Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2026-2027

Mr TIM WILSON (Goldstein) (11:19): We all know the story of this sordid, destructive budget that has acted as a wrecking ball through investor confidence in Australia—and, of course, household confidence. In the federal electorate of Goldstein, I have gone and spoken to small businesses, and so many of them are in a state of despair and dismay at the state of the federal budget and the impact it had on them.

I spoke to somebody yesterday who said, 'I remember a time where you could skip federal budget night, because it was just the government reporting on its finances.' He says, 'Now you have to see how your life is going to change after the last budget,' because they know full well that the new taxes in this budget are going to be destructive for their small businesses and their chances to get ahead.

The small businesses of the country are particularly stressed. They're already living with the consequences of the Treasurer's active inflation agenda and, of course, the cost-of-business crisis that's flowing on from that. We're already experiencing record small business insolvencies nationwide, and we also have a record collapse in consumer confidence and small business confidence.

But do you know what the answer is to this crisis of confidence? The government thinks we should add a new tax on top of it, thinking it's somehow going to solve the problem. Somehow, between their new taxes on housing, rents, small businesses and investments, it's all going to end up boosting confidence for the Australian people.

When we've come to the government and asked basic questions about the consequences of their taxes or how they're going to operate, they literally have no answers. They dither in question time. So we're going to give them a chance, perhaps, to address some of these problems.

Going through the notthetax.com.au website, we've had lots of questions submitted, like one from a constituent who asked a question about their first child, born 1968 with a brain injury. They live in care, and they're unable to tie their shoelaces or add anything such as one plus one. When they die, their child will not be capable of handling an inheritance, or anything that manages, with their siblings.

So the parents wanted, through their will, to establish a discretionary trust to administer the child's share of their equity so that they were able to live a dignified life. Under this budget, the government is going to come along and add a new 30 per cent tax on that young Australian's chance to live independently. Despite what the Treasurer or the Prime Minister says in saying there's an exemption, there isn't because this person is an adult.

So there's a punching down from the Prime Minister and the Treasurer on the financial security of people with a disability. My first question is: Minister, why do your changes to trusts target people with a disability, and why don't they provide an exemption for them when they're an adult, as the Prime Minister at least claimed in question time in the past couple of weeks?

My second question to the minister is: what has the government modelled on how quickly the WATO, the Working Australians Tax Offset, will be overtaken by increased receipts from inflation, and, if it will, what date will it be overtaken? Of course, I asked this question yesterday in the parliament, in the House of Representatives, in question time, but the Prime Minister couldn't answer.

The third question is: can the government guarantee that, under the budget, a worker on the median wage will be better off in real terms next financial year, adjusted for inflation? It's a simple question. Of course we all know the answer to it, so I'm looking forward to the minister answering that basic question.

The next basic question is: what is the total value of off-budget expenditure? We have literally no idea. We now have two budgets.

We have the real budget and then we have a shadow budget of off-budget expenditure, where the government just gets away with doing whatever it wants. We'd like clarity on what the total value is of off-budget expenditure. Minister, how much more will Australians give to the government than they will get back under the new tax measures?

Will Australians be better off? Minister, does your budget say it will build more or fewer homes? I think we all know the answer to that one—35,000 fewer homes—but I don't think you're going to hear those words out of the minister's mouth.

Minister, does your budget say that rents will increase or decrease? See previous answer; we know they're going to increase. Minister, does your budget say whether inflation will rise or fall?

Of course we know—but how does that compare to the analysis the Treasurer subsequently released after the budget, with its capital gains tax, which assumed an even higher rate of inflation? Will the budget documents, with the sneaky modelling done by the Treasurer, show an increase or a fall in inflation? And, finally, what is the inflationary impact on your budget, Minister?

Australians deserve to know the truth.