MATTERS OF URGENCY

Senator COX (Western Australia) (15:53): I rise to oppose this motion. It's yet another Liberal Party scare campaign dressed up as concern. They have taken some of people's hardest moments—the death of a partner, the end of a relationship or escaping family and domestic violence—and, in fact, tried to use them as cover to defend an outdated tax concession for property investors.

At the age of 17, I joined the Western Australia Police Force. I've worked alongside women and families living through family and domestic violence, and the stories that women have trusted me with have never left me. The questions they ask themselves when leaving are: 'Can I keep a roof over the head of my kids?

Can I afford to start again? Will I be safe?' For someone who's lost a partner, a property may be the home they built together that holds a lifetime of memories. These are deeply personal moments.

To strip away the humanity and use them to defend outdated tax concessions is absolutely beneath this Senate. I want to be very, very clear. The Albanese Labor government will not allow victims, a widow and someone going through relationship breakdown to lose existing negative-gearing treatment simply because ownership of a property transfers.

We said that we would address this in the next tranche of legislation, and that is exactly what we are going to do. Last week we released the draft legislation ensuring that property acquired from a spouse through inheritance or relationship breakdown will retain access to negative gearing if it was owned on budget night, and that includes transfers under recognised court orders, court approved agreements and binding financial arrangements.

Capital gains tax rollover interactions will also be addressed in the further legislation. These reforms do not commence until 1 July 2027. The family home remains exempt from capital gains tax.

Superannuation and small-business CGT concessions are not affected. And for other inheritance there is grandfathering that will generally end where there is a need for genuine change in ownership consistent with longstanding tax arrangements. That is a reasonable and principal distinction.

Legislating major reforms in tranches is a standard practice in this place. We said we would consult in good faith, and the exposure draft is open until 21 of August. Treasury have consulted banks, which confirmed that they can account for the policy in lending decisions.

So let's put those scare campaigns aside and deal with the facts today. There is no widow tax. There is no divorce tax.

There is no tax on escaping violence. Senator Cash had a copy of the exposure draft. She had the protections right in front of her and she signed this notice for this debate anyway.

On 5 August the shadow Treasurer, Tim Wilson, demanded more consultation, and now the coalition is condemning the reforms before the consultation has even finished. They demand a consultation and then they run a stunt like this to try to shut it down. That is the worst type of hypocrisy I have ever seen.

Those opposite are fighting to preserve a system that makes it easier to buy your 10th home than your first, a system that has left fewer than half of the Australians aged between 25 and 34 owning a home. That system is not sacred. It is not fair.

Our reforms direct negative gearing for future investment towards new homes, placing a blunt capital gains tax discount with indexation, and they are expected to help 75,000 Australians become homeowners. They are also helping to fund tax cuts to 13 million working Australians. If the coalition wants to come in here and debate which party supports Australian women then let's have that debate.

Since 2022, the Albanese Labor government has invested more than $4.4 billion under our National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children, and that investment has supported more than 1,400 organisations and helped 444,000 women experiencing family and domestic violence. That is the fact.