fair go, and that's exactly who the budget delivers for. We're taking the next step towards a fairer, more sustainable system.
The reality is that the current system makes it easier to buy your 10th home than your first, and that is not fair for young Australians. It's not fair for renters. It's not sustainable for the future of our country, and those opposite do not care.
House prices have increased by around 400 per cent over the past two decades. They've gone from around four times incomes to eight times incomes, and home ownership among young Australians has fallen dramatically. I regularly hear from young people who have studied hard, worked hard and saved hard but still wonder if they will ever own a home.
They're asking for a fair go, and the Albanese Labor government has listened. That's why we are reforming negative gearing and capital gains tax to help more Australians buy a new home. We're encouraging investment in new housing supply and helping fund tax cuts for workers to make the system fairer and more sustainable.
It's all about backing the Australian ambition of owning your own home. If investors want to continue accessing negative gearing concessions, they can. In the future, those concessions would be directed towards new homes that add to housing supply.
Right now, around 83 per cent of investor loans are going into existing properties, not encouraging the building of new homes. Those opposite say they care about supply. Well, this is supply.
Vote for our bill. It is about directing investment towards building homes rather than simply bidding up the price of existing ones. Limiting negative gearing to new builds means these concessions will continue to be available to people who legitimately want to build wealth, but only where they are helping to build the homes that Australia needs.
We're reforming capital gains tax. We are replacing the current 50 per cent discount with inflation adjusted indexation, and we're introducing a minimum tax on realised gains because only real gains should be taxed. That's fair.
The treatment of existing investments will not be affected by the changes to negative gearing, and the reforms to capital gains tax will only apply to future gains. It is careful and responsible reform, and it is necessary. We are listening to young Australians locked out of the housing market.
The dream of homeownership is disappearing for a generation. Those of us on this side of the house will not stand by and let that happen. They will.
These reforms are expected to help around 75,000 additional Australians buy a home over the next decade. They sit alongside our bold and ambitious housing agenda, where 250,000 people have been helped into their own homes already. This is what responsible governments do.
When those opposite come into this chamber demanding a so-called 'tax-back guarantee', Australians are entitled to ask: 'Is that all they've got? Who will this benefit?' They are quite right to be suspicious, because their track record on workers' welfare is rotten. Workers and Australians know that.
The answer is simple. The beneficiaries of our policies are clear—workers and first home buyers—with more homes; higher wages; stronger Medicare; free TAFE; and a tax system that rewards effort, aspiration and productive investment.