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

Mr CHAFFEY (Parkes) (17:45): I'd like to reflect for a minute or two on what makes us proud to be Australians. We're all here in this place, proud to be Australians—or we wouldn't be here—representing families, business owners, investors, the elderly and the generation who will themselves sit here in these seats one day. So what is it that we are here protecting and supporting?

What is it that we are here to look at and that says 'this is what being Australian is all about'? Let's look at some of our favourite films, our favourite days, our favourite cultural moments and our favourite traditions. I'm thinking of Gallipoli, Breaker Morant, Australia Day, Anzac Day, Phar Lap, St Mary MacKillop and even Don Bradman.

They show us that Australians admire bravery. We admire and strive towards hard work, mateship and integrity. We admire honesty.

It is those values that are under attack here today in this House. First and foremost is honesty and integrity. We have learnt not to listen when the Prime Minister announces he has made things clear.

He made things clear ahead of the election when he declared that there would be no new taxes. He made things clear just long enough to be elected, and then suddenly there emerged a whole new kind of clarity. We cannot trust the government that has been elected.

A promise made to get through the door is not worth anything if it's not kept. Having ditched our Australian values of honesty and integrity, this government has moved on to take a kick at other national values. Let's talk about hard work.

There's a letter in my office from an 83-year-old woman from Dubbo. Nearly half a century ago this woman and her husband bought a property near Brewarrina. Their three children came home on the school bus to work in the shearing shed and to lend a hand on the farm.

The five of them worked hard, and, as most of us know, there's very little time for luxury when you work on the land. The couple, who are now elderly, live in Dubbo, but the dad still works on the farm that he has worked for 48 years. This hard work is now being paid back with uncertainty and with the prospect of tax gouging under changes to the capital gains tax regime as part of this bill.

Farmers who have stepped into the boots of their parents and worked the entirety of their lives on the land have been taxed every step of the way, and it's not as easy to make a quid on the land as you'd think. Farmers in my electorate of Parkes and across the country have been left wondering what this means for them. The National Farmers' Federation have raised alarm that these reforms, unintentionally or otherwise, will have a deep impact on farms and on farmers.

I'll quote from the National Farmers' Federation president Hamish McIntyre. He said: The Government cannot afford to get this wrong. If these settings are not fit for purpose, we risk decreased investment, delayed succession, increased debt burdens and in some cases, forced sales of farmland to meet the increased tax liability.

These farms are often the result of generations of savings. They are the legacy left for children and for grandchildren, and they are ultimately the family business. But, under these reforms, together with the sneaky new death tax and the raid on family trust, keeping these businesses in the family has become even harder.

Included in this is the broken promise that assets bought before 1985 would never attract capital gains tax. I have had constituents who have written to me to say that these changes will not help the young people to buy their own homes. They will instead entrench intergenerational inequity by denying to those who don't already own a home the mechanics enjoyed by older generations to do so.

One constituent has told me that, while he has lived his entire life in Australia, these toxic new taxes are now forcing the family to think about leaving the country. How bad is it that an Australian family is considering leaving the country to escape the huge burden of new taxes? A Moree accountant has called the capital gains tax reform a 'contemptible' change that will hurt lower income Australians the most.

He gives an example where the reform will add 11 per cent to the capital gains tax paid on the sale of a house that makes an inflation adjusted gain of just $100,000. Already we are seeing the result of these reforms before they've even arrived. Auction clearance rates and volumes are down, and rents are up—so much for helping younger generations!

Tristan from Forbes in my electorate of Parkes is a young man who is trying to live his dream with his agricultural contracting business. Tristan came to question time last month and was infuriated by what he heard from those on that side of the House. In Tristan's own words, these tax reforms do 'more damage than good, especially for those of us who are young and taking risks to run a business and try and get ahead.

I'd like to read the rest of what Tristan had to say as a young Australian who these tax hikes are meant to benefit. He said: I am losing faith in the system in a big way. I don't see the Prime Minister or any other Ministers out there with me working 20 to 23 hours a day in peak season helping, but they rob us blind of our work and money.

