QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS
Senator GROGAN (South Australia—Deputy Government Whip in the Senate) (15:07): There's been a lot of hot air in this chamber over the last couple of days. Certainly, at question time, it's been writ large. Let's be really clear: this tax package is pro-aspiration, it's pro-worker and it is pro-investment.
It will build us a better, fairer and simpler tax system. We have significant ideological differences between ourselves and our coalition colleagues across the chamber—that's obvious—but what we are seeing here is an awful lot of hot air being thrown around alongside that. Let's be really clear.
We know that we, the Labor senators over on this side of the chamber, believe that wage earners should have as much opportunity as wealth generators. Our colleagues over there, in the coalition party and however many partners they may have on any given day of the week, believe that those wealth generators are the ones that should have priority in our system. We don't agree.
We believe it should be fair and balanced. We believe that everybody should have opportunity. We believe that business should have opportunity.
We believe that first home buyers should have opportunity. We believe in a much fairer playing field, and that is exactly what this package is going to deliver. Like I said, there's been a lot of hot air in this chamber over the last week.
What I will do now is not just the shouting, the yelling and the opinions from either side, which we know full well come off the back of a solid ideological difference. Let me share with you some of the comments from stakeholders, from the people who have commented. Let's start with the Tax Institute, who said: We commend the Treasurer for the political bravery to tackle some big ticket issues in our tax system and set out on the road to tax reform.
Yes, tax reform. It can be done. I know.
You were in government for almost 10 years, and I'm not sure there was anything much done in that. Then we go to Michele O'Neil from the ACTU, who said: This budget marks a shift that gives workers a fairer shot at housing stability through tax changes that will start to rebalance the rules. Australian Community Housing said that they are 'strongly and unequivocally supportive of the proposed changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing'.
They further commented: The reforms are a serious attempt to shift Australia's housing system in a fairer direction. Then we hear from Homelessness Australia. These are some of the people seeing the market at its worst out there, who are dealing with some of our most vulnerable people.
They said: … these measures represent an important structural reform that will help improve housing affordability, reduce inequality, strengthen intergenerational equity, and support a fairer housing system. Then we go to the McKell Institute, who said: The bills represent a meaningful step toward rebalancing Australia's tax system … And so it goes on. The Barefoot Investor, not always our biggest fan, said: The system lets wealthy families with good accountants pay less tax than nurses and tradies.
That doesn't pass the pub test. It doesn't. The Barefoot Investor is bang on.
It does not. We need a balance here. We need to make sure that young people and workers out there across Australia have an opportunity to own their own home.
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