STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms PENFOLD (Lyne) (13:42): I can tell you this: people in Lyne are fed up with this Albanese Labor government. They're fed up with being told one thing before an election and getting something completely different afterwards. The Albanese government promised no changes to negative gearing and no changes to capital gains tax, yet here we are watching Labor make policy on the run, scrambling to fix problems of its own making and expecting Australians to simply accept it.

Nowhere is that clearer than with the so-called widow tax. When Labor pushed through its property tax changes, Australians were told existing investment properties would be protected, but buried in the legislation was a drafting flaw that meant a surviving spouse could lose those protections simply because their husband or wife had died. The same issue could arise following a divorce settlement.

In Lyne, people are asking a simple question: who on earth thought that was fair? Many families in regional Australia have spent decades building a nest egg, often through a modest investment property. They're teachers, tradies, nurses, small-business owners and retirees trying to provide security for their family.

Labor faces a simple test this week. If they're serious about fixing the widow tax, they'll vote for the coalition's amendments. If they vote no, Australians will know it was just Labor again being loose with the truth.

The Albanese government increasingly resembles the captain of the Titanic after spotting the iceberg. Rather than change course, Labor keeps streaming straight ahead, convinced it knows best.