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

Ms MASCARENHAS (Swan) (18:23): As the member for Swan, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026 is probably one of the bills that I will speak to most proudly. That is because I came here because I want to make Australia a fairer place for future generations. If this were the only bill that I contributed to in the country, I would be a very happy woman, because this is about making the system fairer for future generations.

That's as a local of my community of Swan; it's also as a mother. I have two children, Felicity and Lincoln, five and eight. I let them know that the reason why I'm away for 20 weeks of the year is that I want to build a fairer Australia for them.

This is what this change is about. We are changing the system and we are doing that because—guess what? The system has been broken, and, if the coalition think that the system has been working, they have had their heads buried under the sand.

The ability to own a home should not be a privilege for some. That's a right that should belong to every single Australian. For too long, that has not been the reality for the people that I represent in Swan and not for Australians right across the country.

This bill introduces tax reforms that rebalance the system, reforms that back the workers, the first home buyers and the generation coming up. This bill is the start of the most significant tax reform this country has seen in 25 years. It does three things: it puts money in the back pockets of every Australian worker, it opens the door wider for first home buyers and it stops the tax system rewarding asset income over wages.

We are the government that believes that Australians should earn more and keep more of what they earn, as opposed to the coalition, who will vote against tax cuts this week. We do not believe that a worker should pay more tax than an investor. Income earned through hard work should not be taxed more heavily than income earned by holding an asset.

That's not fairness. It's not productive either. That is the system that this bill begins to set right.

It's no secret that tax concessions in this country go to the highest earners. Meanwhile, working Australians, who keep this country going, have been doing the heavy lifting. This bill changes that.

Most Australians go to work every day, contribute to the economy and pay their taxes. That's why I welcome the new $250 working Australian tax offset, which will benefit more Australians. This government is also introducing a $100,000 instant tax deduction for workers, which will benefit around 6.2 million Australians.

This is the fifth time this government has cut income taxes. It's responsible. It's targeted.

It's fair. And I would like Australians to know that those opposite have, time and time again, opposed this government's tax cuts—tax cuts that give money back to the people, back to everyday working Australians. As the Prime Minister said earlier today, we are the party of homeownership.

For too long, this country has accepted a housing market that is broken, a market that works against ordinary Australians and works against a productive economy. The Howard government's changes to capital gains tax in 1999, coupled with negative gearing, turned housing into the single most lucrative investment in this country, and the effect on the housing market and on generations of Australians has been catastrophic.

House prices have run away from wages, and homeownership has slipped further out of reach for younger generations. This bill changes that. As I stand here today, I'm proud to say that I'm a part of a government that is challenging the status quo and making changes for a fairer society.

This government expects that these changes will bring 75,000 more Australians into homeownership over the next decade, turning around a decade in which homeownership has been going backwards. We're not waiting for tax changes to take effect before helping first home buyers. Through Labor's five per cent deposit scheme, 1,965 first home buyers in the electorate of Swan have already bought their own home.

That's the difference between a government that occupies space and a government that actually acts. Many of the people that I talk to bring up housing as the first issue on their mind. Often, it's not for themselves.

It's because of someone in their life they love, usually a child or a grandchild who simply cannot see a way through to homeownership. I hit the streets last week when I was back in my electorate, and I spoke to a young man who was grateful for the 20 per cent HECS cut. Then, he also said he was absolutely behind making housing more affordable for his generation.

I spoke with an older gentleman, Garry, who told me that he loved the changes and wanted them to go further. And then I also spoke with Shane North, who called the office to say that he was absolutely behind these changes. He explained that he worked hard and had bought his own house and that he doesn't have children but that he wants the system to be fairer for the next generation.

These are important changes, and I am, absolutely, very proud to represent them. This bill rebalances the system that has been tilted for far too long. It says that the dream of homeownership should not depend on whether your parents already own property.

This is reform whose time has come. The ability to own a home should not be a privilege for the few; it's a right that should belong to everyday Australians. A worker should keep more of what they earn.

A first home buyer should have a fair shot at the keys to their own front door. This generation that is coming up behind us should inherit a system that backs them, not one that's stacked against them. This bill makes it real.

It helps the worker. It helps the first home buyer. It helps the next generation.

This is also about making sure that we make tangible differences in our community. I remember speaking to the school principal at my kids' school, maybe two years ago, and she explained that there were 20 families that had had to leave the school because of how crazy the housing crisis was. I also have a friend who, when she went through a divorce, said that the most important thing that she wanted to do was to make sure that she didn't take her kids out of the school catchment area, because of how disruptive that was.

What we're trying to do is to fix the system to make it fairer for first home buyers. We're doing that because it's the right thing to do, and it will put less pressure—but that's not the only thing that we're doing. We're also working on housing supply.

For these reasons, I commend this bill to the House.