QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS

Senator CADELL (New South Wales—Nationals Whip in the Senate) (15:22): It was an interesting question time we had today, where we heard the catchphrase, over and over again, 'Couldn't maintain the status quo'—the status quo being people with their money in their pocket. We've had to change that. The government wants your money in their pocket.

That's the change here. We hear about the WATO and what a great thing that is. Bring it forward and we'll vote for it.

Let's do it now; bring on the WATO. Two hundred and fifty dollars in people's pockets—what a great idea. But what those opposite are not saying is that, while they're giving you $5 in your hand upfront, they're reaching around and picking your pocket for the rest of the money behind you.

They are taking a net gain in tax out of what they are doing here, so much so that the highest ever percentage of tax by a government, on average over four years, is what they are doing. But we don't want to talk about that. The Minister for Finance had two minutes to answer a question—she herself pointed out that she had two minutes to get to an answer—about countries that have higher marginal tax rates than Australia now.

She rattled off England at 24 per cent, United States at 24 per cent and Germany at 26 per cent. This is the finance minister, and I am confident that our finance minister knows that all of those percentages are lower than the 47 per cent that you get to pay in Australia. That's how maths works: 24, 24 and 26 are all lower than the 47 per cent of your money that you get to pay to the government now.

So take your $5. There's nothing this government likes more than your money, except maybe the Greens, and they are protecting the deal that was done with the Greens in this. The Greens would love to reach around and grab every cent you've got, because it's not about fairness or anything; it's about socialism.

They talk about 'these three parties of the right'. Let's talk about the two parties of socialism that take away the very things they talk about: aspiration and productivity. How is it aspirational for young people who invest in ETFs or crypto or stocks to now get taxed 100 per cent more on their savings to buy a house?

How do they get taxed 100 per cent more and afford the deposit for their house? How is that going to help anybody get into a house? How do you justify 100 per cent higher taxes than people paid before for a deposit and then say that gets young people into houses?

It doesn't. Even their own Treasury documents—that massive right-wing conspiracy organisation, the Treasury of Australia—say 35,000 fewer houses will be built under this taxation plan. That is in their own document; I believe it is on page 158.

So here we have it. We're taxing young people more on the way they save to get a deposit, we're building 35,000 fewer homes and we have the highest capital gains tax in the world. And this is the plan.

This is why we have to change the status quo as they go through these things. This government should not use big words they don't understand, like 'productivity' and 'aspiration'. They should stick to the words they do know. like 'taxation', because that is where they are and where they specialise.

And Australians deserve more. When we look at all these changes, let's not forget that this is from the same treasurer and the same prime minister who said they wouldn't look at taxing superannuation. But they wanted to do unrealised gains in superannuation—until they realised even the Greens wouldn't agree with them on that one.

That was a step too far even for the socialists in the room. But now they've come back. They can do a deal with capital gains tax, and they've got it.

They are taxing you because they don't want people to get ahead. Society is only controllable when everyone races to the bottom and no-one has anything. That is what we have with this, and that is why it's wrong.

This deal is being rushed through because they want no more debate and no more investigation into it—pass it and put up with it. (Time expired) Question agreed to.