QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS

Senator DOLEGA (Tasmania) (15:16): I too rise to take note of answers to questions asked by the coalition. I am extremely proud of the budget that this government has delivered and of the changes and the theme of delivering fairness for working Australians, for young people and for those who would strive to own a home. Our changes to the capital gains tax and negative gearing for houses will and are already creating a fair go for people to get into a house.

We've already seen great stories in the weekend newspapers, including Domain, where young people and couples are getting a home without competing with investors. We're already seeing a great effect that people are getting a chance to be able to live the Australian dream. You see, for a quarter of a decade, housing has been treated as a vehicle for building wealth—houses for building wealth.

To me, housing is a right. Having somewhere to live and a safe place to come home to is a fundamental right, and young people are realising it's the Liberals and the Nationals and John Howard that they have to thank for this. They really did a trick on us, and we're feeling it generations later.

Those governments' decisions, not just in housing, have caused fundamental issues which this government is looking to fix. We're also restoring fairness to the way that income on investments is treated. How is it fair that the labour of working Australians, whether it be cleaners, teachers, tradies, public servants or nurses—why should their labour be taxed higher than income that is earned on investments?

Our changes are going to restore fairness to the way that income is taxed. Our budget also delivers on some of the other commitments that we've taken to the election, such as delivering on tax cuts—the tax cuts that are due to come in on 1 July. That is the next round that we've delivered.

Since coming to power, the average working taxpayer is up to $2,800 better off and paying less tax than when we came into government. We're also including, in the tax system, when people go to do their tax returns at the end of the year, a $250 working Australians tax offset, and we're delivering the standard deduction of $1,000 for taxpayers, which will make a difference to people and make it easier for them to complete their tax return.

When it comes to small business, recently Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced some changes to our policy, following a period of consultation with stakeholders. So we will be changing the threshold of a small business from $2 million up to $10 million. That means 2.7 million active small businesses—98 per cent of active businesses—will be eligible for concessional treatment.

This is on top of the four existing CGT concessions, which means eligible small-business owners will pay reduced or no capital gains tax when it comes time to sell. I'm incredibly proud of this budget, I'm incredibly proud of the work of this caucus and I say: let's get it done.