I am a farming contractor. I bought machinery to generate a turnover to build an asset portfolio to get into land ownership. Negative gearing was a great way to get there and build up a portfolio.

Unless you come from family money or inheritance—which I have no doubt they are trying to go after as well—you can't really get into it. They have no support for young people or understanding. They are robbing many young people like me trying to get into farming, and they don't care.

I feel support for the younger generation is at an all-time low. Well, if our young Australians feel this way and we are attacking the savings of our older generations also, then what is this tax grab all about? Should this younger generation manage to battle their way through the forest of hurdles and the cost-of-living increases and taxes to find an affordable home, they will be prevented from investing later on themselves due to the very same capital gains reform that we're here looking at today.

They too, our newer hardworking generation, are being hit at every turn. Financial Services Council analysis shows the reform 'could materially increase taxes on Australians investing outside superannuation, including younger Australians, families, part-time workers and Australians approaching retirement'. Its modelling shows that, under these reforms, a 25-year-old Australian on a median income investing $10,000 in shares would pay more tax.

A median-income young family investing $40,000 in a balanced managed fund would also pay more tax. A 35-year-old professional on an above-median income investing $60,000 in high-growth managed funds would pay more tax, and a 46-year-old operations manager on an above-median income investing $110,000 to build financial security and safety would also pay more tax.

The modelling also showed that people on low incomes would also pay more tax on even modest investments. People who have dreams—another great Australian tradition—and want to fund their own business now need to think twice. The risk is now 47 per cent higher and the end benefits are less.

I support schedule 3, the working Australians tax offset, and schedule 4, the $1,000 standard deduction for work related expenses. I do not support the changes to the capital gains tax regime or the changes to the negative gearing regime. How workable is a scheme that only rewards new builds?

Where is the incentive to continue to cherish and maintain our beautiful older homes? The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Dr Garland ): I'm sorry to interrupt. I wanted to draw the House's attention.

There was a unparliamentary remark made by the member for Nicholls. It would assist the House if you withdrew. Mr Birrell: To assist the House, I withdraw.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. Mr CHAFFEY: In its usual type of attack on the Australian people, by stealth, the Labor government has wrapped these two small sweeteners in with what is otherwise a rotten bundle. There is another worm at its core: the power allocated to the minister of the day—a popular theme within this Labor government.

This bill notes: 'The minister may, by legislative instrument, determine a method for apportioning capital gains and losses between realisation events and earlier deemed CGT events'. The bill also states: The Minister may, by legislative instrument, determine one or more kinds of *CGT assets to be covered by subsection (2). To what extent do we want the minister to be doing the sums on our families' personal assets?

Here, again, is legislation by stealth from the Labor government. Once again, I refer to the values we treasure as Australians: honesty and integrity. It is lost here in this legislation and the promise that came before.

Bravery and hard work—where is the incentive to take the brave leap to start a new business? Where is the reward of decades of hard work and mateship? This is not the work of a mate.

This is not the work of a leader. Australians cannot rest easy at the end of a long day with tax reform changes such as these ones hanging over their heads. You are taxed when you make your first dollar, when you invest, when you buy your first home or maybe your second home, or when you invest for your children.

You're taxed on your superannuation you have earnt, despite being taxed all the way through your life, and you're even taxed now when you die. What will be left for our children at the end of the day? The coalition has a plan—a solid way forward, a tax-back guarantee.

From the 2028-29 financial year, a coalition government will index the bottom two income tax thresholds to inflation, protecting around 85 per cent of income earners and delivering relief of around $250 in the first year. This will grow to be more than $1,000 a year by year 4, and, from 2031-32, the top two thresholds will also be indexed, protecting all taxpayers.

This can be done if you stop the cycle of inflation at its source. These taxes were an attack by stealth at a time when Australians can least afford it. We had values once that were supported by a government of this country.

It is time once again that our legislation supports what it means to be an Australian.