PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Mr SOON (Banks) (10:58): It is a pleasure to join colleagues in responding to the motion put forward by the member for Cook. To his credit, he has managed to cram every single coalition talking point in. But it's important that we recognise the reality of the budget handed down by the Treasurer last month, not the Liberal scare campaigns.

This budget continues the government's record of structural future-focused tax reform. These reforms reduce the tax burden for over 13 million workers, with the working Australians tax offset and the instant tax deduction. Further, we're raising the Medicare low-income threshold, so over one million Australians on lower incomes will pay either a significantly reduced Medicare levy or none at all.

We're also making changes to the low-income superannuation tax offset so that low-income earners pay less tax and get more in their super accounts. And, of course, the countdown is on to the first of our top-up tax cuts; there are just two more sleeps till every taxpayer will keep more of what they earn. We are better aligning the treatment of income from work and income from assets, reducing compliance costs by half a billion and ensuring that whole generations are no longer locked out of homeownership in this country.

It is remarkable that, despite the combined benefit for the average Australian earner being up to $2,816 as a result of these tax cuts, those opposite will still try and spin it that we have increased your income taxes. The government also continues to manage the budget and the economy responsibly. The budget is $45 billion stronger than it was at the mid-year update in December, and the savings we have found are allowing us to deliver real, practical cost-of-living relief for Australians.

The member for Cook's motion makes claims about those buying a home, but he left out of his remarks that, overall, the budget papers reflect that this government's new policy initiatives will lead to more housing being built in net terms. This is in addition to the massive Homes for Australia Plan, which was already in effect. The motion also makes claims about building a business, but it conveniently leaves out that, after the adjustments that have been announced to the tax changes, every single small business will be unaffected.

Additionally, we are making the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent and reducing regulatory costs by over $10 billion through our productivity measures. Of course, the motion makes claims about the government making it harder to save for retirement, when in fact we are cutting taxes to put more money into the superannuation balances of low-income Australians.

It must be said that there is a level of irony in the Liberal Party bringing a motion like this regarding budget matters. Neither I nor the member for Cook was a member of this place during the last Liberal government, but I certainly remember that the Liberal Party made a whole slew of promises about budget management and debt levels before going to break all of them—and that's before we get to secret ministries, sports rorts, car park rorts, the Building Better Regions Fund or the Leppington Triangle.

This government will not take lectures from those opposite about honesty. This government is going to get on with the job of delivering for hardworking Australians, and it is not going to be distracted by coalition scare campaigns. I'll paraphrase my good friend and neighbour here the member for Bass, who put it best a few short weeks ago: Australians deserve better than being props in another coalition scare campaign.

But, unfortunately for all of us, that is all this motion is. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Buchholz ): The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.